Aircraft of the Aces 045 - British and Empire Aces of World War I (2001).pdf

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OSPREY AIRCRAF T OF THE ACES

• 45

British and Empire

Aces of World War 1

Christopher Shores

SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES

OSPREY AIRCRAF T OF THE ACES

• 45

British and Empire

Aces of World War 1

Christopher Shores

SPREY

PUBLISHING

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

EARLY DAYS 6

CHAPTER TWO

1916: CLASH OF WINGS 13

CHAPTER THREE

1917: NO LET UP 23

CHAPTER FOUR

1918: THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

IS BORN 37

CHAPTER FIVE

THE NATURE OF CLAIMS 47

CHAPTER SIX

A-Z OF ACES 62

APPENDICES 89

C O L O U R P L AT E S C O M M E N TA R Y 9 3

INDEX 96

CHAPTER ONE

EARLY DAYS

hen the First World War broke out in August 1914 the

concept of a battle in the skies between opposing aircraft was

still the stuff of contemporary science fiction. It must be

remembered that it was about 12 years since man had first flown in a

heavier-than-air craft, and considerably less than that since Louis Blériot

had achieved the first non-stop flight across the English Channel. Indeed

the wonder is that the inherently conservative military establishments of

most of the world’s major powers had already seen so great a promise in this

new-fangled invention to allocate human and financial resources to acquire

and test it for military purposes.

At this stage the aeroplane was seen as no more than a vehicle for

reconnaissance, able to trespass further into hostile territory with less

risk and effort than could the traditional troop of cavalry. These early

machines were without doubt the fragile, unreliable collections of stick

and string which have since been

classified as representing aviation

during this first air war. However,

the development of aviation during

the four years which followed proved

to be rapid in the extreme. This

earlier description, whilst perhaps

apt for 1914–15, is inappropriate

and unfair when considering the

machines of 1917–18. By that time

the aircraft in front line service

were tough, robust, and remarkably

reliable. Further, the essential

doctrines of aerial warfare had

already been developed to a degree

An enlisted man who later became

an officer – and the most highly

decorated British ace – James

McCudden is seen here in the rear

seat of one of No 3 Squadron’s

Deperdussin monoplanes while still

a pre-war First Class Air Mechanic

(Bruce Robertson)

Five years later, Major James

McCudden is pictured in the cockpit

of his powerful new Royal Aircraft

Factory S.E.5 fighter. McCudden

was killed in a take-off accident in

July 1918

(MARS)

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