Introduction
1. Charles D. Smart, RAF Ref B2207, 4 February 1917
2. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1, 25 May 1917
3. See Laurence Binyon’s poem ‘The Fallen’ written in 1914
4. Sub-Committee on Imperial Defence, ‘Control of Aircraft’, 3 February 1913, National Archives, AIR 1/653/17/22/489
5. Sub-Committee on Imperial Defence, ‘Report of the Sub-Committee of Imperial Defence on Aerial Navigation’, 29 February 1912, National Archives, AIR 1/653/17/22/489
6. Extract from the Aldershot Annual Report for 1913, in War Office, ‘Establishment of the Royal Flying Corps for which Accommodation Should be Provided’, 2 June 1913, National Archives, WO 32/7212 National Archives WO 32/7212
7. Sub-Committee on Aerial Navigation, 29 February 1912
8. Letter from the Secretary War Office to Secretary Admiralty – 7 August 1912, National Archives, AIR 1/653/17/122/489
9. Reference will be made to the pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service only when similarities in flying experience or operational necessity brought the two air services together. Their chief influence was in Home Defence where the RNAS will be discussed in more detail.
10. The aviation terms such as ‘Flying Officer’ or ‘Wing Commander’ would come much later with the establishment of the Royal Air Force. During the First World War, the RFC was a part of the army, and this was reflected in its terminology.
11. Sub-Committee of Imperial Defence, 29 February 1912
12. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps (Folkestone: Bailey Brothers & Swifen, 1973 {1968}) p. 1
13. William Fry, Air of Battle (London: William Kimber, 1974) p. 35
14. William A. Bishop, Winged Warfare (Folkestone: Bailey Brothers & Swifen, 1975) p. 23
15. R. H. Kiernan, The First War in the Air (London: Peter Davis Ltd, 1934) pp. 171–2
16. War Office, ‘Training Manual, Royal Flying Corps, Part II (Military Wing)’ (1915) National Archives, WO 33, 737
17. Ibid.
18. See Jan Rueger, The Great Naval Game: Britain & Germany in the Age of Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) and Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War (London: The Penguin Press, 1998)
19. Edgar Middleton, The Great War in the Air, Volume 1 (London: The Waverley Books Co., 1920) pp. 140–41
20. Henry Newbolt, A Naval History of the War 1914–1918 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, c.1920s)
21. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History (London: Frederick Muller, 1965) p. 7
22. Ibid., p. 115
23. Douglas Robinson, The Zeppelin in Combat. A History of the German Naval Airship Division 1912–1918 (Henley-on-Thames: G. T. Foullis & Co., 1962) p. 345
24. Geoffrey Bennett, Naval Battle of the First World War (London: B T Batsford, 1968) pp. 23, 252–3
25. Corelli Barnett, The Swordbearers (London: Eyre & Spottiswood, 1968)
26. Martin Middlebrook, The First Day on the Somme (London: Penguin Press, 1971)
27. Alan Clarke, Aces High: The War in the Air Over the Western Front (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973) p. 14
28. Ibid., pp. 68–9
29. Edwyn Gray, A Damned Un-English Weapon (London: Seeley Services, 1971) p. 188
30. ———. The Killing Time (London: Seeley Service, 1972) pp. 55–6
31. Tony Ashworth, Trench Warfare 1914–1918 (London: Macmillan, 1980) p. 21
32. Trevor Wilson, The Myriad Faces of War: Britain & the Great War 1914–1918 (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1986) p. 677
33. Christopher Cole & E. F. Cheeseman, The Air Defence of Britain 1914–18 (London: Putnam, 1984) p. vi
34. Richard Hough, The Great War at Sea 1914–1918 (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1983) pp. 49, 99
35. See Alan Clarke, Aces High: The War in the Air Over the Western Front 1914–18, discussed earlier
36. George Mosse, The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)
37. Joanna Bourke, Dismembering the Male: Men’s Bodies & the Great War (London: Reaktion Books, 1996); An Intimate History of Killing: Face-to-Face Killing in Twentieth-Century Warfare (London: Granta Books, 1999)
38. J. G. Fuller, Troop Morale and Popular Culture in the British & Dominion Armies 1914–1918 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991) pp. 4, 23, 154
39. Samuel Hynes, A War Imagined (London: The Bodley Head, 1990) p. 353
40. Adrian Gregory, The Silence of Memory (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1994)
41. Jay Winter, The Great War and the British People (London: Macmillan, 1985) p. 300
42. David Edgerton, England and the Aeroplane: An Essay on a Militant and Technological Nation (London: Macmillan, 1991)
43. Jan Rueger, The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007)
44. ———. ‘Nation, Empire and Navy: Identity Politics in the United Kingdom 1887–1914’, Past & Present, No. 185 (November 2004)
45. Joshua Levine, On a Wing and a Prayer (London: Collins, 2008)
46. Aribert Reimann, ‘Popular Culture and the Reconstruction of British Identity’, in Berghoff, Hartmut, & von Friedeburg, Robert (eds), Change and Inertia: Britain Under the Impact of the Great War (London: Philo, 1998) pp. 99–120
47. A. J. Robinson, IWM Ref 84/31/1
48. Paul Fussell, The Great War & Modern Memory (Oxford: Oxford University Press) p. 310
49. Ken Plummer, Documents of Life 2 (London: Sage Publications, 2001) pp. 191–2
Chapter 1 Training
1. Joanna Bourke, An Intimate History of Killing, p. 67
2. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History, p. 25
3. Peter Hart, Bloody April: Slaughter in the Skies over Arras 1917 (London: Cassell, 2006) p. 106
4. Leonard H. Rochford, I Chose the Sky (London: William Kimber, 1977) p. 19
5. L. A. Strange, Recollections of an Airman (London: John Hamilton Ltd, 1933) p. 18
6. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, (London: Naval & Military Press, 1999 {1922})
