113 Lee, No Parachute, p.197
114 Nordhoff & Hall, Falcons of France, p.215
115 Stark, Wings of War, pp.108–9
116 Wortley, Letters from a Flying Officer, p.118
117 Johns, W. E., Popular Flying, May 1932
118 Lee, No Parachute, p.208
Chapter 7
119 Compston, R. J. O., in Naval Eight, p.83
120 Wortley, Letters from a Flying Officer, p.153
121 See www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18309913
122 Franks, Norman, Sharks among Minnows, p.41
123 Bishop, Winged Warfare, p.116
124 Kilduff, Billy Bishop VC, p.71
125 Reynolds, They Fought for the Sky, p.81
126 Mackenzie, C. R., in Naval Eight, p.197
127 quoted in Kilduff, op. cit., p.133
128 Hanson, First Blitz, p.58
129 Morris, A., Bloody April, p.15
130 Franks, Sharks among Minnows, p.113
131 Kilduff, Black Fokker Leader, p.8
132 Quoted in McAllister, Hayden, ed., Flying Stories
133 Kilduff, Black Fokker Leader, p.21
134 Halliday, Hugh, Valour Reconsidered: Inquiries into the Victoria Cross, p.145
135 Bishop, Winged Warfare, pp.221–2
136 Alex Revell, www.billybishop.net/bishopP.html
137 Kilduff, Billy Bishop VC
Chapter 8
138 Lee, Open Cockpit, p.59
139 Neumann, The German Air Force in the Great War, p.125
140 Alder, J. Elrick, ‘Some Notes on the Medical Aspect of Aviation’, in Hamel, Gustav & Turner, Charles C., Flying, p.336
141 Quoted in Seibert, E. G., ‘The Effects of High Altitudes upon the Efficiency of Aviators’, The Military Surgeon, vol. 42, p.145
142 Birley, J. L., ‘War Flying at High Altitudes’, The Lancet, 5th June 1920.
143 ibid.
144 The Chronicles of 55 Squadron, pp.29–30
145 British Medical Journal, 27th April 1918, p.487
146 Neumann, The German Air Force in the Great War, pp.141–2
147 ibid. pp.163–4
148 The March 1917 issue of Flying advertised Sidcot suits for eight guineas from Robinson & Cleaver Ltd in Regent Street with the slogan ‘Keeps you warm at 20,000 feet up’.
149 Wyllie, H., Imperial War Museum, 84/5/1, entry of 30th March 1916
150 Anderson et al., The Medical and Surgical Aspects of Aviation, pp.199–200
151 Wortley, Letters from a Flying Officer, p.189
152 Gibson, T. M., ‘The genesis of medical selection tests for aircrew in the United Kingdom’, RAF Historical Society Journal, No. 43, p.11
153 Silbey, David, The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War, 1914–1916, p.44
154 Beckett, I, ‘The Territorial Force’, in Beckett, Ian & Simpson, Keith, eds, A Nation in Arms, as quoted in DeGroot, Gerard J., Blighty (Longman, 1996), p.43
155 Rippon & Manuel, ‘Report on the Essential Characteristics of Successful and Unsuccessful Aviators’, The Lancet, 28th September 1918
156 Gilchrist, Norman S., ‘An Analysis of Causes of Breakdown in Flying’, British Medical Journal, 12th October 1918, pp.401–3
