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A review by komet2020
Captain Arthur Ray Brooks: America's Quiet Ace of World War I by Walter A. Musciano
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
The book CAPT. ARTHUR RAY BROOKS: America's Quiet Ace of W.W. I was originally published in 1963, when interest in the exploits of World War I fighter aces was especially high. The war itself had ended 45 years earlier and the numbers of surviving World War I veteran pilots were in the hundreds. Indeed, there had been in June 1961 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH, a reunion of the surviving U.S. World War I fighter aces. Among them was Arthur Ray Brooks.
Brooks had been born in Massachusetts in November 1895 and had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1917, where he had studied engineering. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered for service with the U.S. Army's Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. He received his initial training in Canada and Texas. Later, upon earning his commission as a Second Lieutenant, Brooks was shipped over to France, where he received advanced training as a fighter pilot (un pilote de chasse) at the U.S. Army's Third Air Instructional Center (3rd AIC) at Issodun. At the time Brooks received his advanced training, the 3rd AIC was the largest flight training complex in the world, made up of a series of airfields, where the pilot trainee underwent various stages of training. Only when the trainee had successfully completed training at each of these air fields would he be awarded his wings and then await assignment to a front line pursuit (fighter) unit.
Brooks was assigned to the 139th Aero Squadron during the early summer of 1918. There he was put in a flight whose commander, Lieutenant David Putnam, was a skilled veteran pilot, having already obtained 10 victories while serving with the French. Under Putnam's tutelage, Brooks learned much and acquired a reputation as a team player more concerned with the welfare of his squadron mates than in amassing a high number of enemy planes destroyed to his credit. The 139th flew the robust and redoutable SPAD VII fighter which had one Vickers forward firing machine gun, synchronized to fire through the propeller arc. It was while flying the SPAD VII that Brooks achieved his first victory over a German Pfalz DIII fighter in July 1918.
The following month, he was reassigned to the 22nd Aero Squadron, which was equipped with the advanced SPAD XIII fighter which boasted 2 Vickers machine guns, greater speed, and was capable of climbing to an altitude of 22,000 feet which made it one of the best fighters of the war. Brooks was now a flight leader and flew many missions over the lines well into the summer of 1918. On one of these missions - September 14, 1918 - Brooks was tasked with protecting a 2-seater observation plane of the 91st Aero Squadron, which had returned from a flight over the German lines, where it had obtained valuable reconnaissance information. As instructed, Brooks led his flight to the rendezvous point where his flight was to escort the 2-seater across the lines into Allied territory. But the 2-seater failed to appear at the appointed time. Brooks, scanning the sky, soon espied several flights consisting of 5, 6, and 12 enemy planes in each of the respective flights. These planes were Fokker DVII's, arguably one of the best fighter planes of the war, and its pilots were spoiling for a fight and approached Brooks' flight.
Brooks turned to face these Fokkers and raced headlong into the German formation in an attempt to break it up so that it would be easier to isolate some of these Fokkers and take them on a more or less equal basis. He was now 10 miles behind the German lines and outnumbered 8 to 1. Nevertheless, Brooks kept his head and took on the enemy for 10 minutes (an eternity in air combat), shooting down 2 of the Fokkers in quick fashion and facing off against the remaining Fokkers utilizing his hard won combat skills to the full as a way of ensuring his survival.
Eventually, Brooks managed to make his way across the lines to land at an advanced landing area. His SPAD was shot full of holes and would never fly again. Brooks telephoned the squadron to notify them of his whereabouts. Though his nerves were frazzled, Brooks was fearful that his flight had been overwhelmed by those Fokkers. He later learned that his wingman, Lt. Phil Hassinger, had been shot down and was reported missing. (To this day, Hassinger remains MIA.) Brooks would insist on having Hassinger credited with one of the Fokkers he himself had shot down. Brooks would be given several days' leave. Shortly thereafter, he would be promoted to Captain and given command of the 22nd Aero Squadron. Brooks would go on to see additional action until he had to go into hospital for an operation. By the time of his return to the Front, the Armistice had been signed and the war was over. Brooks would emerge from the conflict with 6 confirmed victories to his credit, though there was a strong likelihood that he had shot down 9 or 10 German planes in total. But additional confirmation was not possible because many of those fights had taken place far behind the German lines.
After leaving the Army, Brooks joined Bell Labs, where he would work in a variety of endeavors until his retirement in 1960.