7. F. C. Penny, IWM Ref 76/16/1, pp. 6–7
8. Ibid., pp. 7–9
9. Dudley McKergow, RAF Ref X002–5594/003
10. F. C. Penny, IWM Ref 76/16/1, pp. 6–7
11. Central Flying School, Hints for Young Instructors on How to Instruct in Flying (London: HMSO, 1916) p. 10
12. Dudley McKergow, RAF Ref X002–5594/003
13. Central Flying School, Hints for Young Instructors on How to Instruct in Flying, p. 5
14. F. C. Penny, IWM Ref 76/16/1, p. 10
15. John Ross, The Royal Flying Corps Boy Service, RFC-RNAS-RAF: The Link is Forged (London: Regency Press, 1990) p. 46
16. For more information on the combat experience and the daily life of pilots between sorties, please see Chapter 2.
17. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War (London: Cassell & Co, 1918) p. 11
18. Dudley McKergow, RAF Ref X002–5594/003
19. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 43
20. Dudley McKergow, RAF Ref X002–5594/003, Letter to Mother, April 1917
21. Ibid
22. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 502
23. William Fry, Air of Battle, pp. 113–114
24. Geoffrey Wall, RAF Ref AC/1998/10/11 – Letter to father, 30 July 1917
25. Denis Winter claims that more than half the pilots killed in the Great War died during training in the UK. This was discussed in Parliament on 20 June 1918 where the Secretary of State for War claimed that pilots themselves were to blame as ‘discipline after all was not the pre-eminent quality of youth’. In Denis Winter, The First of the Few (London: Allen Lane, 1982)
26. Philip Brereton Townsend, Eye in the Sky 1918: Recollections of Air-to-Ground Co-operation by WW1 Pilot (Private, 1986) pp. 9–10
27. J. M. Winter, ‘Britain’s “Lost Generation” of the First World War’, Population Studies, Volume 31, No. 3 (November 1977)
28. Walter Porkess, RAF Ref X002–5459/002
29. Peter Hart, Bloody April: Slaughter in the Skies over Arras 1917, pp. 113–114
30. F. D. Treadrey, Pioneer Pilot: The Great Smith Barry Who Taught the World How to Fly (London: Peter Davies, 1976)
31. Andrew Boyle, Trenchard Man of Vision (London: Collins, 1962) p. 202
32. Admiral Sir H. W. Richmond, Naval Training (London: Oxford University Press, 1933) pp. 7–8, 29
33. Victor Hayward, HMS Tiger at Bay: A Sailor’s Memoir 1914–1918 (London: William Kimber, 1977) p. 15
34. Richmond, Naval Training, pp. 7–8, 29
35. Victor Hayward, HMS Tiger at Bay: A Sailor’s Memoir 1914–1918, p. 15
36. Richmond, Naval Training, p. 30
37. C. L. Kerr, All in the Day’s Work (London: Rich & Cowan, 1939) pp. 13–15
38. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1
39. Richmond, Naval Training, pp. 9–10
40. Frank Layard, quoted in Max Arthur, (ed), The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914–1939 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996) p. 26
41. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929 (London: Faber & Faber, 1952) p. 58
42. Martin Petter, ‘ “Temporary Gentlemen” in the Aftermath of the Great War: Rank, Status and the Ex-Officer Problem’, The Historical Journal, Volume 37, No. 1 (1994)
43. Richmond, Naval Training, pp. 11–12
44. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 5 (London: Oxford University Press, 1970) pp. 321–327
45. For a full discussion of the implications of the command structure at the Battle of Jutland, please see Chapter 2.
46. Colin Veicht, ‘Play Up! Play Up! And Win the War! Football, the Nation and the First World War 1914–1915’, Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 20, No. 3 (July 1985)
47. Henry Newbolt, ‘Vitae Lampada’, 1897
48. J. A. Mangan, ‘ “Muscular, Militaristic and Manly”: The British Middle Class Hero as Moral Messenger’, in Holt, Richard, Mangan J. A., & Lanfranchi, Pierre (eds), European Heroes: Myth, Identity, Sport (London: Frank Cass, 1996) pp. 28–47
49. Michael C. C. Adams, The Great Adventure: Male Desire and the Coming of World War I (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990) p. 38
50. Recent reports by the Cricket Foundation suggest a link between students engaging in sport and classroom behaviour. For more information on the Chance to Shine scheme see www.chancetoshineonline.org.news
51. Edgar Middleton, The Great War in the Air, Volume 4, pp. 49, 50
52. Admiralty, ‘Report of the Osborne and Dartmouth Committee’ (May 1905) National Archives, ADM 116/862
53. Admiralty, ‘Training of Naval Cadets to be Entered from Public Schools and Elsewhere’ (1913) National Archives, ADM 116/862
