Vintage Aviation Library

A WWI pilot's memoir of flying with the unit that dropped the first bomb at night on Germany-and, on November 11, 1918, the last one. One of the many who came to Europe from all over the British Commonwealth to fight in the First World War, A. R. Kingsford had sailed from New Zealand in 1914. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 and learned to fly at Northolt before being posted to 33 Squadron at Lincoln, where he flew against Zeppelins sent from across the North Sea on night bombing raids. Kingsford joined 100 Squadron in France early in 1918 and had an active career with this famous squadron up until the end of the war. Full of adventure, Night Raiders of the Air is a first-person account of this young volunteer's experiences during the Great War-a fascinating read for anyone interested in the early days of military aviation.

The story of one of Germany's pioneers in aerial combat ... Max Immelmann was born in Dresden, the son of a container factory owner. When World War I started, Immelmann was recalled to active service, transferred to the Luftstreitkäfte and was sent for pilot training in November 1914. He was initially stationed in northern France as a reconnaissance aviator. On June 3, 1915 he was shot down by a French pilot but managed to land safely behind German lines. He was decorated with the Iron Cross, Second Class for preserving his aircraft. Later in 1915, he became one of the first German fighter pilots, quickly building an impressive score of victories as he became known as The Eagle of Lille (Der Adler von Lille). Immelmann was the first pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest military honor. The medal became colloquially known as the "Blue Max" in the German Air Service in honor of Immelmann. His medal was presented by Kaiser Wilhelm II in January 1916. Oswald Boelcke received his medal at the same ceremony. Founder of the aerial combat maneuver that still bears his name, Immelmann was credited with 15 victories, his final one coming on 30 March 1916. He will forever be associated with the Fokker Eindecker, Germany's first fighter aircraft, and the first to be armed with a machine gun synchronized to fire forward through the propeller arc. Along with Oswald Boelcke and other pilots, Immelmann was one of the main instigators of the Fokker Scourge which inflicted heavy loses upon British and French aircrews during 1915. Originally published in 1930 by John Hamilton in London, the book has been reprinted (most recently in the 1990's by Greenhill Books as part of it's Vintage Aviation Library) and each time has been reproduced from the original 1930's version of the book. This new Casemate edition has been entirely reoriginated. Not a word has been changed, but the original (very dated) type and page layout have been reworked, as has been the format in which the book is presented, to give a beautiful new treatment to this classic of aviation literature.

A visceral and accurate firsthand account of flying with the Imperial German Air Force during WWI. The airborne fighting squadrons of the Imperial German Luftstreitkräfte-known as the Jagdstaffel, or Jasta for short-were a fearsome and elite force throughout the Great War. Though the entire force was dissolved and their aircraft destroyed by order of the Treaty of Versailles, the stories of the pilots remain in books like Jagdstaffel 356. Although the author has given this Jagdstaffel a fictitious number and changed the names of the pilots composing it, the vivid descriptions and accurate narrative have the genuine ring of truth. Anyone who has had experience of flying on the Western Front or who has studied it since will recognize this chronicle as factual. Many experts believe this work draws on the experience of the Bavarian Jasta 35, which flew against the British; however, whatever its real number may have been, the squadron depicted in Jagdstaffel 356 undoubtedly fought in the air over Flanders in 1918.

This candid WWI memoir takes readers inside the cockpit with an RAF officer on the Western Front from the outbreak the Great War until its end in 1918. Louis Arbon Strange was at the Royal Air Force's Central Flying School when war broke out in 1914. He immediately reported to Royal Flying Corps headquarters and joined No.5 Squadron. Strage remained on active duty throughout the war, serving his country over the Western Front from August of that year until the enemy's surrender. Strange transferred to No.6 Squadron in 1915 and went on to form and command No.23 Squadron. Due to illness, he did not accompany his Squadron to France, but spent that time training others. He took charge of the Machine-Gun School at Hythe and other schools of aerial gunnery before returning to the Front. There he commanded the 23rd Wing, and finally took command of the 80th Wing from June 1918 until the end of the war. As Strange chronicles his experiences, he provides unique insight into how and why the Allied airmen eventually prevailed.

