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YUGOSLAVIA AND GREECE 1940-41: The Axis' aerial assault in the Balkans by Basilio Di Martino, Pier Paolo Battistelli
informative
medium-paced
5.0
YUGOSLAVIA AND GREECE 1940-41: The Axis' Aerial Assault in the Balkans offers a concise account of the air war that was waged in the Balkans between the Axis and Allies between October 28, 1940 and April 30, 1941. It was an air war that took place in 3 phases.
The first phase was the Italo-Greek War, which began on October 28, 1940 when Italy invaded Greece from its bases in Albania. Mussolini, feeling outdone by the sweeping German victories in Western Europe and Scandinavia during the previous spring, was anxious to conquer Greece and secure Italian dominance in the Aegean and Mediterranean. But he failed to take into account the factor of the weather and some of the shortages and deficiencies his Regia Aeronautica (air force) faced in fulfilling its assigned tasks. The Italian offensive lost impetus after a short time and the Greek Army staged a counter-offensive, which pushed some of the Italian forces back into Albania, leading to the Greeks gaining a toehold in that country. The book details the struggles waged by the Regia Aeronautica, the Roval Hellenic Air Force (Greece), and the Royal Air Force (RAF), which sent in some of its bomber and fighter units from Egypt to assist the Greeks.
The second phase of the air war took place over Yugoslavia between April 6, 1941 (the day of the German invasion) and April 15, 1941 (when Yugoslavia surrendered to Axis forces after putting up a spirited resistance). The Yugoslav Air Force, Regia Aeronautica, and Luftwaffe figured prominently in this aspect of the air war. The book goes into some detail describing the role air power played in helping the Axis conquer Yugoslavia.
The third phase of the air war took place in Greece through most of April 1941 in which the Luftwaffe - with a supplementary role played by the Regia Aeronautica - supported the Wehrmacht in defeating Greek and British Commonwealth forces in Greece who, by month's end, despite VIII Fliegerkorps' best efforts to prevent them from escaping from Greece, managed to evacuate the bulk of its forces to Crete. The air campaign as waged by the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica against the remnants of the Royal Hellenic Air Force and RAF are vividly described.
The book also has lots of photos, illustrations, maps, and three-dimensional diagrams which provide the reader with a fleshed out account of this air war which extended from the Balkans into the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean.
The first phase was the Italo-Greek War, which began on October 28, 1940 when Italy invaded Greece from its bases in Albania. Mussolini, feeling outdone by the sweeping German victories in Western Europe and Scandinavia during the previous spring, was anxious to conquer Greece and secure Italian dominance in the Aegean and Mediterranean. But he failed to take into account the factor of the weather and some of the shortages and deficiencies his Regia Aeronautica (air force) faced in fulfilling its assigned tasks. The Italian offensive lost impetus after a short time and the Greek Army staged a counter-offensive, which pushed some of the Italian forces back into Albania, leading to the Greeks gaining a toehold in that country. The book details the struggles waged by the Regia Aeronautica, the Roval Hellenic Air Force (Greece), and the Royal Air Force (RAF), which sent in some of its bomber and fighter units from Egypt to assist the Greeks.
The second phase of the air war took place over Yugoslavia between April 6, 1941 (the day of the German invasion) and April 15, 1941 (when Yugoslavia surrendered to Axis forces after putting up a spirited resistance). The Yugoslav Air Force, Regia Aeronautica, and Luftwaffe figured prominently in this aspect of the air war. The book goes into some detail describing the role air power played in helping the Axis conquer Yugoslavia.
The third phase of the air war took place in Greece through most of April 1941 in which the Luftwaffe - with a supplementary role played by the Regia Aeronautica - supported the Wehrmacht in defeating Greek and British Commonwealth forces in Greece who, by month's end, despite VIII Fliegerkorps' best efforts to prevent them from escaping from Greece, managed to evacuate the bulk of its forces to Crete. The air campaign as waged by the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica against the remnants of the Royal Hellenic Air Force and RAF are vividly described.
The book also has lots of photos, illustrations, maps, and three-dimensional diagrams which provide the reader with a fleshed out account of this air war which extended from the Balkans into the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean.