54. Admiralty, ‘Conference of Physical Training’ (1919) National Archives, ADM 1/8549/16
55. For a full examination of the technological developments of the navy, please see Chapter 3.
Chapter 2 Non-Combat & Service Motivation
1. Stephane Audoin-Rouzeau, & Annette Becker, 1914–1918: Understanding the Great War (London: Profile Books 2002 {2000}) pp. 25–27
2. John M. Taylor, ‘Courage, Duty and Robert E. Lee’, in Darling Smith, Barbara, Courage (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002) pp. 83–92
3. Katherine Platt, ‘Guts is a Habit: The Practice of Courage’, in Darling Smith, Barbara, Courage, pp. 132–146
4. John M. Taylor in Darling Smith, Barbara, Courage, pp. 84–86
5. William Ian Miller, The Mystery of Courage (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2000) p. 7
6. Ibid., p109
7. Richard Holmes, Acts of War. The Behaviour of Men in Battle (New York: The Free Press, 1985) p. 301
8. William Miller, The Mystery of Courage, pp. 245–5
9. Ibid., p. 13
10. W. H. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1920) pp. 208–17
11. H. C. Marr, Psychoses of War (Oxford: Oxford Medical Publications, 1919) p. 48
12. W. H. Rivers, Instinct and the Unconscious, p. 210
13. G. Elliot Smith, & T. H. Pear. Shell Shock & its Lessons (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1917) p. 19
14. See Chapter 1 for further discussion of the veteran-pilots’ role in teaching
15. T. H. E. Travers, ‘Technology, Tactics and Morale: Jean de Bloch, the Boer War and British Military Theory 1900–1914’, Journal of Modern History, Volume 51, No. 2 (June 1979)
16. Delbert C. Miller, ‘The Measurement of National Morale’, American Sociological Review, Volume 6, No. 4 (August 1941)
17. Read Bain, ‘Morale for War and Peace’, Social Forces, Volume 21, No. 4 (May 1943)
18. J. Glenn Gray, The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998 {1970}) p. 40
19. Robert L. Hamblin, Keith Miller, James A. Wiggins, ‘Group Morale and Competence of the Leader’, Sociometry, Volume 24, No. 3 (September 1961)
20. Stephane Audoin Rouzeau, & Annette Becker, 1914–1918: Understanding the Great War, p. 31
21. Edgar Jones, ‘The Psychology of Killing: The Combat Experience of Soldiers During the First World War’, Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 4, No. 2 (2006)
22. Jay Winter, The Experience of World War One, p. 225
23. George L. Mosse, The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity, pp. 108–109
24. Therese Benedick, Insight and Personality Adjustment: A Study of the Psychological Effects of War (New York: The Ronal Press Company, 1946) p. 63
25. Joanna Bourke, Dismembering the Male, p. 152
26. J. A. Mangan, in Richard Holt, J. A. Mangan & Pierre Lanfranchi (eds), European Heroes: Myth, Identity, Sport, p. 28
27. Gordon Maxwell, The Naval Front (London: A&C Black, 1920) p. 31
28. Eric Wheeler Bush, Bless Our Ship (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1958) p. 67
29. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1
30. Ibid.
31. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, p. 179
32. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1933) pp. 76–77
33. H. G. Downing, IWM Ref 88/7/1 – letter to Gladys, 26 October 1917
34. R. J. O. Compston, in RNAS (ed), Naval Eight: A History of No 8 Squadron – Afterwards No 208 Squadron RAF – From its Formation on 1916 until the Armistice 1918 (London: The Signal Press Ltd, 1931) p. 96
35. H. H. Balfour. An Airman Marches, pp. 95–6
36. Carroll Dana Winslow, With the French Flying Corps (London: Constable, 1917) p. 158
37. C. E. Dixon, Major IWM Ref PP/MRC/26
38. J Glenn Gray, The Warriors. Reflections on Men in Battle, pp. 101–4
39. Eric Kebel Chatterton, Q-Ships & Their Story (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1922) pp. 96–7
40. G. P. Thompson, in Winton, John (ed), The Submariners. Life in British Submarines 1901–1999: An Anthology of Personal Experience (London: Constable, 1999) pp. 71–2
41. William Guy Carr, By Guess and By God (London: Hutchinson, 1931) p. 188
42. The Royal Navy suffered heavy casualties, particularly in the Mediterranean campaigns. The lack of action in the North Sea would suggest that fewer men died there.
43. J. M. Winter, ‘Britain’s “Lost Generation” of the First World War’
44. Courcy, Brian de in Max Arthur (ed), The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914–1939, p. 150
45. Captain Lionel Dawson, Flotillas: A Hard-Lying Story (London: Rich & Cowan, 1933) p. 6
46. Paul Nesham, 21 June 1916, in Felicity Nesham, (ed), Socks, Cigarettes and Shipwrecks: A Family’s War Letters 1914–1918 (Gloucester: Allan Sutton,1987) p. 138
47. Eric Wheeler Bush, Bless Our Ship, p. 67
48. Douglas King-Harman, IWM 99/35/1
49. Lumby, Jack in Arthur Max (ed), The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914–1939, p. 77
50. R. H. Kiernan, The First War in the Air, p. 155
51. ‘McScotch’, Fighter Pilot (London: Newnes, 1938) p. 56; R. M. Bacon, Admiral Sir The Concise Story of Dover Patrol (London: Hutchinson, 1932) p. 73
52. Anon, Death in the Air: The War Diary & Photographs of a Flying Corps Pilot (London: William Heinemann, 1933) p. 97
53. William Bishop, Winged Warfare, p. 89
54. J. M. Winter, ‘Britain’s “Lost Generation” of the First World War’ – N.B. All pilots were officers so this compares to the naval statistic for officers quoted above.
