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Product Description
Product Description
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.
About the Author
Peter Hart was born in 1955. He went to Liverpool University before joining the Sound Archive at the Imperial War Museum in 1981. He is now Oral Historian at the Archive.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can not recommend this book more highly.
The author explains the battle of Arras from all perspectives. The text uses the words and experiences of those who were present and this brings the book to life. The detail those accounts give is wonderful and you can soon be transported in time.
A truly worthy account of the sacrifices made by the brave men of the RFC.
The author explains the battle of Arras from all perspectives. The text uses the words and experiences of those who were present and this brings the book to life. The detail those accounts give is wonderful and you can soon be transported in time.
A truly worthy account of the sacrifices made by the brave men of the RFC.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a fitting tribute to the airmen of the Royal Flying Corps during the struggle for air supremacy in Spring 1917.
Based on letters and personal accounts, it leads the reader through this period, when control of the air over the trenches was so vital to the army. Many moving accounts bear testimony to the price paid by the crews in obsolete machines, who remained determined to support their comrades in the mud below, in spite of sometimes appalling weather and the increasing depredations of the enemy's newer and more powerful machines. It also highlights the crucial part played by the crews of the artillery spotting and reconnaissance aircraft during this struggle, when so many were lost. The part played by the more famous 'aces' on both sides, is also vividly described. An excellent read and one that I will enjoy reading again in the future.
Based on letters and personal accounts, it leads the reader through this period, when control of the air over the trenches was so vital to the army. Many moving accounts bear testimony to the price paid by the crews in obsolete machines, who remained determined to support their comrades in the mud below, in spite of sometimes appalling weather and the increasing depredations of the enemy's newer and more powerful machines. It also highlights the crucial part played by the crews of the artillery spotting and reconnaissance aircraft during this struggle, when so many were lost. The part played by the more famous 'aces' on both sides, is also vividly described. An excellent read and one that I will enjoy reading again in the future.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Peter Hart has used all his sources to describe, in amazing detail, the experience of RFC and RNAS Squadrons. His style of using contemporary and later oral testimony is revealing. The existing understanding of hopeless sacrifice, is confounded and the true heroism of the RFC crews, flying outdated machines in a vital mission to protect the infantry expounded. A revealing explanation and essential reading to any historian.
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