Knights of the Air: an American Pilot's View of the Aerial War of the French Squadrons During the First World War by Bennett A. Molter
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Knights of the Air: an American Pilot's View of the Aerial War of the French Squadrons During the First World War was originally published in 1918 while the war was still being fought. Its author, Bennett A. Molter, was a chasse de pilote (fighter pilot) who saw action with a French squadron at the Front during 1917. He speaks about himself only in relation to the type of training he received.
Mainly Molter provides the reader with a rough sketch of French military aviation as it had developed from the beginning of the war, and its various categories - that of pursuit, photo reconnaissance/artillery spotting, and bombing -- and the roles played by planes in these categories at the Front. I have a feeling that Molter himself may have been commissioned by the U.S. government to shed light on his wartime experiences as a way to encourage Americans to "do their bit" and help defeat the Germans. Some famous American pilots who had flown with France before the U.S. entry into the war, had returned home on leave, and were enjoined to write at some length about their frontline experiences.
The value of this book comes in giving the reader some tangible understanding of French military aviation as it had become by 1918, and of the contributions made by some of its famous pilots. My curiosity was whetted about Molter himself. I've done online searches about him, but sadly haven't been able to find much information about him. What he has left us through this book is invaluable for anyone who wants to gain some understanding of what the First World War was like for someone who was a participant in it at a time when its end was as yet uncertain.
Mainly Molter provides the reader with a rough sketch of French military aviation as it had developed from the beginning of the war, and its various categories - that of pursuit, photo reconnaissance/artillery spotting, and bombing -- and the roles played by planes in these categories at the Front. I have a feeling that Molter himself may have been commissioned by the U.S. government to shed light on his wartime experiences as a way to encourage Americans to "do their bit" and help defeat the Germans. Some famous American pilots who had flown with France before the U.S. entry into the war, had returned home on leave, and were enjoined to write at some length about their frontline experiences.
The value of this book comes in giving the reader some tangible understanding of French military aviation as it had become by 1918, and of the contributions made by some of its famous pilots. My curiosity was whetted about Molter himself. I've done online searches about him, but sadly haven't been able to find much information about him. What he has left us through this book is invaluable for anyone who wants to gain some understanding of what the First World War was like for someone who was a participant in it at a time when its end was as yet uncertain.
Kawanishi H6K ‘Mavis' and H8K ‘Emily' Units by Edward M. Young
informative
medium-paced
5.0
KAWANISHI H6K 'MAVIS' AND H8K 'EMILY' UNITS is a richly informative, fascinating book not only about 2 of Japan's greatest long-ranging flying boats which were extensively used by its naval maritime air units throughout the Pacific War. It is also a book about the development of flying boats in Japan itself between the world wars. What's more: there are lots of photos of the various 'Mavis' and 'Emily' flying boats and crews, as well as illustrations of flying boats used by Japan between the 1920s and the end of World War II.
This book comes highly recommended.
This book comes highly recommended.
A History of the 17th Aero Squadron: An American Squadron on the Western Front During the First World War by Frederick Mortimer Clapp
informative
medium-paced
3.25
A History of the 17th Aero Squadron: An American Squadron on the Western Front during the First World War is, in essence, a rather cut and dried account by the author - who, himself a pilot, had acted as an adjutant with the 17th Aero Squadron - of the history and wartime achievements of a fighter squadron that from July 12 to October 28, 1918, flew combat missions under command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) over the British area of the Front.
Among its distinguished pilots was George A. Vaughn, Jr., who had initially flown S.E.5A fighters with No. 84 Squadron, RAF, where he made ace and upon transfer to the 17th Aero Squadron (which flew Sopwith Camels) achieved an additional 6 victories. He survived the war with 13 enemy aircraft to his credit. Vaughn would go on to become of the longest lived U.S. World War I aces, dying in July 1989, age 92.
The book contains some roughly sketched drawings depicting squadron life on base and in combat. There is also a chapter containing the combat reports of a number of pilots who shot down enemy aircraft between July and October 1918. While this was an interesting book to read, I wish photographs of the squadron and its personnel had been included.
All in all, A History of the 17th Aero Squadron is best suited for serious aviation enthusiasts anxious to know more about First World War aviation.