55. Royal Flying Corps, ‘Advice to the Inventors of Parachutes’ (1918) National Archives, AIR 20/601
56. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 48
57. L. A. Strange, Recollections of an Airman, p. 50
58. H. G. Downing, IWM Ref 88/7/1
59. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit (London: Jarrolds, 1969) p. xvi
60. ‘Spin’, Short Flights with the Cloud Cavalry (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918) pp. 106–107
61. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 126
62. ‘McScotch’, Fighter Pilot, p. 27
63. Historians such as Correlli Barnett, Arthur Marder, Nigel Steel and Peter Hart have argued that naval strategy was ineffectual in the Great War, especially blaming their leadership structure and lack of technological initiative.
64. Jay Winter, The Experience of World War One, p. 225
65. K. G. B. Dewar, The Navy from Within (London: Victor Gollanz, 1939), p. 229
66. Lord Wester Wemyss, in Wester Wemyss, Lady (ed) The Life and Letters of Lord Wester Wemyss (London: Eyre & Spottiswood, 1935) 4 February 1915 and 2 February 1915
67. Nigel Steel, and Peter Hart, Jutland 1916: Death in the Grey Waters, (London: Cassell, 2003) pp. 29–30
68. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929, p. 143
69. Geoffrey Bennett, Naval Battles of the First World War, p. 254
70. Admiral Sir R. H. Bacon, The Concise Story of Dover Patrol, p. 69
71. Tony Ashworth, Trench Warfare 1914–1918, p. 21
72. Quoted in Edwyn Gray, A Damned Un-English Weapon, p. 188
73. Lord Wester Wemyss, 8 February 1915, in Wester Wemyss, Lady (ed) The Life and Letters of Lord Wester Wemyss, p. 195
74. Arthur Hungerford-Pollen, The Navy in Battle (London: Chatto & Windus, 1918) pp. 10–20
75. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929, pp. 107–114
76. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1
77. Herbert Ward, An Erratic Odyssey (London: Odyssey Books, 1988) p. 20
78. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, p. 34
79. R. H. Kiernan, The First War in the Air, p. 43
80. Frederick Allen, IWM Ref PP/MRC/301
81. Herbert Ward, An Erratic Odyssey, p. 18
82. Gordon Maxwell, The Naval Front, pp. 2–4
83. A. J. Robinson, IWM Ref 84/31/1 – diary entry dated 23 August 1918
84. Claude Graham White, & Harry Harper, Heroes of the Flying Corps (London: Henry Frowde, 1916) p. 145
85. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1
86. Alexander Watson, Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914–1918, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) p. 37 {footnote}
87. O. P. Napier Pearn, ‘Psychoses in the Expeditionary Forces’, Journal of Mental Science, Volume 65 (1919) p. 102
88. C.E. Dixon, Major IMW Ref PP/MCR/26
89. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, pp. 82–83
90. Arthur Hogg, Andrew Armstrong (ed) The Chronicles of Arthur W. Hogg (Private, 2004) 23 July 1916
91. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, pp. 82–3
92. Victor Hayward, HMS Tiger at Bay: A Sailor’s Memoir 1914–1918, pp. 73–4
93. R. H. Kiernan, The First War in the Air, p. 156
94. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air. Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 6 (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1937) pp. 557
95. E. F. Knight, The Harwich Naval Forces. Their Part in the Great War (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1919) pp. 234–5
96. Ted Nesham, in Felicity Nesham, (ed) Socks, Cigarettes and Shipwrecks: A Family’s War Letters 1914–1918, 6 August 1914.
97. Lionel Dawson, Captain Flotillas. A Hard-Lying Story, pp. 20–21
98. Gerard Wells, Naval Customs and Traditions, p. 46
99. H. G. Downing, IWM Ref 88/7/1 – letters to Gladys, 22 December 1916 and 14 October 1917
100. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds (London: Doubleday & Page, 1918) pp. 49–50
101. Arthur J. Robinson, IWM Ref 84/31/1 – letters to father, 22 July 1918, 26 July 1918 and 18 August 1918
102. C. de Burgh, Captain, IWM Ref P228
103. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1
104. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 4 (London: Oxford University Press, 1961–1970) pp. 323–324
105. Arthur Borton, in Guy Slater (ed), My Warrior Sons: The Borton Family Diary 1914–1918 (London: Peter Davies, 1973) 2 November 1915, pp. 54–55
106. Paul Nesham, in Felicity Nesham, (ed), Socks, Cigarettes and Shipwrecks: A Family’s War Letters 1914–1918, p. 138
107. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit, pp. 78–9
108. William Fry, Air of Battle, pp. 158–9
109. See Richard Holmes, Acts of War: The Behaviour of Men in Battle, and George L. Mosse, The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity
110. Frank Layard, in Max Arthur, (ed), The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914–1939, p. 26
111. George L. Mosse, The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity, pp. 110–112
112. Ibid., p 115–118
113. See Chapter 5 for a fuller discussion of the perception of airmen as knights
114. Cecil Lewis, Sagittarius Rising (London: Peter Davis, 1966 {1936}) p. 136
115. Edgar Middleton, The Great War in the Air, p. 25
116. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 12
117. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, p. 77
118. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, pp. 159–160
119. Arthur J. Robinson, IWM Ref 84/31/1–1 August 1918
120. Herbert Ward, An Erratic Odyssey, p. 57
121. Eric Wheeler Bush, Bless Our Ship, p. 16
122. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War & Society (New York: Back Bay Books, 1996) pp. 89–93
123. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 159
124. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929, p. 114
125. William Fry, Air of Battle, pp. 90–1
126. C. E. Dixon, Major IWM Ref PP/MCR/26–17 November 1917
127. T. McKenny Hughes, IWM Ref PP/MC/c15m – 6 January 1916, p. 171
128. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, p. 183
129. H. G. Downing, IMW Ref 88/7/1
130. Oliver Bernard Ellis, RAF Ref X002–5566/001/002
131. Anon, Death in the Air, pp. 78–9
132. Lionel Dawson, Captain Flotillas. A Hard-Lying Story, p. 195
133. Sir Roger Keyes, The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes: Volumes 1–2 (London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd, 1934 & 1935)
134. ‘McScotch’, Fighter Pilot, p. 5
135. William Bishop, Winged Warfare, p. 145
136. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, pp. 42–3
137. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 60
138. Ewart J. Garland, IWM P359–26 July 1916
139. Arthur Admiral Chalmers in Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 5, pp. 130–131
140. Eric Wheeler Bush, Bless Our Ship, p79
141. Admiral Chalmers in Marder, Arthur, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 5, pp. 130–131
142. Eric Kebel Chatterton, Q-Ships and Their Story, pp. 50–51. Q Ships were disguised trawlers and fishing boats which operated in the North Sea and the English Channel to detect enemy submarines and lay mines.
