Download or read book A Brief History of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I written by Ralph Barker and published by Constable. This book was released on 2002 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text tells the story of the Royal Flying Corps, and its part in all the major battles of World War I, from Bloody April 1917 through Third Ypres and Passchendaele to the chaotic retreat from Ludendorff's offensive.
Download or read book The Royal Flying Corps the Western Front and the Control of the Air 1914 1918 written by James Pugh and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the middle of 1918 the British Army had successfully mastered the concept of ’all arms’ warfare on the Western Front. This doctrine, integrating infantry, artillery, armoured vehicles and - crucially - air power, was to prove highly effective and formed the basis of major military operations for the next hundred years. Yet, whilst much has been written on the utilisation of ground forces, the air element still tends to be studied in isolation from the army as a whole. In order to move beyond the usual 'aircraft and aces' approach, this book explores the conceptual origins of the control of the air and the role of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) within the British army. In so doing it addresses four key themes. First, it explores and defines the most fundamental air power concept - the control of the air - by examining its conceptual origins before and during the First World War. Second, it moves beyond the popular history of air power during the First World War to reveal the complexity of the topic. Third, it reintegrates the study of air power during the First World War, specifically that of the RFC, into the strategic, operational, organisational, and intellectual contexts of the era, as well as embedding the study within the respective scholarly literatures of these contexts. Fourth, the book reinvigorates an entrenched historiography by challenging the usually critical interpretation of the RFC’s approach to the control of the air, providing new perspectives on air power during the First World War. This includes an exploration of the creation of the RAF and its impact on the development of air power concepts.
Download or read book Flying Fury written by James McCudden and published by Casemate / Greenhill. This book was released on 2009-10-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The day-to-day insights of a brilliantly daring World War I ace that only ends with his death at the age of 23 . . . James McCudden was an outstanding British fighter ace of World War I, whose daring exploits earned him a tremendous reputation and, ultimately, an untimely end. Here, in this unique and gripping firsthand account, he brings to life some of aviation history’s most dramatic episodes in a memoir completed at the age of twenty-three, just days before his tragic death. During his time in France with the Royal Flying Corps from 1914 to 1918, McCudden rose from mechanic to pilot and flight commander. Following his first kill in September 1916, McCudden shot down a total of fifty-seven enemy planes, including a remarkable three in a single minute in January 1918. A dashing patrol leader, he combined courage, loyalty, and judgment, studying the habits and psychology of enemy pilots and stalking them with patience and tenacity. Written with modesty and frankness, yet acutely perceptive, Flying Fury is both a valuable insight into the world of early aviation and a powerful account of courage and survival above the mud and trenches of Flanders. Fighter ace James McCudden died in July 1918, after engine failure caused his plane to crash just four months before the end of World War I. His success as one of Britain’s deadliest pilots earned him the Victoria Cross.
Download or read book One in a Thousand written by Graham Broad and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This short microhistory details the life and death of Eddie McKay, a varsity athlete at Western University, who flew with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War. Graham Broad switches creatively from telling McKay's fascinating story to teaching valuable lessons on how to do history: why the past matters, why historians take different approaches, how to pose historical questions, how to identify relevant source materials, and the importance of thoughtful, intelligent, and respectful treatment of historical subjects. The book includes a timeline of the subject's life, a map of relevant combat areas in the Battle of the Somme, and nine illustrations. It concludes with four unsolved events in McKay's life: a mysterious woman, a strange advertisement for batteries, an empty envelope, and an unknown grave—demonstrating that even a detailed history about one person's life is never really complete.
Download or read book A Contemptible Little Flying Corps written by I. McInnes and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2012-03-30 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many books have been written about pilots of the Royal Flying Corps but the men on the ground, who kept the planes in the air and the guns firing, have been sadly neglected - and yet their role was a vital one. This truly remarkable book, the production of which must have seemed an impossible task, has more than remedied the situation. The authors have managed to locate all the non-commissioned airmen who enlisted in the RFC prior to the outbreak of war in August 1914, and for each one they have provided a mini-biography. The length of each entry varies, available records being what they are, but detail is provided for over 1,400 men. For those who became pilots, details of their certificates are given. Statistics include the establishment of the Corps at various times and there is a list of non-commissioned ranks as well as notes on uniforms, badges etc. There is a full record of works consulted at the Public Record Office and an excellent bibliography.