Among its distinguished pilots was George A. Vaughn, Jr., who had initially flown S.E.5A fighters with No. 84 Squadron, RAF, where he made ace and upon transfer to the 17th Aero Squadron (which flew Sopwith Camels) achieved an additional 6 victories. He survived the war with 13 enemy aircraft to his credit. Vaughn would go on to become of the longest lived U.S. World War I aces, dying in July 1989, age 92.
The book contains some roughly sketched drawings depicting squadron life on base and in combat. There is also a chapter containing the combat reports of a number of pilots who shot down enemy aircraft between July and October 1918. While this was an interesting book to read, I wish photographs of the squadron and its personnel had been included.
All in all, A History of the 17th Aero Squadron is best suited for serious aviation enthusiasts anxious to know more about First World War aviation.
Hoosier Aviator Paul Baer: America's First Combat Ace by Tony Garel-Frantzen
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Hoosier Aviator Paul Baer: America's First Combat Ace tells the story of a largely forgotten and overlooked World War I fighter pilot. Paul F. Baer (1894-1930) was born and reared in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He was a taciturn and self-effacing person with a thirst for adventure. It was this thirst that led him to join the Indiana National Guard, with which he saw service in Mexico in 1916 when the Guard was amalgamated with the U.S. Army as part of the "Punitive Expedition" sent into Mexico to hunt down Pancho Villa for the raid his band of brigands carried out on Columbus, NM, earlier that year.
Once the Expedition was concluded, Baer returned to Indiana. But he wouldn't be there long. Baer wangled his way to Europe, where, passport in hand, he was able to gain admittance into the French Service Aeronautique (via the French Foreign Legion), where he began his training as a pilot in February 1917. By August of that year, having secured his brevet, Baer was assigned to SPA 80, where he flew the SPAD VII fighter in combat for several months without securing a victory. From SPA 80, Baer was transferred to SPA 124 - aka the famous Escadrille Lafayette -in January 1918. The following month, the Escadrille Lafayette (composed of mainly American pilots who had flown for France since the spring of 1916) was incorporated into the U.S. Army as the 103rd Aero Squadron.
Shortly after the establishment of the 103rd Aero Squadron, Baer would come into his own as a combat pilot, achieving 9 confirmed aerial victories (his actual score was closer to 20, but not all of those victories could be confirmed since many of them had taken place far behind the German lines) before being shot down and captured in May 1918. Thus, Baer sat out the remainder of the war in a German POW camp.
Following the Armistice, Baer would return to the U.S., where he was feted for his wartime accomplishments. This attention he very much disliked, and avoided publicity inasmuch as possible throughout the remaining years of his life. Baer was a restless soul, volunteering his services as pilot on behalf of a newly reborn Poland during the Russo-Polish War (1919-21), then working for a short stint in Texas in the oil industry there, and back to France for a brief spell in the mid-1920s, where he volunteered his services in France's war with the Rif tribes in Morocco as a pilot.
Upon the conclusion of Rif War, Baer proceeded to Hollywood where he worked briefly, then to the Commerce Department's Aeronautics Branch where he was an aviation examiner responsible for administering "aviation examinations, issue pilot licenses and inspect airplanes while enforcing all aeronautical regulations and promoting an interest in flying."
Ever restless, Baer left the Commerce Dept. to join PAN AM Airways as an engineer in 1929. His work with the airline involved flying photographic missions over new flying fields that were being established throughout South America. But when word got round to Baer that transport pilots were needed in China, he left PAN AM and went over to China to serve as a pilot with the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), flying mail and passengers. Sadly, it was too prove a short-lived undertaking as Baer was killed in a flying accident in Shanghai in December 1930. At the time of his death, Baer had accrued over 3,000 flying hours. His body would be returned to the U.S. for burial in Fort Wayne a few months later.
Once the Expedition was concluded, Baer returned to Indiana. But he wouldn't be there long. Baer wangled his way to Europe, where, passport in hand, he was able to gain admittance into the French Service Aeronautique (via the French Foreign Legion), where he began his training as a pilot in February 1917. By August of that year, having secured his brevet, Baer was assigned to SPA 80, where he flew the SPAD VII fighter in combat for several months without securing a victory. From SPA 80, Baer was transferred to SPA 124 - aka the famous Escadrille Lafayette -in January 1918. The following month, the Escadrille Lafayette (composed of mainly American pilots who had flown for France since the spring of 1916) was incorporated into the U.S. Army as the 103rd Aero Squadron.