143. During the nineteenth century, public schools encouraged sports and physical activity which they believed would infuse notions of fair play and honourable conduct. These boys were the future leaders of the country, and schools felt that encouraging the ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ principle would secure a strong future for the British Empire. The government in the twentieth century felt the manhood of the nation needed to be protected and strengthened in case of a future war.
144. Arthur J. Hogg, in Andrew Armstrong, (ed), The Chronicles of Arthur W. Hogg, 11 October 1916
145. See Chapter 3 for a greater discussion of the physiological effects of flying and the means pilots employed to protect themselves.
146. ‘Spin’, Short Flights with the Cloud Cavalry, p. 189
147. C. E Dixon, Major, IWM Ref PP/MCR/26
148. William Bishop, Winged Warfare, p. 26
149. H. G. Downing, IWM Ref 88/7/1 – letter to Gladys, 15 January 1917
150. Claude Graham White & Harry Harper, Heroes of the Flying Corps, p. 131
151. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 20
152. F. C. Penny, IWM 76/16/1, pp. 19–20
153. ‘McScotch’, Fighter Pilot, p. 2
154. Cecil Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p. 45
155. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, p. 175
156. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit, pp. 155–6
157. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, p. 35
158. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 111
159. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 2, p. 233. Contact patrols worked directly with army gunners, reporting on the ranging of British shells and the troop positions during engagement. Jones is referring here only to the first phase of fighting in the Somme campaign.
160. Peter Liddle, The Airman’s War, p. 63
161. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History. Norris refers to James McCudden and Albert Ball who became two of Britain’s most famous air aces, achieving more than 40 victories each before they both met their deaths in the latter years of the war.
162. Lieutenant-Colonel Wilkinson, IWM Ref 99/14/2
163. David McGregor, ‘The Use, Misuse, and Non-Use of History: The Royal Navy and the Operational Lessons of the First World War’, Journal of Military History, Volume 56, No. 4, p. 609
164. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War & Society, pp. 89–93
165. Stephane Audoin-Rouzeau, & Annette Becker, 1914–1918: Understanding the Great War, p. 36
166. ‘McScotch,’ Fighter Pilot, p. 56
Chapter 3 Technology
1. Some historians recognize the American Civil War as the first mechanised conflict which influenced the development of modern war. For example George Mosse in his article on shell-shock suggest that soldier performance was affected by the afflictions related to modern weapons, and this was first noticed in the American Civil War (‘Shell-Shock as a Social Disease’, Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 35, No. 1, 2000). John E. Talbort also included that conflict in his examination of psychiatry in modern warfare (‘Soldiers, Psychiatrists and Combat Trauma’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 27, No. 3, 1997)
2. David Edgerton, ‘Invention, Technology or History: What is Historiography of Technology About?’, Conference Paper, University of Washington (2007)
3. Merrit Roe Smith, & Leo Marx, (eds) Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism (Cambridge: Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1996) p. xiv
4. Arnold Pacey, The Culture of Technology (London: Basil Blackwell, 1983) p. 24
5. Ibid., p. 138
6. David Edgerton, Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900 (London: Profile Books, 2006) p. 32
7. Ernest Braun, Futile Progress: Technology’s Empty Promise (London: Earthscan, 1995) p. 25
8. Martin Van Creveld, Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present (London: Brassey’s (UK), 1991), p. 314
9. Leonard Rochford, I Chose the Sky, p. 18
10. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 495
11. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 3, pp. 350–1
12. R. H. Kiernan, The First War in the Air, p. 39
13. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 498
14. Jonathan Nicholls, Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras 1917 (London: Leo Cooper, 1995) pp. 35–6
15. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, pp. 104,124
16. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, pp. 95–6
17. ‘Conclusions of the 69th Meeting of the War Committee’, 10 February 1916, in S. W. Roskill, Captain (ed) Documents Relating to the Naval Air Service, Volume 1: 1908–1918 (London: Navy Records Society, 1969)
18. Maurice Baring, Flying Corps Headquarters 1914–1918 (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1930 {1920}) p. 112
19. M. M. Postan, D. Hay, J. D. Scott, Design and Development of Weapons: Studies in Government and Industrial Organisation (London: HMSO, 1964) p. 140
20. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 495
21. L. A. Strange, Recollections of an Airman, p. 132
22. Leonard Rochford, I Chose the Sky, p. 39
23. Peter Cooksley, The RFC/RNAS Handbook 1914–1918, pp. 22–3
24. The War Office reported that between August 1914 and May 1915, 530 aeroplanes were taken into service. In contrast, the period from 29 September 1916 to 1 March 1917 saw 2,844 aeroplanes taken into service. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, pp. 495, 498
25. David Edgerton, Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900, pp. 90–91
26. Charles D. Smart, RAF Ref B2207
27. Michael Occleshaw, Armour Against Fate: British Military Intelligence in the First World War, (London: Columbus Books, 1989) pp. 60–66
28. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History, p. 115
29. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 2, p. 177
30. N. N. Macleod, ‘Mapping from Air Photographs: Discussion’, The Geographical Journal, Volume 53, No. 6 (June 1919)
31. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, pp. 503–4
32. Henry Woodhouse, ‘Aeronautical Maps and Aerial Transportation’, The Geographical Review, Volume 4, No. 5 (November 1917)
33. For a discussion of the historiography, see David Edgerton’s England and the Aeroplane in which he disputes the view that aeroplanes were initially a civilian technology.