157 Stamm, L. E., ‘Medical Aspects of Aviation’, The Aeronautical Journal, Vol. XXIII, Jan. 1919
158 McWalter, J. C., letter to British Medical Journal, 7th November 1917
159 Coe, H. C., ‘The Flying Temperament’, editorial in The Military Surgeon, Vol. XLIII (1918).
160 Stamm, ‘Medical Aspects’
161 Rippon & Manuel, ‘Report on the Essential Characteristics’
162 Birley, J. L., ‘The Principles of Medical Science as Applied to Military Aviation’, The Lancet, 29th May 1920
163 Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p.149
164 See Previc, F. H. & Ercoline, W. R., Spatial Disorientation in Aviation
165 Lee, Open Cockpit, p.130.
166 Draper, Major C., in Naval Eight, p.56
167 Bishop, W., Winged Peace, p.38
168 Anderson et al., The Medical and Surgical Aspects of Aviation, p.110
169 See Green, N. D. C., ‘The Fight Against G’, RAF Historical Society Journal, no. 43, pp.67–8
170 Lee, Open Cockpit, p.142.
171 Stamm, ‘Medical Aspects’
172 See ‘Injuries and Diseases of Aviation’, British Medical Journal, 11th March 1916, p.389
Chapter 9
173 Lee, No Parachute, pp.293–4
174 ibid, p.312
175 Penrose, British Aviation, p.271
176 ibid., p.57
177 ibid., p.308
178 Hamel, Gustav & Turner, Charles C., Flying, p.310
179 Barker, Ralph, The Royal Flying Corps in World War I (Robinson, 2002), p.313
180 ‘Vedrine’ (posting 24), www.theaerodrome.com/forum/other-wwi-aviation/54948-parachutes-3.html
