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Author: Ralph Barker
Publisher: Constable
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 507
ISBN-13: 9781841194707
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →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.
Author: Joe Gleeson
Publisher: Fonthill Media
Published: 2017-05-17
Total Pages:
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →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: SIR WALTER. RALEIGH
Publisher: Leonaur Limited
Published: 2017-12-20
Total Pages: 388
ISBN-13: 9781782826897
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Volume 1 of 6 volumes about the early years of the Royal Air Force Man has dreamed of flight from the moment he first beheld the freedom of the birds of the air. Having resolved the practical problems of becoming airborne, it was not long before applications were considered which led to the development of aviation for use in warfare. Manned observer balloons provided a 'birds-eye view' of the battlefield for gathering invaluable information for commanders on the ground. When powered flight became a reality during the early years of the 20th century, it was, once again, as 'scouts' that aircraft found their first role; spotting for the artillery and gathering detailed dispositions and movements of enemy troops. Aeroplanes first went to war in Libya in a small conflict between the Italians and the Ottoman Turks in 1911-12, but the great war in Europe that erupted in 1914 would see an enormous acceleration in air power. More varieties and models of aircraft were developed. They became fighters and bombers, and many nations developed their own specialised corps to meet the demands of this new dimension in the waging of war. This multi volume history tracks in detail the development of the RFC, RAF and Royal Naval Air Service throughout the First World War and is an essential addition to every library of aeronautical warfare--especially in the year of the centenary of the birth of the Royal Air Force. Contains images not present in earlier editions of this work. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.
Author: Les Rogers
Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited
Published: 2001
Total Pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9780764312847
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Years in the making, this book covers the wide variety of markings used by British aviation units in World War I. Organized numerically by squadron number the book includes both textual and photographic examples for nearly all RFC, RAF, and RNAS squadrons. Many of the photographs are published here for the first time, and the color profiles offer a representative selection of units, aircraft, and color schemes. A classic book.
Author: Wing Adjutant
Publisher: Leonaur Limited
Published: 2022-02-07
Total Pages: 156
ISBN-13: 9781915234179
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Descriptions of the early days of British air power This unique Leonaur book contains two accounts of aerial warfare during the First World War. The first describes the Royal Flying Corps from the perspective of one its senior officers. The topics covered include how the first pilots were drawn into the service and how they were trained to become flyers. On the battlefront, long reconnaissance operations, routine patrolling, artillery observation work, bombing and photography missions and air combat are all covered. The function of headquarters, the RFC's activities beyond the Western Front and in the sideshow theatres of the war, the development and future of the air force are also considered. The second piece in this book contains anecdotes by several airmen on topics which include fighting the German Zeppelin menace and the triumph of allied air-power in 1918 in the battle for Amiens. Includes for the first time illustrations and photographs not previously published with either text. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.
Author: Jeremy Higgins
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
Published: 2015-09-03
Total Pages: 339
ISBN-13: 1910500097
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The railways were intrinsic to fighting the First World War, whether at home or abroad. On the Western Front and beyond trains ferried men and supplies to and from the front on a staggering scale, ensuring that the war machine functioned without pause. Back in Britain, the railway network shipped millions of tonnes of war material from the factories to the ports, becoming the lifeblood of the war effort. Great War Railwaymen details this incredible achievement, exploring not only the vast infrastructure, but also those who operated it. Despite the importance of the railways, many of those involved in the industry went off to fight in the mud and trenches, on the world’s oceans, or in the skies above war torn Europe. Between them, they were awarded 2500 Military medals, 44 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 27 Military Crosses and 6 Victoria Crosses. This is their story. Meticulously researched and lovingly produced, Jeremy Higgins narrates the fascinating stories of over a thousand of these men, vividly capturing their wartime experiences and pressing home the vital importance of the railways, and those that ran them, to the Allied victory in the First World War.
Author: George F. Campbell
Publisher: Leonaur Limited
Published: 2016-06-09
Total Pages: 284
ISBN-13: 9781782825111
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Two outstanding accounts of high adventure by WWI fighter pilots This unique Leonaur edition offers two personal accounts by pilots with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. George Campbell came from a renowned Scottish military family and by the time he joined the R. F. C., following a bayonet wound received at Neuve Chapelle in 1915, while serving with the H. L. I., he had already lost his father and four siblings-including his sister-killed in enemy action. His mother had died of heartbreak. So the potentials for personal revenge as a 'fighting scout' of the air held much appeal and Campbell brought down 18 officially confirmed 'kills'. Despite the harsh background to his career as an aviator, Campbell tells his story in a personable style full of incident and dialogue making his book essential reading for all those interested in the war in the sky. The second book in this volume was written by an American, who, deciding to fight for the allied cause, also became a fighter pilot in the R. F C. The first part of Pat O'Brien's narrative concerns his experiences in combat with the German foe over the trenches of the Western Front. In one notable dog-fight he was shot down, taken prisoner and transported to Germany. What follows is a thrilling account of intrepid escape as O'Brien struggled against all odds to return to his squadron. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.
Author: George K. Williams
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2015-11-06
Total Pages: 261
ISBN-13: 178625025X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This study measures wartime claims against actual results of the British bombing campaign against Germany in the Great War. Components of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and the Royal Air Force (RAF) conducted bombing raids between July 1916 and the Armistice. Specifically, Number 3 Wing (RNAS), 41 Wing of Eighth Brigade (RFC), and the Independent Force (IF) bombed German targets from bases in France. Lessons supposedly gleaned from these campaigns heavily influenced British military aviation, underpinning RAF doctrine up to and into the Second World War. Fundamental discrepancies exist, however, between the official verdict and the first-hand evidence of bombing results gathered by intelligence teams of the RAF and the US Air Service. Results of the British bombing efforts were demonstrably more modest, and costs in casualties and wastage far steeper, than previously acknowledged. A preoccupation with “moral effect” came to dominate the British view of their aerial offensives. Maj Gen Hugh M. Trenchard played a pivotal role in bringing this misperception to the forefront of public consciousness. After the Armistice, the potential of strategic bombing was officially extolled to justify the RAF as an independent service. The Air Ministry’s final report must be evaluated as a partisan manifestation of this crusade and not as a definitive final assessment, as it has been mistakenly accepted previously. This study develops and substantiates a comprehensive evaluation of British long-range bombing in the First World War. Its findings run directly counter to the generally held opinion. Natural limitations, technical shortfalls, and aircrews lacking proficiency acted in concert with German defenses to produce far less results than those claimed.
Author: Peter Hart
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 2012-12-20
Total Pages: 479
ISBN-13: 1780225717
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →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.
Author: James Thomas Byford McCudden
Publisher:
Published: 2000
Total Pages: 316
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →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 first-hand account, he brings to life some of aviation history? 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 judgement, studying the habits and psychology of enemy pilots and stalking them with patience and outstanding success. 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.