Shortly after the establishment of the 103rd Aero Squadron, Baer would come into his own as a combat pilot, achieving 9 confirmed aerial victories (his actual score was closer to 20, but not all of those victories could be confirmed since many of them had taken place far behind the German lines) before being shot down and captured in May 1918. Thus, Baer sat out the remainder of the war in a German POW camp.
Following the Armistice, Baer would return to the U.S., where he was feted for his wartime accomplishments. This attention he very much disliked, and avoided publicity inasmuch as possible throughout the remaining years of his life. Baer was a restless soul, volunteering his services as pilot on behalf of a newly reborn Poland during the Russo-Polish War (1919-21), then working for a short stint in Texas in the oil industry there, and back to France for a brief spell in the mid-1920s, where he volunteered his services in France's war with the Rif tribes in Morocco as a pilot.
Upon the conclusion of Rif War, Baer proceeded to Hollywood where he worked briefly, then to the Commerce Department's Aeronautics Branch where he was an aviation examiner responsible for administering "aviation examinations, issue pilot licenses and inspect airplanes while enforcing all aeronautical regulations and promoting an interest in flying."
Ever restless, Baer left the Commerce Dept. to join PAN AM Airways as an engineer in 1929. His work with the airline involved flying photographic missions over new flying fields that were being established throughout South America. But when word got round to Baer that transport pilots were needed in China, he left PAN AM and went over to China to serve as a pilot with the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), flying mail and passengers. Sadly, it was too prove a short-lived undertaking as Baer was killed in a flying accident in Shanghai in December 1930. At the time of his death, Baer had accrued over 3,000 flying hours. His body would be returned to the U.S. for burial in Fort Wayne a few months later.
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.
Wooden Props and Canvas Wings: Recollections and Reflections of a Wwi Pilot by William Christi Robert William Christie
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
2.5
Memoirs from former U.S. bomber pilots of World War I - in contrast to the plethora of wartime memoirs from their U.S. pursuit (fighter) pilot contemporaries - are rarer than hens' teeth. That is why I was gratified to find WOODEN PROPS AND CANVAS WINGS: Recollections and Reflections of a World War I Pilot by Robert William Christie, whose father George Robert Christie (1894-1994) had served in the U.S. Army Air Service as a pilot with a frontline bomber squadron during the fall of 1918.
I've been an aviation enthusiast since my junior high school days in the late 1970s. To date, I've come across 3 bomber pilot memoirs from U.S. World War I combat veterans. Each of them, in varying degrees, provided the reader with a sense of what the training regimen - both in the U.S. and in France (albeit a number of pilot trainees did receive training in Canada and the UK) - was like for the bomber pilot trainee.
The U.S., given its late entry into the war in April 1917, had a military aviation arm (then part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps) that was woefully unprepared for the demands of modern warfare. The planes that it possessed were in no way the match of any Allied or German frontline aircraft. Even amid wartime pressures and Congress voting several million dollars for the domestic aviation industry, the U.S. failed to produce its own U.S. designed combat worthy aircraft during World War I and were reliant on the British, French, and Italians to provide their units with their latest combat aircraft. Nor was the U.S. able to develop a fully comprehensive pilot training program during the war in which pilot trainees received all of their training - basic, intermediate, and advanced -- in the U.S. and could then be posted to a frontline unit upon arrival in France. There simply weren't enough flight instructors in the U.S. who could provide training of that magnitude. So, it was the U.S., in league with a number of universities (e.g., Cornell University - where George Christie received his initial Air Service training - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, Georgia Tech, Princeton, and the University of California at Berkeley), created a program for ground school training for would be pilot trainees. Ground school varied from 8 to 12 weeks. Those who successfully completed ground school were then sent to a number of flying fields in the U.S. for basic flight training, where it was determined if the aviation cadet truly had the aptitude to fly an airplane.
The best part about WOODEN PROPS AND CANVAS WINGS is that it provides the reader in one of its chapters with a copy of the complete curriculum program that the U.S. Army Air Service used in its ground schools during the war.
