The Airman's War, 1914-1918

The First World War was the first conflict in history to be fought in the air, as well as on land and at sea. Britain’s fledgling air arms, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, developed a methodology for aerial combat from scratch, devising tactics and improving weaponry as they went. From them, in 1918, the RAF was born. The first combat pilots were considered then, as now, to be heroes, untainted by the squalor of the war in the trenches. Yet no pilot could even take off, let alone score combat victories without the support of mechanics, riggers, and armourers to name but a few of those on the ground. The Airman’s War examines the experiences of all British flying service personnel, from Air Mechanic to Squadron Commander, in fixed wing aircraft, balloons and airships, from air fields and from aircraft carriers. Using long forgotten personal accounts, it contrasts these experiences with those of the opposing air services, on the Western Front, in the defence of Britain, and in the Aegean and Mediterranean theatres. With evocative images, some never before published, it presents a commanding overview of a subject which continues to inspire fascination among each subsequent generation.

The First World War was the first conflict in history to be fought in the air, as well as on land and at sea. Britain’s fledgling air arms, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, developed a methodology for aerial combat from scratch, devising tactics and improving weaponry as they went. From them, in 1918, the RAF was born. The first combat pilots were considered then, as now, to be heroes, untainted by the squalor of the war in the trenches. Yet no pilot could even take off, let alone score combat victories, without the support of mechanics, riggers, and armourers to name but a few of those on the ground. The Airman’s War examines the experiences of all British flying service personnel, from Air Mechanic to Squadron Commander, in fixed wing aircraft, balloons and airships, from air fields and from aircraft carriers. Using long forgotten personal accounts, it contrasts these experiences with those of the opposing air services, on the Western Front, in the defence of Britain, and in the Aegean and Mediterranean theatres. With evocative images, some never before published, it presents a commanding overview of a subject which continues to inspire fascination among each subsequent generation.