Rawlinson, Sir Henry 87
Red Baron see Richthofen, Manfred von
Redaelli, Cesare 153
Remarque, Erich Maria
All Quiet on the Western Front 173
reprisal raids 268–9, 276
RFC (Royal Flying Corps)
accident rate 123
amalgamation with RNAS to form RAF 35, 175
criticism of by Pemberton Billing 26
filmic mythology surrounding 158
formation of (1912) 17, 71
formation of Special Medical Boards (1917) 216
reorganisation of squadrons 87
Rhys-Davids, Arthur 195
Richthofen, Manfred von (Red Baron) 2–3, 183, 192–5
aircraft flown 35, 48, 196
awarded Blue Max 186, 192
death and burial 118, 196–7
impact of death 197
leader of Jagdgeschwader 1 194–5
method of attack 193–4
number of victories 2, 193
Red Baron nickname 2, 194
rise in fame 194
Rickenbacker, Eddie 49
riding
connection between best pilots and 216–17
RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) 17, 20, 26, 29, 35, 72, 262
Roe, A.V. 43
roll, yaw and pitch 42
Rolls, Hon. Charles Stuart 45, 235
Rolls-Royce 31, 266
Rowntree, Seebohm
Poverty 15
Royal Air Force see RAF
Royal Aircraft Factory (Farnborough) 17–18, 31–2
aircraft built 18–19, 20–3
criticism of by Grey 23–4
denunciation of by Clark 27–8
denunciation of by Pemberton Billing 25–7, 28
official enquiry (1916) 27
Royal Flying Corps see RFC
Royal Naval Air Service see RNAS
Royal Navy 254
submarine service 254, 255
Russian aircraft
‘Ilya Muromets’ 76–7
safety belts 244–5
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de 153
Salmon, Lieutenant W.G. 271
Salmond, General John 143
Salonika 287–8, 289, 290
Sandy, Lieutenant J.L. 62
Sandys, Duncan 307
Sarrail, General Maurice 287, 288
Saulnier, Raymond 84, 84–5
Scarff-Dibovski synchroniser 88
Scarff ring 88
Schneider, E.C. 207
Schneider, Franz 83–4
Schüz, Captain Hans 298, 299–300, 301
Scott-Paine, Hubert 25
seaplanes 262–5
Second World War 1, 248, 259, 285, 305
aerial warfare 6–7
and strategic bombing 278–9
Seely, J.E.B. 16, 124
sesquiplane 49, 50
Shell Crisis (1915) 31, 100
short-coupling 48
Shute, Nevil 40
Sidcot suit 119, 212
Sikorsky, Igor 76
Slessor, Lieutenant John 286
slide-slip 147
slip bubble 224–5, 226
Smith-Barry, Major Robert 142–6, 147–8, 236
Smuts, Lieutenant-General Jan Christiaan 273
Snoopy 3
Somme, Battle of the (1916) 103–4, 154, 180–1
Sopwith Aviation Co. 23, 29, 31, 38, 48
Sopwith-Kauper gear 88
Spandau machine gun 86
Spanish Army 72
Special Medical Air Boards 216, 218
Spilsbury, Bernard 33–4
spinning 50–5, 87, 145
Springs, Elliott 165
Squadrons
(5) 142
(16) 21–2
(17) 288
(23) 129–30
(24) 87
(26) 284
(30) 298
(37) (Home Defence) 115
(46) 234, 241, 271
(47) 288
(55) 117, 118, 210–11, 247
(56) 195, 269
(60) 142, 167
(66) 269
(74) 88, 90
(100) Night Bombing 277
(825) 113
flying to France (1914) 74
No.1 Reserve 143–4
No.35 Training 266–7
stalling 55
Stark, Rudolf 152, 170–1, 174–5, 175
Sterling Spark transmitter 263
Stevens, A. Leo 234
Strange, Louis 30, 39–41, 51, 75, 77, 80–2, 129–30, 148–9, 165–6, 171
strikes 14, 16
submarines 253–4
German U-boats 32, 253, 255, 262
Royal Navy 255
Suez Canal 295, 296–7
Sunbeam 266
Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd 25
Sykes-Picot agreement 281–2, 286
synchronised machine gun 21, 28, 29, 84–6, 88–90
Taff Vale Judgement 14
Taylor, Charlie 56
Tethered Goat tactic 255
Thasos 290
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (film) 7
Thurston, Dr A.P. 229
total war concept 253, 254, 273
Townshend, Major-General Charles 298
toxic jaundice 34
tractor biplanes 19, 61, 78, 83, 231, 319
training (of aircrew) 123–49
accidents and casualty rate during 29–30, 123, 133, 139–40, 141, 148–9, 216
adoption of Smith-Barry’s system by RFC 146
aircraft used for 127–9, 144–5
average hours’ flying before posting 136
and character of individual instructors 127, 129
choosing of instructors 136–7
deficiencies of RFC 142–3
establishment of Central Flying School (1912) 17, 123–4
first solo flights 135–6, 139
flying clubs/schools 124–5
in France 130–2, 144
in Germany 132, 134, 144
Grider’s account 137–40
instrument flying 224
lack of for British pilots 133–4
lack of engine knowledge by British pilots 130–1, 134
new system adopted by RFC 141–2, 146–7
Smith-Barry’s methods at Gosport and recommendations for improving 142–6, 147–8
Training Wing, 23rd 148–9
