Author: Tyrrel M. Hawker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description

Author: Tyrrel M. Hawker
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 147382964X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
By the age of 25 Lanoe Hawker of the Royal Flying Corps had won the VC and DSO. He was the first pilot to record five 'kills' before being shot down and killed by Baron von Richthofen (The Red Baron).Lanoe's biography was written by his brother Tyrrel as a tribute. The Hawkers came from a distinguished sporting family with strong military and naval records and Lanoe from the outset set his sights on flying for the RFC. After attending the Central Flying School, he crossed to France in October 1914 with 6 Squadron equipped with BE2s and Henri Farmans.As the war in the air progressed, Hawker shone as both a combat pilot and commander. He was rapidly promoted and given command of 24 Squadron. He, like other pilots, flew numerous early fighter aircraft such as the Bristol Scout, BE2c, FE2b and the famous DH2. Casualty/death rates were appalling but this special band of brothers flew on regardless until their turn came.This book contains many combat reports by pilots of their actions in the air which make the most graphic reading. Of particular interest is von Richthofen's account of their fatal encounter. The relative merits, qualities and characteristics of the aircraft, both British, French and German, are discussed with pilots' opinions.As an insight into Great War combat air operations Hawker VC RFC Ace is unlikely to be surpassed.

Author: Steve Mills
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612007902
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
“[A] slice of largely-forgotten military history . . . a fascinating exploration of some magnificent men and their flying machines.” —The Sunday Post In the dark days of World War I, when flying machines, radio, and electronics were infant technologies, the first remotely controlled experimental aircraft took to the skies and unmanned radio controlled 40-foot high-speed Motor Torpedo Boats ploughed the seas in Britain. Developed by the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy these prototype weapons stemmed from an early form of television demonstrated before the war by Prof. A. M. Low. The remotecontrol systems for these aircraft and boats were invented at RFC Secret Experimental Works commanded by Prof. Low, which was part of the organization of “back-room boys” in the Munitions Inventions Department. These audacious projects led to the hundreds of remotely controlled Queen Bee aerial targets in the 1930s and hence to all the machines that we now call “drones.” Starting well before WWI and, for the lucky ones, extending well beyond it, the lives of Archibald Low and many of his contemporaries were extraordinary as were the times they lived through. They were around for the first epic aircraft flights and with the aid of the very technologies that had enabled the development of drones, they saw air travel transformed from the precarious to the routine. It is astonishing that the origins of the first drones are not common knowledge in Britain and that the achievement of these maverick inventors is not commemorated. “A focused and engaging look at one arena of behind-the-scenes scientific research and the larger-than-life personalities who populated it.” —Booklist

Author: Joe Gleeson
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
The First World War had an enormous impact on Ireland. Over 240,000 Irish men and women volunteered to serve with the Allied forces, suffering almost 40,000 casualties. The Irish contribution to the air war remains overlooked, not just in Ireland, but also by historians generally. Although just 6,000 Irish served with the Allied flying services at a cost of 500 casualties, their impact was out of all proportion to their numbers. The contribution of Irish aces of the RFC and RAF to the Allied cause was enormous, just over thirty of whom accounted for 400 enemy aircraft. Irishmen such as Mannock, McElroy and Hazell were among the highest-scoring pilots of the war. Some were revered by their men, others were controversial figures – reckless with their own lives and those under their command – but many of their stories remain untold. This book seeks to restore all those who were written out of Irish history, while also providing for their achievements to be considered in the overall context of the first air war. Illustrations: 24 black-and-white photographs

Author: Norman Franks
Publisher: Pen and Sword Aviation
ISBN: 1399078119
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Here, Norman Franks tells the story, in words and images, of the emergence of some of the greatest fighter aces to see action during the first half of the First World War. He explores the manner in which the situation developed from late 1914 to the late summer of 1916, the point at which Oswald Boelcke helped form the German Jasta system that would prove so devastating to the RFC and RNAS. Utilizing images drawn from his large personal archive of photographs, Franks profiles some of the greatest and most notorious aces, as well as the aircraft in which they flew. The first years of the war saw some of the bravest acts of pilot gallantry and ingenuity play out. Franks celebrates the legacy of just a handful of these individuals, participants on both sides, including Boelcke's premier ace Manfred Von Richtofen, Lanoe Hawker, Georges Guynemer, Albert Ball, Lionel Rees, Wilhelm Frankl, and Stanley Dallas amongst many others.