Furthermore, large parts of the book are derived from recorded interviews the author had with his father when he was in his 80s about his wartime experiences as a pilot. This, along with wartime diary excerpts uncovered by the author after his father's death, gives the book a credibility and gravitas that was invaluable. But what takes away from the book's authenticity is the author's admission that "[the] newspaper headlines [which are displayed at the beginning of each chapter] are fictional, cobbled up by the author to give the reader a sense of the tenor of the war as recorded in the newspapers of that era. The letters from overseas are also unauthentic." I don't think it would have been too much trouble for the author to have included actual newspaper headlines from that time period. They would have made the tone of the book even more credible and honest.
The book also suffered from several, glaring errors surrounding various aspects of U.S., Allied, and German aviation during World War I. Let me cite a few of these errors. The author refers to the Imperial German Air Service as the Luftstreitkräfte from its inception prewar. There was no Luftstreitkräfte until October 1916. Prior to that date, the Imperial German Air Service (which was a part of the German Army) was known as die Fliegertruppen.
The author also identifies Eddie Rickenbacker - the top U.S. pursuit ace of the war with 26 victories - as having served with the Escadrille Lafayette (a French pursuit or chasse squadron made up of American pilots who flew for France between 1916 and early 1918) and later the U.S. 103rd Aero Squadron, whom he identifies as "the Hat in the Ring Squadron." This is INCORRECT. Rickenbacker joined the U.S. Army in 1917, received his flight training in France (under a hybrid training scheme which combined the French and American modes of training), and was posted in March 1918 to the 94th Aero Squadron, which was one of the first American pursuit squadrons at the Front. It was the 94th Aero Squadron that later became known as "the Hat in the Ring" squadron because of the emblem it bore on the fuselages of its planes of Uncle Sam's colorful red, white, and blue hat in a ring. The 103 Aero Squadron, prior to its incorporation into the U.S. Army in February 1918, had been a part of the French Aviation Militaire, where it was known as the Escadrille Lafayette, sporting as its symbol, the head of a Sioux chief (wearing a war bonnet) in profile.
There are also some other egregious misspellings and historical errors in the book that I won't point out here. But for me, as a longtime aviation enthusiast, I was disappointed to have found so many of these errors that I would attribute to poor editing and lapses in research. Were it not for these errors and omissions, I would rate WOODEN PROPS AND CANVAS WINGS much higher because it contains a lot of valuable information highlighting the training of U.S. bomber pilots during World War I.
I've been an aviation enthusiast since my junior high school days in the late 1970s. To date, I've come across 3 bomber pilot memoirs from U.S. World War I combat veterans. Each of them, in varying degrees, provided the reader with a sense of what the training regimen - both in the U.S. and in France (albeit a number of pilot trainees did receive training in Canada and the UK) - was like for the bomber pilot trainee.
The U.S., given its late entry into the war in April 1917, had a military aviation arm (then part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps) that was woefully unprepared for the demands of modern warfare. The planes that it possessed were in no way the match of any Allied or German frontline aircraft. Even amid wartime pressures and Congress voting several million dollars for the domestic aviation industry, the U.S. failed to produce its own U.S. designed combat worthy aircraft during World War I and were reliant on the British, French, and Italians to provide their units with their latest combat aircraft. Nor was the U.S. able to develop a fully comprehensive pilot training program during the war in which pilot trainees received all of their training - basic, intermediate, and advanced -- in the U.S. and could then be posted to a frontline unit upon arrival in France. There simply weren't enough flight instructors in the U.S. who could provide training of that magnitude. So, it was the U.S., in league with a number of universities (e.g., Cornell University - where George Christie received his initial Air Service training - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, Georgia Tech, Princeton, and the University of California at Berkeley), created a program for ground school training for would be pilot trainees. Ground school varied from 8 to 12 weeks. Those who successfully completed ground school were then sent to a number of flying fields in the U.S. for basic flight training, where it was determined if the aviation cadet truly had the aptitude to fly an airplane.
The best part about WOODEN PROPS AND CANVAS WINGS is that it provides the reader in one of its chapters with a copy of the complete curriculum program that the U.S. Army Air Service used in its ground schools during the war.