181 Hartney, Harold Evans, Up and At ’Em, quoted in the above forum, posting no. 19
182 Anderson et al., The Medical and Surgical Aspects of Aviation, p.176
183 Reynolds, They Fought for the Sky, p.171
184 Haupt-Heydemarck, Georg Wilhelm, War Flying in Macedonia, p.131
185 Lee, No Parachute, p.95
186 Johns, W. E., ‘The Last Show’, The Camels are Coming
187 Dyson, Freeman, Disturbing the Universe, p.27
188 Quoted in Wortley, Letters from a Flying Officer, p.35
189 London Review of Books, 8th November 2012
Chapter 10
190 Mackay, Richard, The Royal Naval Submarine Service 1901–18
191 Quoted in The Times’ History of the War, Vol. vii, ch. cviii, p.1
192 Hanson, First Blitz, p.22
193 Blatchford, Robert, General von Sneak, p.53
194 The Times’ History of the War, Vol. vii, p.19
195 Wortley, Letters from a Flying Officer, p.115
196 Hanson, First Blitz, p.122
197 Quoted in Hanson, First Blitz, pp.134–5
198 Quoted in Hanson, First Blitz, p.59
199 Burge, Major C. Gordon, ed., The Annals of 100 Squadron, p.20
200 Quoted in Gibbs, N. H., History of the Second World War, Vol. 1, pp.553–4
201 Hine, Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick, RAF Historical Society Journal, No. 57 (2014), p.151
Chapter 11
202 Lawrence, T. E., Seven Pillars of Wisdom, p.101
203 Johns, W. E., Popular Flying, October 1935, quoted in Ellis & Williams, p.29
204 Johns, W. E., Popular Flying, October 1938, quoted in ibid, p.32
205 Haupt-Heydemarck, War Flying in Macedonia, pp.53–4
206 See Kulikov, Russian Aces of World War I, p.46
207 Haupt-Heydemarck, War Flying in Macedonia, p.57
208 Quoted in ibid., p.170
209 La Gazetta del Popolo, 12th December 1914 (reprinted in Giulio Douhet, Le Profizie di Cassandra, p.244)
210 Neumann, The German Air Force in the Great War, pp.260–1
211 ibid., p.261
212 ibid., p.263
213 This author is particularly indebted to Ellis & Williams’s biography of W. E. Johns for the details of this episode.
214 Cecil Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p.113
List of Illustration
1. Royal Aircraft Factory Engine B.E.2c 100HP © SSPL / Getty Images
2. Replica B.E.2c © Stephen Slater
3. Maurice Farman MF.11 ‘Shorthorn’ © Topfoto
4. Fokker E-III © Hulton Archive / Getty Images
5. Anton ‘Anthony’ Fokker (1890–1939), Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer © Imperial War Museum / Robert Hunt Library / Mary Evans Picture Library
6. Adolphe Pégoud, LC-DIG-ggbain-14327, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
7. Death of Adolphe Pégoud, www.earlyaeroplanes.com
8. Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter taking off from gun turret platform © Robert Hunt Library / Windmill books / UIG via Getty images
9. Max Immelmann (1890–1916) and Oswald Boelcke (1891–1916), together regarded as the founders of the German technique of air combat © The Granger Collection / TopFoto
10. French airman Captain George Guynemer (1894–1917) © TopFoto
11. Recruitment poster © The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library
12. Women’s Participation in War © TopFoto
13. A downed German aircraft near Verdun. France, 1916 © Photo12 / UIG / Getty Images
14. A dead British pilot lies on the ground next © General Photographic Agency / Getty Images
15. A falling German airman © Mary Evans Picture Library
16. A RNAS Sopwith Pup, N5186 © The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library) / Mary Evans Picture Library
17. Riesenflugzeug Siemens-Schuckert VIII 1918, Wikipedia
18. Rittmeister Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richtofen. Courtesy Ken Hemmerling Oblt.d.R Sheffer Collection; www.earlyaeroplanes.com
19. French built Nieuport 11, also known as ‘Bébé’ © Hulton Archive/Getty Images
20. No. 1 Squadron, RAF at Clairmarais aerodrome near Ypres © Photo by 2nd Lt. D McLellan/IWM via Getty Images)
21. Captain Billy Bishop, V.C., Wikipedia Library and Archives Canada, PA-001654
22. Royal Aircraft Factory FE2d gunner.jpg; Wikipedia
23. Ernst Udet (1896–1941) © Roger Viollet / Getty Images
24. SPAD XIII © National Museum of the US Air Force
25. Sopwith Triplane © Karl Drage
26. Fokker Dr.I © Karl Drage
27. Rotary engine © SSPL / Getty Images
28. Sopwith Camel © National Museum of the US Air Force
29. Eberhart SE-5E © National Museum of the US Air Force
30. Fokker D.VII © National Museum of the US Air Force
31. A German aerial shot of a bombing raid © Mary Evans / Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo
32. DH4 bomber; www.earlyaeroplanes.com
33. An Italian airplane chases an Austrian Albatros plane in the Alps, 1 Jan 1918 © The Art Archive / International Film Service / NGS Image Collection
34. A man of the ground staff helps a German pilot putting on the parachute, 1918. © Mary Evans / Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo
Index
British aircraft types are indexed under aircraft, British (types of). Foreign aircraft are indexed under relevant country
aces 182–203
acting as ‘lone wolves’ 199–200
disputes over true scores 198–200
early frowning on system of by RFC 187–8
French 183
German see German aces
highest-scoring 183
newspaper publicity 185
number of victories needed and standards to become 184–5
origins 183
political component of system 201