Download or read book The Royal Air Force in American Skies written by Tom Killebrew and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2015-10-15 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By early 1941, the war raged in Europe and Great Britain stood alone against the aerial might of Nazi Germany. Although much of the Royal Air Force's pilot training program had been relocated to Canada and other Dominion countries, the need for pilots remained acute. The British looked to the United States for possible assistance. Passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 allowed for the training of British pilots in the United States and the formation of British Flying Training Schools. These unique schools were owned by American operators, staffed with American civilian instructors, supervised by British Royal Air Force officers, utilized aircraft supplied by the U.S. Army Air Corps, and used the RAF training syllabus. Within these pages, Tom Killebrew provides the first comprehensive history of all seven British Flying Training Schools located in Terrell, Texas; Lancaster, California; Miami, Oklahoma; Mesa, Arizona; Clewiston, Florida; Ponca City, Oklahoma; and Sweetwater, Texas. The first British students arrived in a still-neutral United States in June 1941. Many had never been in an airplane (or even driven an automobile), but they mastered the elements of flight, attended ground school classes, were introduced to the mysteries of the Link trainer and instrument flight, and then ventured out on cross country exercises. Students began night flying with the natural apprehension associated with taking off into a black sky, aided by only a few instruments, a flickering flare path, and limited ground references. Some students failed the periodic check flights and had to be eliminated from training, while others were killed during mishaps and are buried in local cemeteries. Those who finished the course became Royal Air Force pilots. But the story of the British Flying Training Schools is more than the story of young men learning to fly. These young British students would also forge a strong and long-lasting bond of friendship with the Americans they came to know. This bond would last not only during training, but would continue throughout the war, and still exist long after the end of the war.
Download or read book Badges and Uniforms of the Royal Air Force written by Malcolm Hobart and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-12-19 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the relatively short yet highly distinguished history of the Royal Air Force there has been a tendency for the men and women of the Service to be overshadowed by the glamour of the aircraft.Nonetheless it is surprising that there has never before been a complete record of the uniforms and badges of the RAF and its predecessor, the Royal Flying Corps. Malcolm Hobart and Pen and Sword Books have cooperated to rectify this serious omission with this superbly color illustrated and comprehensive collector's guide. Badges of rank and trade are all depicted not only for the flying arms but for ground staff. This valuable addition to our Collector series also covers the RAF Reserves and Auxiliary Service, Air Training Corps and the Royal Observer Corps.
Download or read book Flying Corps Headquarters 1914 1918 written by Maurice Baring and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2011-03-17 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maurice Baring made an unlikely soldier but during the First World War, at the age of forty, he obtained a commission and became Private Secretary to Hugh Trenchard, Commander of the Royal Flying Corps in France, and, later on, creator of the Royal Air Force. Drawn from letters and diaries, Baring describes the momentous war years that forged the flying services. The embryo RAF was lucky to have such an observant and eloquent chronicler of its early years. General Foch said 'There never was a Staff Officer in any country, in any century like Major Maurice Baring'. When first published in 1920, it was hailed 'as one of the few war books that will survive'.
Download or read book Open Cockpit written by Arthur Gould Lee and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2012-08-19 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting firsthand account of training for—and surviving—air combat during World War I, by the author of No Parachute. Thanks to a broken leg during flight school, Arthur Gould Lee gained valuable time flying trainers before he was posted in France during World War I. In November 1917 during low-level bombing and strafing attacks, he was shot down three times by ground fire. He spent eight months at the front and accumulated 222 hours of flight time in Sopwith Pups and Camels during a staggering 118 patrols, and engaged in combat 56 times. And yet he lived to retire from the RAF as an air vice-marshal in 1946. Lee puts you in the cockpit in this compelling personal account of life as a fighter pilot at the front. At turns humorous and dramatic, this thoughtful, enlightening memoir is a classic of military aviation.