A rare day-to-day account by a young German squadron leader in Jagdstaffel 35 during the grim last year of World War I. Originally published in 1933, Wings of War provides minute descriptions of kills, losses, and the Germans' step-by-step retreat in the face of increasingly overwhelming Allied forces in the air. Brutally honest and vividly written, Rudolf Stark's account of the end-game of the Imperial German Army Air Service provides an intimate, front-row glimpse of the death-throes of a once feared corps. This book also contains reproductions of some of the author's paintings depicting life on the Western Front.

Through firsthand accounts, as well as archival material, The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City tells the dramatic story of the place and people that bore the brunt of Russia's vengeance against the Nazi regime. In 1945, in the face of the advancing Red Army, two and a half million people were forced out of Germany's most easterly province, East Prussia, and in particular its capital, Königsberg. Their flight was a direct result of Hitler's ill-fated decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941. The Russians launched Operation Bagration in June 1944, to coincide with the D-Day landings. As US and British forces pushed west, the Russians liberated Eastern Europe and made their first attacks on German soil in the autumn of 1944. Königsberg itself was badly damaged by two British air raids at the end of August 1944, and the main offensive against the city by the Red Army began in January 1945. The depleted and poorly armed German army could do little to hold it back, and by the end of January, East Prussia was cut off. The Russians exacted a terrible revenge on the civilian population, who were forced to flee across the freezing Baltic coast in an attempt to escape. On April 9, the city surrendered to the Russians after a four-day onslaught.

The story of the World War I fighter pilot the Red Baron himself sought to emulate ... German air ace Oswald Boelcke was a national hero during World War I. He was the youngest captain in the German air force, decorated with the Pour le Mérite while still only a lieutenant, and credited with forty aerial victories at the time of his death. Becoming a pilot shortly before the outbreak of the war, Boelcke established his reputation on the Western front first in reconnaissance, then in scouts, before finally becoming the best known of the early German aces, along with Max Immelmann. After Immelmann' s death, he was taken off flying and traveled to the Eastern front where he met a young pilot called Manfred von Richthofen. Transferred back to the Western Front in command of Jasta 2, he remembered von Richthofen when new small fighting units were formed and chose him as a pilot for his new Staffel. Boelcke was tragically killed in a flying accident during combat in October 1916, although not before the reputation of his unit, together with his own, had been firmly established forever. This absorbing biography was written with the blessing of Boelcke's family. Professor Werner was given access to his letters and other papers, and presents here a rounded and fascinating portrait of a great airman and a remarkable soldier who became known as the father of the German Jagdflieger. This edition has been completely reoriginated while remaining faithful to the language of the time of its original translation from German in the 1930s.

The day-to-day insights of a brilliantly daring World War I ace that only ends with his death at the age of 23... James McCudden was an outstanding British fighter ace of World War I, whose daring exploits earned him a tremendous reputation and, ultimately, an untimely end. Here, in this unique and gripping firsthand account, he brings to life some of aviation history's most dramatic episodes in a memoir completed at the age of twenty-three, just days before his tragic death. During his time in France with the Royal Flying Corps from 1914 to 1918, McCudden rose from mechanic to pilot and flight commander. Following his first kill in September 1916, McCudden shot down a total of fifty-seven enemy planes, including a remarkable three in a single minute in January 1918. A dashing patrol leader, he combined courage, loyalty, and judgment, studying the habits and psychology of enemy pilots and stalking them with patience and tenacity. Written with modesty and frankness, yet acutely perceptive, Flying Fury is both a valuable insight into the world of early aviation and a powerful account of courage and survival above the mud and trenches of Flanders. Fighter ace James McCudden died in July 1918, after engine failure caused his plane to crash just four months before the end of World War I. His success as one of Britain's deadliest pilots earned him the Victoria Cross.

This candid WWI memoir takes readers inside the cockpit with an RAF officer on the Western Front from the outbreak the Great War until its end in 1918. Louis Arbon Strange was at the Royal Air Force's Central Flying School when war broke out in 1914. He immediately reported to Royal Flying Corps headquarters and joined No.5 Squadron. Strage remained on active duty throughout the war, serving his country over the Western Front from August of that year until the enemy's surrender. Strange transferred to No.6 Squadron in 1915 and went on to form and command No.23 Squadron. Due to illness, he did not accompany his Squadron to France, but spent that time training others. He took charge of the Machine-Gun School at Hythe and other schools of aerial gunnery before returning to the Front. There he commanded the 23rd Wing, and finally took command of the 80th Wing from June 1918 until the end of the war. As Strange chronicles his experiences, he provides unique insight into how and why the Allied airmen eventually prevailed.