This is an easily readable book complete with photos from Brooks' own private collection from his wartime and postwar Army service, as well as illustrations of the some of the planes Brooks flew in training and in combat.
Brooks would remain in the Air Service postwar until 1922, commanding a number of pursuit units in the U.S.
Brooks had been born in Massachusetts in November 1895 and had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1917, where he had studied engineering. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered for service with the U.S. Army's Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. He received his initial training in Canada and Texas. Later, upon earning his commission as a Second Lieutenant, Brooks was shipped over to France, where he received advanced training as a fighter pilot (un pilote de chasse) at the U.S. Army's Third Air Instructional Center (3rd AIC) at Issodun. At the time Brooks received his advanced training, the 3rd AIC was the largest flight training complex in the world, made up of a series of airfields, where the pilot trainee underwent various stages of training. Only when the trainee had successfully completed training at each of these air fields would he be awarded his wings and then await assignment to a front line pursuit (fighter) unit.
Brooks was assigned to the 139th Aero Squadron during the early summer of 1918. There he was put in a flight whose commander, Lieutenant David Putnam, was a skilled veteran pilot, having already obtained 10 victories while serving with the French. Under Putnam's tutelage, Brooks learned much and acquired a reputation as a team player more concerned with the welfare of his squadron mates than in amassing a high number of enemy planes destroyed to his credit. The 139th flew the robust and redoutable SPAD VII fighter which had one Vickers forward firing machine gun, synchronized to fire through the propeller arc. It was while flying the SPAD VII that Brooks achieved his first victory over a German Pfalz DIII fighter in July 1918.
The following month, he was reassigned to the 22nd Aero Squadron, which was equipped with the advanced SPAD XIII fighter which boasted 2 Vickers machine guns, greater speed, and was capable of climbing to an altitude of 22,000 feet which made it one of the best fighters of the war. Brooks was now a flight leader and flew many missions over the lines well into the summer of 1918. On one of these missions - September 14, 1918 - Brooks was tasked with protecting a 2-seater observation plane of the 91st Aero Squadron, which had returned from a flight over the German lines, where it had obtained valuable reconnaissance information. As instructed, Brooks led his flight to the rendezvous point where his flight was to escort the 2-seater across the lines into Allied territory. But the 2-seater failed to appear at the appointed time. Brooks, scanning the sky, soon espied several flights consisting of 5, 6, and 12 enemy planes in each of the respective flights. These planes were Fokker DVII's, arguably one of the best fighter planes of the war, and its pilots were spoiling for a fight and approached Brooks' flight.
Brooks turned to face these Fokkers and raced headlong into the German formation in an attempt to break it up so that it would be easier to isolate some of these Fokkers and take them on a more or less equal basis. He was now 10 miles behind the German lines and outnumbered 8 to 1. Nevertheless, Brooks kept his head and took on the enemy for 10 minutes (an eternity in air combat), shooting down 2 of the Fokkers in quick fashion and facing off against the remaining Fokkers utilizing his hard won combat skills to the full as a way of ensuring his survival.
Eventually, Brooks managed to make his way across the lines to land at an advanced landing area. His SPAD was shot full of holes and would never fly again. Brooks telephoned the squadron to notify them of his whereabouts. Though his nerves were frazzled, Brooks was fearful that his flight had been overwhelmed by those Fokkers. He later learned that his wingman, Lt. Phil Hassinger, had been shot down and was reported missing. (To this day, Hassinger remains MIA.) Brooks would insist on having Hassinger credited with one of the Fokkers he himself had shot down. Brooks would be given several days' leave. Shortly thereafter, he would be promoted to Captain and given command of the 22nd Aero Squadron. Brooks would go on to see additional action until he had to go into hospital for an operation. By the time of his return to the Front, the Armistice had been signed and the war was over. Brooks would emerge from the conflict with 6 confirmed victories to his credit, though there was a strong likelihood that he had shot down 9 or 10 German planes in total. But additional confirmation was not possible because many of those fights had taken place far behind the German lines.
After leaving the Army, Brooks joined Bell Labs, where he would work in a variety of endeavors until his retirement in 1960.
This is an easily readable book complete with photos from Brooks' own private collection from his wartime and postwar Army service, as well as illustrations of the some of the planes Brooks flew in training and in combat.
Brooks would remain in the Air Service postwar until 1922, commanding a number of pursuit units in the U.S.