34. Henry Woodhouse, ‘Aeronautical Maps and Aerial Transportation’, and G. M. B. Dobson, ‘Design of Instruments for Navigation of Aircraft’, The Geographical Journal, Volume 56, No. 5 (1920)
35. Henry Woodhouse, ‘Aeronautical Maps and Aerial Transportation’
36. Herbert Ward, An Erratic Odyssey, pp. 22–3
37. E.A. Milne, in Weston Smith, Meg, ‘E.A. Milne and the Creation of Air Defence: Some Letters from an Unprincipled Brigand 1916–1919’, Notes & Records of the Royal Society of London, Volume 44, No. 2 (July 1990)
38. See Peter Hart, Bloody April: Slaughter in the Skies over Arras 1917, pp. 258–9 and Holden, Wendy, Shell Shock: The Psychological Impact of War (London: Channel 4 Books, 1998) p. 57.
39. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit, p. 40
40. W. T Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, p. 15
41. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 137
42. See Chapter 1 for information on the role of veteran-instructors.
43. The advances of the Italian bombing squadrons were noted in the ‘Report of the Sub-Committee of Imperial Defence on Aerial Navigation’, 29 February 1912, National Archives, AIR 1/653/17/22/489
44. Herbert Ward, An Erratic Odyssey, p. 20
45. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History, p. 101
46. Air Council, A Short History of the Royal Air Force (London: Air Ministry, 1936 {1929}) p. 51
47. James McCudden, RAF Ref AC72/5/7 – Letter to his father, 10 September 1917
48. Ernest Braun, Futile Progress: Technology’s Empty Promise, p. 25
49. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, pp. 49–50
50. The War Office recorded 215 pilots in training on 31 May 1915. By 1 March 1917 that figure had increased to 3,353 officers under instruction. A similar expansion was seen in aeroplane delivery rates. In October 1916, the RFC expected 629 aeroplanes, but by March 1917, it was expecting 731. In War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, pp. 496, 498
51. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 507
52. Walter Briscoe, & Russell Stannard, Captain Ball VC of the Royal Flying Corps (London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd, 1918) p. 6
53. Royal Flying Corps Reports, ‘Notes on Formation Flying’ (September 1916) National Archives AIR 1/129/18/40/191
54. James McCudden, RAF Ref AC 72/5/6 – 23 January 1917
55. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, pp. 54–55
56. Trevor Henshaw, The Sky Their Battlefield: Air Fighting and the Complete List of Allied Air Casualties from Enemy Action in the First World War. British, Commonwealth & United States Air Services 1914–1918 (London: Grub Street,1995) pp. 7–8
57. Royal Flying Corps, ‘Notes on Formation Flying’, National Archives, AIR 1/129/18/40/191
58. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920
59. Walter Briscoe, & Russell Stannard, Captain Ball VC of the Royal Flying Corps, pp. 210–11
60. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 111
61. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, p. 175
62. Sven Lindquvist, A History of Bombing (London: Granta Books) 2001
63. For a full account of the bombardment of England, please see Chapter 4
64. William Fry, Air of Battle, p 57
65. C. P. O. Bartlett, Bomber Pilot 1916–1918 (London: Ian Allen Ltd, 1974) p. 34–17 November 1916
66. G. M. B. Dobson, ‘Design of Instrument for Navigation of Aircraft’, The Geographical Journal
67. Andrew Boyle, Trenchard Man of Vision, pp. 239–40
68. The War Office recorded the first Gotha raid in 1916, most of which was confined to Kent, Essex, London and the Home Counties. By contrast, the Zeppelin had reached as far as Scotland in May 1916, in War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, pp. 674–677
69. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 142
70. For further examples of the effects of air raids, see Chapter 4
71. M. M. Postan, D Hay, J. D. Scott, Design and Development of Weapons: Studies in Government and Industrial Organisation, p. 51
72. Paul Halpern, A Naval History of World War I, p. 1
73. Martin Van Creveld, Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present, pp. 203–4
74. Lord Fisher, ‘Fisher on the Navy’, The Times, 8 September 1919
75. Jon Tseturo Sumida, ‘Sir John Fisher & the Dreadnought: The Sources of Naval Mythology’, The Journal of Military History, Volume 59, No. 4 (1995)
76. See Chapters 2 and 5 for exploration of the sailor’s attitude to war
77. Correlli Barnett, The Swordbearers, pp. 183–4
78. Richard Hough, The Great War at Sea 1914–1918, p. 99
79. Roger Keyes Sir, The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, Volume 2, pp. 83–4
80. Robert K. Massie, Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea, (London: Jonathan Cape, 2004) p. 5
81. David Edgerton, Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900, pp. 6–7
82. Roy M. MacLeod, & E. Kay Andrews, ‘Scientific Advice in the War at Sea 1915–1917: The Board of Invention & Research’, The Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 6, No. 2 (1971)
83. Arthur Balfour, National Archive, ADM 116/1430–10 July 1915
84. ‘The First General Meeting of the Board of Invention & Research’, 29 July 1915, National Archive ADM 116/1430
85. ‘Report on the Present Organisation of the Board of Invention of Research’, 21 September 1917, National Archive, ADM 116/1430