Furthermore, large parts of the book are derived from recorded interviews the author had with his father when he was in his 80s about his wartime experiences as a pilot. This, along with wartime diary excerpts uncovered by the author after his father's death, gives the book a credibility and gravitas that was invaluable. But what takes away from the book's authenticity is the author's admission that "[the] newspaper headlines [which are displayed at the beginning of each chapter] are fictional, cobbled up by the author to give the reader a sense of the tenor of the war as recorded in the newspapers of that era. The letters from overseas are also unauthentic." I don't think it would have been too much trouble for the author to have included actual newspaper headlines from that time period. They would have made the tone of the book even more credible and honest.
The book also suffered from several, glaring errors surrounding various aspects of U.S., Allied, and German aviation during World War I. Let me cite a few of these errors. The author refers to the Imperial German Air Service as the Luftstreitkräfte from its inception prewar. There was no Luftstreitkräfte until October 1916. Prior to that date, the Imperial German Air Service (which was a part of the German Army) was known as die Fliegertruppen.
The author also identifies Eddie Rickenbacker - the top U.S. pursuit ace of the war with 26 victories - as having served with the Escadrille Lafayette (a French pursuit or chasse squadron made up of American pilots who flew for France between 1916 and early 1918) and later the U.S. 103rd Aero Squadron, whom he identifies as "the Hat in the Ring Squadron." This is INCORRECT. Rickenbacker joined the U.S. Army in 1917, received his flight training in France (under a hybrid training scheme which combined the French and American modes of training), and was posted in March 1918 to the 94th Aero Squadron, which was one of the first American pursuit squadrons at the Front. It was the 94th Aero Squadron that later became known as "the Hat in the Ring" squadron because of the emblem it bore on the fuselages of its planes of Uncle Sam's colorful red, white, and blue hat in a ring. The 103 Aero Squadron, prior to its incorporation into the U.S. Army in February 1918, had been a part of the French Aviation Militaire, where it was known as the Escadrille Lafayette, sporting as its symbol, the head of a Sioux chief (wearing a war bonnet) in profile.
There are also some other egregious misspellings and historical errors in the book that I won't point out here. But for me, as a longtime aviation enthusiast, I was disappointed to have found so many of these errors that I would attribute to poor editing and lapses in research. Were it not for these errors and omissions, I would rate WOODEN PROPS AND CANVAS WINGS much higher because it contains a lot of valuable information highlighting the training of U.S. bomber pilots during World War I.
Wandering Through Life A Memoir by Donna Leon
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Best-selling author of the Commissario Brunetti mystery novels, Donna Leon has written a fascinating memoir, Wandering through Life, which is aptly described as "a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor" about her life which she maintains "has rather more happened to her than has been planned."
Leon begins the memoir by sharing with the reader her family origins, which are rooted in Germany and Latin America. She was a child of the 1940s and 1950s in New Jersey, and speaks at some length about the times she and her older brother spent on her maternal grandfather's farm in New Jersey, which he had developed into a diverse business enterprise, hiring seasonal employees (i.e., Irish immigrant men to whom he offered employment) to help him till the soil, raise the chickens and pigs who would later be slaughtered for meat, and sell other produce to the public that was generated yearly. I especially enjoyed Leon's description of her mother, as well as her telling of the influence her parents had on the lives of herself and her brother. They were not demanding parents who expected their children to aspire for specific careers in, say, medicine or law. But rather to be self-reliant and live lives that matched their own inclinations.
So, it was that Leon, after living through her 20s and early 30s as a student much absorbed in academia and travel, took on teaching stints in pre-revolutionary Iran, China (during the late 1970s), Saudi Arabia, and Italy - where from the early 1980s, she taught English literature for a time to U.S. military personnel on an Army base, and later settled in Venice.
Leon speaks on many subjects that have piqued her interest through the years. Chief among her passions is opera, which I remember her speaking about at some length at a reading she gave about a decade ago in a local bookstore. I found her to be very engaging and the manner in which she spoke about the writing process made me feel, perhaps, that some day, I, too, could write a novel or two.
In the memoir's final chapter (entitled "Miss Brill" so named after a character in a Katherine Mansfield short story), Leon relates to the reader the revelation she experienced one day while working in her garden and found a task that once came easily to her, now difficult to do on account of age. It made me think of some of the physical challenges this year that, I, as a late stage Baby Boomer, experienced when I developed age-related lumbar issues and an arthritic hip. The following remarks made by Leon resonated very deeply with me: "... when we can't do something we once did with ease, we can't look away from it and pretend it didn't happen. ... As we approach the other end of life, ... , society washes its hands of us. Suddenly, there are no laws that will protect us from our own reckless choices. The same societies that do not hesitate to interfere in the private lives of people near the beginning of their lives refuse to accept responsibility when the same people are nearing the other end."