A penetrating study of Britain's top World War I fighter ace, written by fellow pilot Ira Jones, the author of An Air Fighter's Scrapbook. Ira Jones' biography of Britain's top-scoring ace of the First World War has become the subject of some controversy over the last few years; most notably, it claims seventy-three "kills" for Mannock, making him the number-one-scoring Allied ace of the war. Later research has thrown serious doubt on this assertion, and indeed, Mannock himself only claimed fifty-one kills. Jones' biography is nevertheless an important account, especially when seen in the context of the time in which it was first written. In particular, the biography delves into the mind of Mannock, portraying the singular nature of his character and the true stress that these pioneer air fighters experienced in the last few months of the war. Originally published in 1934 by Ivor Nicholson and Watson in London, the book has been reprinted-most recently in the 1990s by Greenhill Books as part of its Vintage Aviation Library-and reproduced from the original 1930s version of the book. Not a word has been changed in this Casemate edition, but the original, very dated type and page layout have been reworked, as has been the format in which the book is presented, to give a beautiful new treatment to this classic of aviation literature.

Ira "Taffy" Jones was a well-known air fighter during the First World War, having scored about 40 victories flying SE5 scouts in France with 74 Squadron. Well known in flying circles, Jones recorded stories drawn from his own experiences during the war and wrote of the many personalities he had met or known by association, both during the war and in the post-war flying years. An Air Fighter's Scrap Book recreates the atmosphere of the days of the biplane, of wartime flying, of early peacetime adventures in the air, the development of civil aviation, and breathtaking record beating flights, all evoking the sheer delight in flying that characterized those early years.

A classic aviation memoir: An American pilot's account of air combat in the First World War. Charles J. Biddle, a Philadelphia native, was active in France from 1917, where he flew as a volunteer, initially for the French in Escadrille 73, and then in the American 103rd Aero Squadron (the Lafayette Escadrille), and then the 13th Aero Squadron and 4th Pursuit Group, which he commanded. His memoir was published shortly after his return to the United States and provides an immediacy that is lacking in other books that were written later. Accounts of US pilots from this period are relatively rare, and this one paints a compelling picture of a group of Americans fighting as volunteers for the French. Biddle's US compatriots soon established their own capability and wrung free of French direction-and as this book reveals, it was largely because of their combat prowess. For his service, Biddle was awarded the French Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre, the American Distinguished Service Cross and the Belgian Order of Leopold II. This memoir gives us a unique perspective on America's participation in the Great War.

This book, originally written in 1931 by "Vigilant" (the pen name for Claude Sykes), tells the dramatic tales of air combat as fought by the best German pilots of the First World War. Manfred von Richthofen, Max Immelmann, Oswald Boelcke and other famous daredevil flyers are joined by the lesser-known but equally resourceful colleagues such as Rudolph von Eschwege and Hand Shuz, taking part in furious battles in the sky and close escapes on the ground when brought down on the wrong side of the lines. German War Birds contains some of the earliest information to appear after the war about air combat in the Middle East and Russia, as well as the Western Front, and about the significance of observation balloons as targets that were viciously attacked. The author focuses on the heart of the action and recreates the experiences of the airborne war with immediacy, excitement and a vivid turn of phrase, drawing the reader into events as they happen.

"McScotch" himself describes his book and pays tribute to a colleague in this note, which appears at the front of the volume: "This book consists of the reminiscences of an ordinary fighter pilot of the R.F.C. who had the privilege of serving in one of the leading Fighter Squadrons and who had the honor of being the friend of the supreme fighter of all the Air Forces, that indomitable and lovable patriot, 'MICK' MANNOCK, V.C., D.S.O., M.C." Available records and publications show "McScotch" himself as a fighter pilot with 40 Squadron, holding the rank of lieutenant and then captain. He is credited with 12 kills of German opponents. This is a detailed and exciting account of squadron life and shows the bravery and true comradeship of these flyers.