trench-strafing 105, 202
trench warfare 59, 154–5
Trenchard, Hugh 20, 23, 79, 117, 125, 133–4, 178, 180, 188, 202, 236, 253, 269, 276, 304
Trieste 293
triplanes 46, 48, 196
Tudor-Hart, W.O. 191
Turkey/Turks 282, 287, 301
Turkish Army XVIII Corps 298–9
TWA Mk.1 transceiver 98
typhus 292
U-boats 32, 253, 255, 262
Udet, Ernst 195, 237
United States 274 see also American aircraft; American pilots
Vallot, Joseph 206
Venizelos, Eleftherios 288
Verdun, Battle of 104
Voisin bombers 48
Voisin brothers 43, 56, 73
Volkmann, Dr. J 77
Voss, Werner 192, 195–6
War Office 17, 18, 28, 34–5, 234, 250, 266
Warneford, Flight-Sublieutenant Reginald 258–9
weaponry, aircraft
bullets used 91–3
deployment of Lewis gun 78, 79
deployment of own machine gun by pilot 79–83
development of synchronised machine gun 21, 28, 29, 84–6, 88–90
fléchettes 77
improvised 75
jamming of guns 89–90
machine guns 77–85
Webb, Capt. G.W. 191
Wells, H.G.
The War in the Air 9, 70–1
Westerman, Percy F. 171–2
Wilhelm II, Kaiser 257–8
Wilson, Rear-Admiral Arthur 254
wing-warping/b
ending 42–3, 47
wireless communication 97–9, 272–3
Wolf, SMS 264–5
Wölfchen 264–5
women
working in munitions factories 34, 91
women’s suffrage movement 15–16
Woodman, Harry 84–5
Wortley, Stuart 102, 134, 146, 154–5, 175–6, 265–6
Wright brothers 5, 41, 41–3, 128
Wyatt, Harold 71, 257
Wyllie, Lieutenant-Colonel H. 213
Yeates, V.M. 147, 159, 163
‘Young Aviator, The’ (song) 161
Ypres, Battle of (1914) 249
Zeppelins/Zeppelin raids 72, 208, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 265
Zunz, Nathan 206
About Marked for Death
An unforgettable book about the reality of air warfare by the bestselling author of Empire of the Clouds.
Little more than 10 years after the first powered flight, aircraft were pressed into service in World War I. Nearly forgotten in the war’s massive overall death toll, some 50,000 aircrew would die in the combatant nations’ fledgling air forces.
The romance of aviation had a remarkable grip on the public imagination, propaganda focusing on gallant air ‘aces’ who become national heroes. The reality was horribly different. Marked For Death debunks popular myth to explore the brutal truths of wartime aviation: of flimsy aircraft and unprotected pilots who had no parachutes; of burning 19-year-olds falling screaming to their deaths; of pilots freezing and disorientated as they flew across enemy lines at 15,000 feet.
James Hamilton-Paterson also reveals how four years of war produced profound changes both in the aircraft themselves and in military attitudes and strategy. By 1918 it was widely accepted that domination of the air above the battlefield was crucial to military success, a realization that would change the nature of warfare for ever.
Reviews
‘I love his elegant and intensely evocative style: strangeness lifts off his pages like a rare perfume’
J.G. Ballard
About James Hamilton-Paterson
JAMES HAMILTON-PATERSON is the author of the bestselling Empire of the Clouds, a classic account of the golden age of British aviation. He won a Whitbread Prize for his first novel, Gerontius. He lives in Austria.
Also by James Hamilton-Paterson
NON-FICTION
A Very Personal War: The Story of Cornelius Hawkridge (also published as The Greedy War)
Mummies: Death and Life in Ancient
Playing with Water
Seven-Tenths
America’s Boy
Three Miles Down
Empire of the Clouds:
When Britain’s Aircraft Ruled the World
FICTION
Loving Monsters
The View from Mount Dog
Gerontius
The Bell-Boy
Griefwork
Ghosts of Manila
The Music
Cooking with Fernet Branca
Amazing Disgrace
Rancid Pansies
Under the Radar
A Letter from the Publisher
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The story starts here.
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © 2015 James Hamilton-Paterson
Jacket design: Ben Anslow
Author photograph: Danny Lau
Front cover and endpaper: ‘Panorama of the Western Front’, William Lionel Wyllie. Images courtesy of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
The right of James Hamilton-Paterson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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ISBN (HB) 9781784970390
ISBN (E) 9781784970383
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Marked for Death Page 37