Author: Alan Sutton
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
- over 470 black-and-white photographs! This beautifully illustrated book provides details of every power that took part in Military aircraft activity during the First World War. The war was a global conflict with 57 nations involved but with aviation being in its infancy only eight nations had a major air arm to their fighting Services. The Allies: Britain, America, Italy, Belgium, France, and Russia and then the Central Powers comprising Germany and Austria - Hungary. The book covers the formation, establishment and wartime exploits of all the major air powers during the war, as well as providing thumbnail sketches of all the major aces for each country, giving full coverage to: The Allies: The Royal Flying Corps, The French Military Air Service, The United States Air Service, Aeronautica de Region Esercito (Italy), The Belgian Air Arm, The Russian Imperial Air Services. The Central Powers: The Imperial German Air Service, and the Austro-Hungarian flying service However, smaller powers (at the time) like Australia, Canada and Japan as well as Portugal, Serbia, Romania and South Africa are all featured is this fascinating book.

Author: James Hamilton-Paterson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681771977
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
A dramatic and fascinating account of aerial combat during World War I, revealing the terrible risks taken by the men who fought and died in the world's first war in the air. Little more than ten 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 planes and unprotected pilots; of burning nineteen-year-olds falling screaming to their deaths; of pilots blinded by the entrails of their observers. 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 forever.

Author: Saul David
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1444763377
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 597

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Book Description
Saul David's 100 DAYS TO VICTORY is a totally original, utterly engaging account of the Great War - the first book to tell the story of the 'war to end all wars' through the events of one hundred key days between 1914 and 1918. 100 DAYS TO VICTORY is a 360 degree portrait of a global conflict that stretched east from the shores of Britain to the marshes of Iraq, and south from the forests of Russia to the bush of German South East Africa. Throughout his gripping narrative we hear the voices of men and women both eminent and ordinary, some who were spectators on the Home Front, others - including Saul David's own family - who were deeply embroiled in epic battles that changed the world forever. 100 DAYS TO VICTORY is the work of a great historian and supreme story teller. Most importantly, it is also an enthralling tribute to a generation whose sacrifice should never be forgotten.

Author: Martin W. Bowman
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473863244
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
This thrilling new volume from Martin Bowman focusses on British, Canadian, Australian and German soldiers and airmen who were captured during the First World War. Determined that they wouldnt spend the rest of the conflict incarcerated uselessly behind bars, they endeavored to escape. These are their stories.All aspects of prison life are covered here, and the author examines the various escape tactics that were employed by British soldiers and airmen held in PoW camps all over Germany and Turkey. In order to provide a balanced account, the author has also uncovered stories of German navy and army escapees who attempted to flee from England.Each chapter is preceded by an account which explains the types of camps used in Britain and Germany, the numbers involved, the food, the camp money system for worker prisoners and a general appreciation of the conditions and chronology. Firsthand accounts from the prisoners themselves are then woven into the picture, creating an authentic sense of the PoW experience.The emphasis of this unique book is placed on the human story of the main characters, the unparalleled action on the Western Front and the interaction and camaraderie experienced between soldiers and airmen held in prison camps in England, Germany and Turkey during the Second World War.

Author: Colin Pengelly
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1848849788
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
An action-packed military biography of a British fighter pilot and his rise through ranks during World War I. World War I pilot Albert Ball’s invincible courage and determination made him a legend not only in Britain but also amongst his enemies, to whom the sight of his lone Nieuport Scout brought fear. Ball enlisted in the British army in 1914 with the 2/7th Battalion (Robin Hoods) of the Sherwood Foresters, Notts, and Derby Regiment. By October, 1914, he had reached the rank of Sergeant and then became Second-Lieutenant to his own battalion in the same month. In June, 1915, he trained as a pilot in Hendon. Then in October, he obtained Royal Aero Club Certificate and was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He further trained at Norwich and Upavon, being awarded the pilot’s brevet in January, 1916. In May, he opened his score, shooting down an Albatros C-type over Beaumont. Days later he shot down two LVG C-types, while flying his Nieuport 5173. Captain Albert Ball made his final flight on May 7, 1917, when he flew as part of an eleven-strong hunting patrol into action against Jagdstaffel 11, led by Lothar Von Richthofen. Albert was pursuing the Albatros Scout of Lothar, who crash-landed, wounded. Then many witnessed Albert dive out of a cloud and crash. He died minutes later in the arms of a French girl, Madame Cecille Deloffre. Ball rose from obscurity to the top rank of contemporary fighter pilots in only 15 months. In that period, he had been awarded the MC, DSO, and two Bars, and was credited with at least 44 victories.