86. Admiralty Office Memorandum No. 105, National Archives, ADM1/8484/66
87. Letter from the BIR to the Admiralty, 28 June 1917, National Archives, ADM1/8484/66
88. Ibid.
89. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 2, pp. 77–8
90. Roger Keyes Sir, The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, Volume 1, p. 24
91. Gordon Maxwell, The Naval Front, p 20
92. Edwyn Gray, The Killing Time, p. 34
93. Keys, The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, Volume 1, p. 37
94. G. J. Mackness, Lieutenant Commander in John Winton, (ed) The Submariners: Life in British Submarines 1901–1999: An Anthology of Personal Experience, pp. 51–2
95. Ibid.
96. William Jameson, The Most Formidable Thing: The Story of the Submarine from its Earliest Days to the End of World War I (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1965) p. 203
97. Ernest Rutherford, Sir BIR report, National Archives, ADM 212/519 – September 1915
98. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 4, pp. 76–77
99. A. B. Wood, BIR Report, National Archives, ADM 212/159 – January 1917
100. E. J. Allen, BIR Report, National Archives, ADM 212/159 – 23 July 1917,
101. Commander Kemp in Marder, Arthur, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 2, pp. 78–9
102. E. J. Allen, 1917, BIR Report, National Archives, ADM 212/159
103. John Leyland, The Achievement of the British Navy in the World War (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918) pp. 43–44
104. David Edgerton, Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1906, p. 149
105. Lord Fisher, ‘Fisher on the Navy’, The Times, 10 September 1919
106. Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War, p. 83
107. Winston Churchill, ‘Navy Estimates in the Great War. A Speech Delivered by the Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill, MP (First Lord of the Admiralty) in the House of Commons on February 15th, 1915’ (London: Liberal Publication Department, 1915)
108. Martin Van Creveld, Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present, p. 209
109. Geoffrey Bennett, Naval Battles of the First World War, pp. 18–19
Chapter 4 Home Front
1. For example, several spy stories were published by Le Queux about German spies hiding in Britain. Also see the fiction of H. G. Wells that reflect Britain’s real fear of airship invasion. For a full discussion of these texts and the consequent spy scares in pre-war England, see Andrew, Christopher, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 (London: Allen Lane, 2009)
2. See Douglas Robinson, The Zeppelin in Combat. A History of the German Naval Airship Division 1912–1918
3. Ibid., p. 48
4. Claude Graham White, & Harry Harper, Heroes of the Flying Corps, p. 253
5. Douglas Robinson, The Zeppelin in Combat. A History of the German Naval Airship Division 1912–1918, p. 81
6. L. E. O. Charlton, War Over England, (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1936), p. 33
7. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920
8. Richard Van Emden, & Steve Humphries, All Quiet on the Home Front: An Oral History of Britain During the First World War (London: Headline, 2003) pp. 150–151
9. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 675
10. Edgar Middleton, The Great War in the Air, Volume 2, p. 22
11. W.G. Neale, The Tides of War and the Port of Bristol: 1914–1918 (Bristol: Port of Bristol Authority, 1976), p. 62
12. Jon Tetusro Sumida, ‘British Naval Operational Logistics, 1914–1918’, Journal of Military History, Volume 57, No. 3 (July 1993) p. 453
13. Mrs C. S. Peel, How We Lived Then (London: The Bodley Head, 1929) p. 61
14. John Williams, The Home Fronts: Britain, France & Germany 1914–1918 (London: Constable, 1972) pp. 121–23
15. Ernest Macaway, in J. C. Carlile, Folkestone During the War 1914–1918 (Folkestone: F. J. Parsons Ltd, 1920) p. 67
16. T. McKenny Hughes, IWM Ref PP/MRC/c. – 15 – 29 November 1916
17. Folkestone is a interesting case study here, being both a naval port, a place of troop transport and close to several air stations. Perhaps more clearly than any other town in Britain, Folkestone was confronted with the experience of total war.
