Michael Foley - Pioneers of Aerial Combat: Air battles of the First World War

To Lewis.

I didnt know you could miss someone so much.

Other books by Michael Foley

Front-Line Essex Sutton, 2005

Front-Line Kent Sutton, 2006

Essex, Ready For Anything Sutton, 2006

Hard As Nails Spellmount, 2007

Front-Line Suffolk Sutton, 2007

Front-Line Thames History Press, 2008

More Front-Line Essex History Press, 2008

Essex in the First World War History Press, 2009

Prisoners of the British Bank House Books, 2009

Essex at War Through Time Amberley, 2009

London Under Attack History Press, 2010

London Through Time Amberley, 2010

Havering Through Time Amberley, 2010

Barking and Dagenham Through Time Amberley, 2010

Londons East End Through Time Amberley, 2011

Disasters on the Thames History Press, 2011

Essex Through Time Amberley, 2012

Essex at War in Old Photographs Amberley, 2012

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Michael Foley 2013

ISBN 978 1 78159 272 4
PDF ISBN: 978 1 47382 938 1
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47382 852 0
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47382 895 7

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Contents

Acknowledgement

Thank you to Linne Matthews for all her hard work in editing this book. And thanks also to James Payne of Through their Eyes (www.throughtheireyes2.co.uk) for the use of his photographs.

Note on illustrations
The pictures in this book are from the authors own collection of postcards, magazines and old photograph albums and it has been impossible to determine if any copyright is attached to them. Any infringement of copyright as a result of their publication is entirely unintentional; if any copyright has been infringed, the author extends his apologies to the parties concerned.

Introduction

T he world of the early aircraft has always been something that has fascinated me, which is one of the reasons I have come to write this book. The courage of those early pioneers of flight was incredible; they risked their lives in what were often machines held together by bits of string and wood. When they took off they didnt know if their aircraft would hold together until they landed or whether the engine would continue to run once they were off the ground.

I find it amazing how flight evolved so quickly from those early flimsy machines into the faster, more reliable aircraft that within little more than a decade of the first flights were performing incredible acts of flying in the conflict of the First World War. It is, of course, an accepted fact that the rapid progression in the art of flying was mainly due to the outbreak of the war. Governments would not have been willing to spend so much money on the development and production of aircraft in peacetime. This was especially true of the British Government, who in the early years of flight lagged behind other powers in the use of flying machines and was totally unprepared for the war when it began. Private producers of aircraft would also not have put as much effort into developing new aircraft if they did not have such a ready market for their wares.

According to an early copy of The War Illustrated magazine, the French did more to improve their military aviation in the first two weeks of the war than they had done in the previous two years of peace, and this was despite France being one of the leading countries in the development of early flight.

There has obviously been much written about early flight since the First World War. Much of the research for this book has come from what was written at the time by those involved, including features in newspapers and periodicals. Of course, this has to be taken in the light of how much of what was reported was propaganda. I have, however, tried to present a balanced view of events.

One of the most surprising aspects of the organization of flight during the war was the dispute over who should have been in charge of organizing the supply of aircraft. The early years of the war were marked by fierce competition between the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) as both arms of the flying service tried to outdo each other in obtaining the best aircraft in the greatest numbers.

When the government did try and do something about the situation it seems that the men and groups given the task were unable to force both sides into an agreement often due to the fact that they had no power to do so. Throughout the war there were a number of committees formed by the government to do just this but none were given sufficient powers to carry out the task. There also seemed to be little government stomach for a fight with the Admiralty, who appeared to be intent on obtaining for themselves the best aviation materials available, even if this was at the expense of the war effort as a whole.

The disputes also carried on in later years between the Air Board and the Ministry of Munitions over who was the most qualified to take control of aircraft production. There are a number of reports available in The National Archives from both of these organizations that seem to show them trying to outdo each other and argue their own case perhaps often at the expense of what was the best action for the war effort.

An obviously very popular aviation meet, going by the size of the crowd. Unfortunately, there is no location of the picture given on this postcard.

I have concentrated on events that took place in England and on the Western Front in relation to aviation during the war. There were, of course, other theatres of war where flying took place during the conflict and no doubt much of what I have written would also apply to the situation in these places, but perhaps that is something for another time.

Michael Foley
Romford, 2013

Chapter 1

Early Years of Flight

T he beginning of the twentieth century was a significant time in the development of manned flight. There had been numerous attempts at flight in the early years of the century, mostly unsuccessful and many fatal for those who attempted it. The greatest level of success seemed to be with gliders. This was no doubt due to the lack of reliable engines.

In the early twentieth century, Gustave Whitehead, a German living in America, claimed that he and a passenger had made a half-mile powered flight. Another German, Karl Jatho, had a motor glider that supposedly hopped for about 60 metres at a height of 3 metres. This was months before the Wright brothers first flight. However, what is now recognized as the first powered flight took place on 17 December 1903, when the Wright brothers made a number of powered flights, the longest being of fifty-seven seconds. Where the Wright brothers succeeded over the other early claimants was that they had recognized proof of their success.