Wandering through Life is a delightful and engaging memoir that can be easily read in a few hours or over a couple of days. I recommend it to anyone who is a Donna Leon fan.
Leon begins the memoir by sharing with the reader her family origins, which are rooted in Germany and Latin America. She was a child of the 1940s and 1950s in New Jersey, and speaks at some length about the times she and her older brother spent on her maternal grandfather's farm in New Jersey, which he had developed into a diverse business enterprise, hiring seasonal employees (i.e., Irish immigrant men to whom he offered employment) to help him till the soil, raise the chickens and pigs who would later be slaughtered for meat, and sell other produce to the public that was generated yearly. I especially enjoyed Leon's description of her mother, as well as her telling of the influence her parents had on the lives of herself and her brother. They were not demanding parents who expected their children to aspire for specific careers in, say, medicine or law. But rather to be self-reliant and live lives that matched their own inclinations.
So, it was that Leon, after living through her 20s and early 30s as a student much absorbed in academia and travel, took on teaching stints in pre-revolutionary Iran, China (during the late 1970s), Saudi Arabia, and Italy - where from the early 1980s, she taught English literature for a time to U.S. military personnel on an Army base, and later settled in Venice.
Leon speaks on many subjects that have piqued her interest through the years. Chief among her passions is opera, which I remember her speaking about at some length at a reading she gave about a decade ago in a local bookstore. I found her to be very engaging and the manner in which she spoke about the writing process made me feel, perhaps, that some day, I, too, could write a novel or two.
In the memoir's final chapter (entitled "Miss Brill" so named after a character in a Katherine Mansfield short story), Leon relates to the reader the revelation she experienced one day while working in her garden and found a task that once came easily to her, now difficult to do on account of age. It made me think of some of the physical challenges this year that, I, as a late stage Baby Boomer, experienced when I developed age-related lumbar issues and an arthritic hip. The following remarks made by Leon resonated very deeply with me: "... when we can't do something we once did with ease, we can't look away from it and pretend it didn't happen. ... As we approach the other end of life, ... , society washes its hands of us. Suddenly, there are no laws that will protect us from our own reckless choices. The same societies that do not hesitate to interfere in the private lives of people near the beginning of their lives refuse to accept responsibility when the same people are nearing the other end."
Wandering through Life is a delightful and engaging memoir that can be easily read in a few hours or over a couple of days. I recommend it to anyone who is a Donna Leon fan.
Fly in thin air: A novel of aviation before and during World War II. by William R. Dameron
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Fly in Thin Air is a novel that tells 2 stories that roughly run parallel to each other. One is centered on Lockheed Aircraft and some of the pivotal figures within it (such as Robert E. Gross, its President who had submitted a successful bid in June 1932 for ownership of the company; Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, a young and extremely talented aeronautical engineer who helped perfect some of the most revolutionary aircraft in history - such as the P-38 Lightning fighter plane - that Lockheed would produce; Marshall Headle, a former WWI pilot and Lockheed test pilot; and Hall Hibbard, a chief engineer at Lockheed) during the 1930s and World War II. The other story is centered around a fictional character, Jimmy Foster, who, while attending high school in the mid-1930s not far from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, CA, is offered an opportunity to do odd jobs at Lockheed. This would lead on to other, greater opportunities for Jimmy, who gets accepted for pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 and goes on to become a fighter pilot in World War II, flying the P-38 Lightning in combat.
The aviation and air fighting sequences are what gives life and drama to this novel. The other aspects of the novel are pedestrian fare at best. Nevertheless, reading Fly in Thin Air was a worthwhile experience.
The aviation and air fighting sequences are what gives life and drama to this novel. The other aspects of the novel are pedestrian fare at best. Nevertheless, reading Fly in Thin Air was a worthwhile experience.
The Battle of Britain: Hitler's First Bloody Nose by Ron Powell
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Provides a short history (with photos and a map) of one of the key battles of the Second World War, which was fought between two contending air forces: the Battle of Britain, which took place between July and October 1940.