Combat Over The Trenches Oswald Watt, Aviation Pioneer by Chris Clark Published by Pen & Sword Aviation, ISBN 978 1 52671 501 2 Originally published in Australia as The High Life of Oswald Watt; Australia’s First Military Pilot (Big Sky Publishing Pty Ltd) this Pen & Sword reprint brings a hugely important Australian aviator to the world stage. And, while the new title Combat Over … Continue reading Oswald Watt
War Birds: The Diary of a Great War Pilot Elliott White Springs Annotated by Lieutenant Horace Fulford. Introduced by Mark Hillier. Published by Frontline Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-47387-959-1 I imagine most Great War aviation enthusiasts are more or less familiar with Elliott White Springs’ War Birds – Diary of an Unknown Aviator. If it isn’t actually out of copyright, the internet is doing a grand … Continue reading Dying to fly
A century ago, World War One changed the course of history. Total, global, industrial and mechanical, it was a new kind of conflict that redrew maps, destroyed families – from royal to rural, helped emancipate women, and hand-propped the infant aviation industry. For the first time in history, young men would wheel simple but surprisingly advanced machines high above the mud-bound stalemate of artillery and trench sieges. And … Continue reading Southern Knights
In the spring of 1917, eighteen-year-old Jack Morris Wright left college in Massachusetts, with several alumni, to volunteer for the Ambulance Corps in France. While certainly moved by America’s declaration of war, Jack had been raised and educated in France, so he was also going to aid the beloved home of his childhood. As it happened, Jack ended up in the camion (truck) … Continue reading Fallen Eagle
Featured image by Tijl Vercaemer CC BY 2.0 In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. Lt.Col. John McCrae MD, Canadian Expeditionary Force April 25th is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand – a day of commemoration centred on the … Continue reading Fallen
This post is a sort of addenda to my last article, Red Baron Down, to show another side of life for Manfred von Richthofen – the precious relationship he enjoyed with his Danish hound Moritz. Apart from the footnote, it comes directly from von Richthofen’s The Red Battle Flyer. My little lap-dog March 1917 The most beautiful being in all creation is the … Continue reading A friend indeed
Who shot down the Red Baron? Not who you’re thinking. And not when or where you’re thinking either. So park what you know about Canadian fliers and Australian gunners on the Somme for a moment, and put April 21st, 1918 aside too. Manfred von Richthofen was actually shot down on March 6th, 1917, over Lens in Belgium. As he attacked a Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter, von Richthofen found … Continue reading Red Baron down
If you still can’t believe World War One pilots were never issued with parachutes, this glimpse into Edwardian attitudes may help… Last post, I shared Flight magazine’s account of the first fully documented spin recovery (‘Parke’s Dive’), from August 31st, 1913. But before we move on, here’s an editorial that appeared just two weeks later, on September 13th, 1913. Even though Parke was restrained … Continue reading Safety, Edwardian-style