and press 2, 183, 184
see also individual names
Admiralty 17
aerodynamics 42, 49, 60
Aéronautique Militaire 130, 189
Aeroplane, The (magazine) 23
Africa 283–5
agents
dropping and picking up in enemy territory 111–12
ailerons 47
Air Battalion of Royal Engineers 17
Air Board 38, 209, 236, 240, 270
air raids see bombing raids
aircraft
accidents 40, 214
arming of 67, 69–94
bombing by 113–14, 118–19
delays in production 29, 30–1
deployed for Home Defence 266
and desert warfare 297, 299
dope poisoning during construction 33–4
early resistance to use of in the war 9–10, 19, 59
engines see engines, aircraft
fabric covering frames 32–3
first powered flight by Cody (1908) 17, 44
‘greatest’ debate 63–7
heights reached by 59–60
impact of war on ground on building of 59–60
instruments on board 224–5, 226
introduction of metal structures 50
landing of 61
number produced in 1915 29
numbers lost in the war 133
and observation 59, 70, 71–2,74, 76, 79, 99, 100–4, 127
and safety belts 244–5
and spinning 50–5, 87, 145
and stalling 55
susceptible to chance gusts of wind 41
used for training pilots 127–9, 144–5
weapons used on board 74–5, 77
and wireless communication 97–9
wood used for construction 32, 49
see also individual countries
aircraft, British (types of)
Avro 51, 87, 248
Avro 504/504J 78, 139, 144–5, 146
B.E. 20–2
B.E.1 18–19, 57
B.E.2c 19, 20–1, 24, 27–8, 28, 64, 78–9, 100–1, 106, 182
B.E.9 (‘Pulpit’) 21–2
B.E.12 115
Bristol F.2A (Brisfits) 31, 239, 240, 266
Caudron G.3 182
de Havilland Mosquito 50, 285
D.H.2 29, 54, 60–1, 87, 189, 288
D.H.4 118, 119, 276
D.H.5 65
D.H.6 138–9
D.H.9 239
Douglas DC-3 64
Farman F.27 259, 284
F.E.1 18
F.E.2 86
F.E.2a 30, 76
F.E.2b 29, 30
F.E.2d 78
F.E.8 29
F.E.10 21
Gloster Gladiators 50
Handley Page V/1500 bomber 69
Hawker Hurricane 50
Lancaster bomber 248
Martinsyde F.4 (‘Buzzard’) 67
R.E.7 86
R.E.8 (‘Harry Tate’) 61–3
S.6B floatplane 25
S.E.5 23, 144
S.E.5a 64, 67, 239
seaplanes 262–5
Sopwith Camel 57, 58, 63, 64–6, 106, 118, 144, 196, 217, 320
Sopwith Folder 284
Sopwith Pup 64, 89, 189–90, 194, 207, 226, 239, 246, 271
Sopwith Snipe 66, 239
Sopwith Trench Fighter (T.F.1) 106
Sopwith Trench Fighter (T.F.2) Salamander 106
Sopwith Triplane 35, 64, 196, 229
Vickers ‘Gunbus’ 86
airfields
establishment of on Western front 177–8
airmen
aces see aces
and animals/pets 166–7
average hours’ flying experience before postings 136
best flying temperament 216–17
and burden of death 119–21
celebratory ‘binges’ 160–3
and class 217–18
clothing worn 157–8, 212
cold experienced by 212–13
comradeship amongst opposing 74, 169–71, 191, 290–2, 299–300
concept of alienated loner 151–2
connection between riding and best 216–17
conviction of a radical difference between civilian world and 171–3
death toll during war 1–2, 181
differences between lives of infantry and 153–5
drinking and flying 163–5
evaluation of character of 219–21
exhaustion of 119
flying into German territory and forced landings on enemy land 178–9, 180
as ‘Fokker fodder’ 26, 142
g-forces experienced by 229–30
and goggles 243–4
home leave 173–5
home-grown entertainment 165
ill-effects of flying at high altitudes 205–10
injuries and health hazards 231, 231–2
lack of feedback over aircraft design 22–3
lack of parachutes 81, 234–9
language used by 156–7
life expectancy for new 137
medical e
xaminations and health of prospective 214–16, 227–8
and officers’ mess 158–9
physiological and psychological tests for 219
and pilot’s vertigo 223–4
portrayal of in media and popular culture 2–7
post-war neglect of 303
public school ethos 156–7
resistance to idea of carrying oxygen 210–11
romance attached to 250
and safety helmets 243, 244
sense of honour 191
showing off 140–1
songs sung 160–2
squadron life 155–67
stress suffered 222–3
training of see training
view of parachutes 241–2
airships, German see also German airships
airshows 141
pre-war 126–7
Alder, J. Elrich 209
Alexander, King of Greece 288
Allenby, General Edmund 282, 302
altitude
bleeding at 211–12
ill-effects of 205–10
altitude experiments 206–7
American aircraft 43
American pilots
medical examination undertaken by prospective 228
and parachutes 240
Amey, 2nd Lieutenant A.E. 3–4
Amiens, Battle of (1918) 9
Anderson, Dr Graeme 164, 228
Anglo-Persian Oil Company 282
anti-aircraft batteries/defences 70, 259, 272, 273
Arab campaign 282–3
Archer-Shee, Lieutenant-Colonel 36
armour plating 105–6
Army, British
Balloon School 17, 44
early view of aircraft used in war 9, 11, 30, 51
rivalry with Navy and competition over Treasury funds 23, 26, 35
Askwith, George 15
Asquith, Herbert 37, 275
Austria-Hungary 294, 295
Bader, Douglas 141
Baghdad 298, 299, 300, 301
Bakewell, Dame Joan 250
Baldwin, Stanley 278–9
Balfour, A.J. 26
Balkans 281–93
Ball, Albert 49, 166, 194, 201, 202, 243
ball bearings 57
balloon busting 110–11
Balloon Factory (Farnborough) 17, 44
balloon strafing 109–10
balloonists, early 205–6
balloons 44, 92–3
use of parachutes for jumps from 234–5
used for observation 8, 17, 44, 71, 92, 96, 109–10
Baracca, Francesco 295
Bárány chair 227, 228, 230
Bárány, Robert 227
Beachey, Lincoln J. 126
Bentley Priory 37
Bernard, General 130
Bert, Paul 207
Berthold, Rudolf 197
Marked for Death Page 35