This book has come to print partly because of a pact between two pilots. In the event of the diarist dying, his comrade would continue the diary. The number of American volunteers joining the RAF during the Great War was mostly due to impatience at the US sending warplanes to Europe. Highly Recommended.
NAME: War Birds, The Diary of a Great War Pilot FILE: R2439 AUTHOR: Elliot White Springs, John MacGavock Grider, annotated by Lt Horace Fulford PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword, frontline BINDING: hard back PAGES: 258 PRICE: £25.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWI, World War 1, World War One, First World War, Great War, American volunteers, pilots, fighter pilots, SE5, RAF ISBN: 978-1-47387-959-1 IMAGE: B2439.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/zeydnit LINKS: DESCRIPTION: This book has come to print partly because of a pact between two pilots. In the event of the diarist dying, his comrade would continue the diary. The number of American volunteers joining the RAF during the Great War was mostly due to impatience at the US sending warplanes to Europe. Highly Recommended. The Great War saw volunteers joining the British Forces in some numbers. This included Irish defying the Republican movement and US citizens, some of whom joined as 'Canadians'. Two US citizens joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 and then were transferred into the RAF on its formation in 1918. Elliott White Springs kept a diary of his service. Shortly before his untimely death in 1918 he made a pact with one of his comrades, John MacGavock Grider, that Grider would continue the diary if he died. The combined work was first published in 1927. A copy of the composite diary then came to another officer from 85 Squadron, Lt Horace Fulford. Fulford then made a number of hand written annotations and stuck in a number of his own photographs. This annotated copy, together with drawings by Clayton Knight, is the basis of this new edition under the frontline imprint of Pen & Sword. Springs and Grider have produce a record that adds greatly to the pool of available knowledge of WWI aviation. It provides a graphic account of the stresses of training and the terrors and elations of aerial combat. This text is well-supported by many photographs and drawings through the body of the book, many very rare or unique to War Birds. The two diarists joined the RFC at a time when it was equipped with effective combat aircraft after the early years of being entirely dependent on the uninspiring products of the Government Aircraft Factory. Unlike the RFC, the Royal Naval Air Service started WWI with integrated weapon systems, designed to meat the RN's functional specifications, from commercial defence contractors. As a result, the aircraft performed well at their introduction to service and matched the enemy aircraft, or exceeded their capabilities. This allowed the RNAS to drop bombs on German airships destructively, launch torpedoes against enemy ships, drop depth bombs on submerged submarines and launch strategic bombing attacks on the German homeland. It also ensured that RNAS aircraft included effective fighters that inspired competing German types, such as the Fokker Triplane that was inspired by the RNAS-operated Sopwith Triplane. Against the RNAS aircraft designs, the RFC was equipped by frail obsolescent aircraft from the GAF that were only expected to be used as aerial scouts, reporting the strength and deployment of German troops. This produced some heavy RFC casualties, until the RFC was permitted to procure aircraft from commercial manufacturers and the GAF finally got its act together with the excellent SE5 designs that soon began to produce a respectable kill rate. This book is important at several levels. The American perspective is much under-represented in the collection of books by those who fought in the air above the Western Front. In offering this view, it also demonstrates the frustration many young Americans felt about the US involvement in the air war over Europe. The text and illustrations provide a powerful presentation of young pilots at the edge of technology in the first air war