Download or read book Bloody April written by Peter Hart and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2012-12-20 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the decimation of the Royal Flying Corps over Arras in 1917 As the Allies embarked upon the Battle of Arras, they desperately needed accurate aerial reconnaissance photographs. But by this point the Royal Flying Club were flying obsolete planes. The new German Albatros scouts massively outclassed them in every respect: speed, armament, ability to withstand punishment and manoeuverability. Many of the RFC's pilots were straight out of flying school - as they took to the air they were sitting targets for the experienced German aces. Over the course of 'Bloody April' the RFC suffered casualties of over a third. The average life expectancy of a new subaltern on the front line dropped to just eleven days. And yet they carried on flying, day after day, in the knowledge that, in the eyes of their commanders at least, their own lives meant nothing compared to the photographs they brought back, which could save tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground. In this book Peter Hart tells the story of the air war over Arras, using the voices of the men who were actually there.
Download or read book Royal Flying Corps Combat Flying Log written by Mark Hillier and published by ELM Grove Publishing. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every "dogfight", "Archie" encounter and mechanical failure is recorded in great detail in this unique early WWI flying log book, presented here in full along with extensive historical notes and photos.
Download or read book The Bridge to Airpower written by Peter John Dye and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the latest addition to the History of Military Aviation series, Peter Dye describes how the development of the air weapon on the Western Front during World War I required a radical and unprecedented change in the way that national resources were employed to exploit a technological opportunity. World War I has long been recognized as an industrial war that consumed vast amounts of materiel and where logistical superiority gave the Allies an overwhelming advantage. The Bridge to Air Power is the first study that demonstrates how logistical competence provided a war-winning advantage for the Royal Flying Corps, the precursor to the Royal Air Force. It draws on a wide range of literature and original material to quantify these achievements while providing a series of illuminating case studies based around key battles. In particular, it highlights how the Royal Flying Corps’ logistical organization was able to maintain high levels of resilience and agility while sustaining military outputs under widely different operational conditions —successfully introducing many of the techniques that now comprise modern supply chain management.
Download or read book Sixty Squadron R A F written by Alan John Lance Scott and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Fighting Cocks written by Jimmy Beedle and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-06-29 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In April 1916, a group of early aviators gathered in the fields beneath the crags and ramparts of Stirling Castle to form what was to become one of the Royal Air Forces most distinguished fighter squadrons. Few squadrons can match the history of 43 Squadron which has included being the first to undertake ground attack operations during the First World War, shooting down the first enemy aircraft over England in the Second World War, and achieving the remarkable double of shooting down 6 enemy aircraft in one day in both World Wars. Its distinctive emblem of the Fighting Cock embodies the spirit and resilience of a fighter squadron that has been in the vanguard of RAF operations for almost a century. Perhaps the Fighting Cocks finest period occurred during the Battle of Britain when its Hurricanes destroyed 60 enemy aircraft with a further thirteen probables and twenty-five more damaged. With the advent of the jet age, 43 Squadron became the first unit to fly the Hunter, seeing operational duties in Aden, before re-equipping with the Phantom until the end of the Cold War. This new edition of the Fighting Cocks history brings the story up to date and covers its 20 years of service with the Tornado F3, including the Gulf War, NATO operations over Bosnia, and the Iraq War. * This new edition of the Fighting Cocks history brings the story up to date * Few squadrons can match the history of 43 Squadron * Fighting Cock embodies the spirit and resilience of a fighter squadron that has been in the vanguard of RAF operations for almost a century
Download or read book Mick written by James M. Dudgeon and published by Robert Hale. This book was released on 1981 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beretning om en af Englands dygtigste jagerflyvere gennem tiden, et stort menneske, som kom fra beskedne kår, men som ved sin død i 1918 havde opnået de største anerkendelser.
Download or read book Flying Ace written by Jim Eldridge and published by . This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FLYING ACE tells the story of Jack Fairfax the 19-year old son of Lord and Lady Fairfax. The Fairfaxes are steeped in the military tradition, and don't approve of Jack's volunteering for the Royal Flying Corps. New-fangled flying machines are nothing to do with 'proper' warfare.
Download or read book Farewell to Wings written by Cecil Lewis and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