18. Library Information Signs, Folkestone Museum & Library
19. Carlile, Folkestone During the War 1914–1918, p. 198
20. Joseph Bryant, Cadet ‘D’ Flight, 4 Squadron, No 1 RAF Cadet Wing, Folkestone Museum and Library, 22 September 1918
21. C. F. Snowden, The Story of a North Sea Air Station (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1928) pp. 1, 19
22. ‘PIX’, The Spider Web: The Romance of Flying-Boat War Flight, (Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1919) pp. 12–13
23. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 5, p. 439
24. Oliver Bernard Ellis, RAF Ref X002–5566/001–002
25. C. F. Snowden, The Story of a North Sea Air Station, p. 81
26. RNAS, Reminiscences, (Private: Portsmouth Command, 1919{?})
27. ‘PIX’, The Spider Web: The Romance of Flying-Boat War Flight, p. 15
28. Secretary, War Office to Secretary, Admiralty in War Office, ‘Establish ment of the RFC’, National Archives, 1/653/17/122/482–6 August 1914
29. Walter Raleigh, The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 1, p. 471
30. Leonard Rochford, I Chose the Sky, pp. 28–30
31. ‘PIX’, The Spider Web: The Romance of Flying-Boat War Flight
32. Oliver Bernard Ellis, RAF Ref X002–5566/001–002
33. L. E. O. Charlton, War Over England, pp. 13–14
34. Arthur Borton, in Guy Slater, (ed) My Warrior Sons. The Borton Family Diary 1914–1918, pp. 29–21, May 1915
35. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History, pp. 85–6
36. Caroline E. Playne, Society at War, (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1941) p. 141
37. Hallie Eustace Miles, Untold Tales of Wartime London: A Personal Diary (London: Cecil Palmer, 1930) pp. 70–71
38. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920
39. L. E. O. Charlton, War Over England, pp. 70–71
40. Ibid., p. 44
41. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 4, pp. 23–4
42. ———. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 3, pp. 261–3
43. ———. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 4, pp. 23–4
44. Secretary, War Office to Secretary, Admiralty in Royal Flying Corps, ‘Aerial Defence of the Tyne’, National Archives AIR 1/652–11 November 1915
45. Philip Joubert de la Ferte, RAF Ref DC70/12 – letter 25 October 1915
46. Joseph Morris, The German Air Raids on Great Britain 1914–1918 (London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co, c. 1925), p. 62
47. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 2, pp. 150–151
48. Extract from ‘Secretary’s Notes of a Meeting of the War Committee’ held on 26 January 1916, in Roskill, Captain S.W. (ed), Documents Relating to the Naval Air Service, Volume 1: 1908–1918, p. 284
49. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929, pp. 164–5
50. C. S. Peel, How We Lived Then, pp. 66–67
51. Geoffrey Sparrow, On Four Fronts with the Royal Naval Division (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918) p. 248
52. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, pp. 674–5
53. Royal Flying Corps, ‘Bomber Reports’, National Archives, AIR 1/460/15/312/99
54. Field Marshal French, Commander–in-Chief, Home Forces to Secretary, 5 June 1917 in War Office, ‘Instructions Regarding the Aerial Defence of the United Kingdom Issued to Units of the Royal Flying Corps 1 March 1916 – 30 May 1916’, National Archives AIR 1/612/16/15/366
55. Cecil Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p. 156
56. F. C. Penny, IWM Ref 76/16/1, pp. 41–2
57. War Office, ‘Instructions Regarding the Aerial Defence of the United Kingdom Issued to Units of the Royal Flying Corps 1 March 1916 – 30 May 1916’, National Archives AIR 1/621/16/15/366
58. Geoffrey Norris, The Royal Flying Corps: A History, p. 179
59. War Office, ‘A Proposal Regarding a Change of Policy in Aerial Home Defence’, National Archives, AIR 1/612/16/15/366–18 July 1916
60. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 5, p. 157
61. ———. The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 3, p. 170
62. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 675
63. Joseph Morris, The German Air Raids on Great Britain 1914–1918, p. 83
64. C. M. White, The Gotha Summer: The German Daytime Air Raids on England, May-August 1917 (London: Robert Hale, 1986) pp. 88–90
65. Arthur J. Crowhurst, in Carlile, Folkestone During the War 1914–1918, p. 123
66. C. S. Peel, How We Lived Then, p. 142
67. C. M. White, The Gotha Summer: The German Daytime Air Raids on England, May-August 1917, p. 93
68. L. E. O. Charlton, War Over England, pp. 135–7
69. A. C. Stanton, IWM Con Shelf – 18 July 1918
70. Cecil Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, pp. 183–4
71. Jones, The War in the Air. Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 5, p. 22
72. Ibid., pp. 91–2
73. Joseph Morris, The German Air Raids on Great Britain 1914–1918, pp. 238–239
74. John Ferris, ‘Fighter Defence Before Fighter Command: The Rise of Strategic Air Defence in Great Britain 1917–1934’, Journal of Military History, Volume 63, No. 4 (October 1999)
75. War Office, ‘Instructions Regarding the Aerial Defence of the United Kingdom Issued to Units of the Royal Flying Corps 1 March 1916 – 30 May 1916’, National Archives, AIR 1/621/16/15/366
76. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920
77. C. M. White, The Gotha Summer: The German Daytime Air Raids on England, May-August 1917, p. 70
78. L. E. O. Charlton, War Over England, pp. 11–12
79. Ethel Richardson, Remembrance Wakes (London: Heath Crane Ltd, 1992) p. 95
80. Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, pp. 183–4
81. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, p. 152
82. Philip Joubert de la Ferte, RAF Ref DC70/2 – 18 October 1918
83. William Orpen, An Onlooker in France 1917–1818 (London: Williams & Norgate, 1924) p. 69
84. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, p. 101
85. Francis Pattenden, RAF Ref X001–2334/005/003
86. For a detailed discussion of the public and private home fronts in relation to soldier accounts, please see M. Philpott, ‘Disillusion During the Great War’, 2003, Unpublished MPhil thesis, Seeley Library, University of Cambridge
87. Christopher Cole & E. F. Cheeseman, The Air Defence of Britain, p. 93
88. Joubert de la Ferte, RAF Ref DC70/12 – Letter to mother, 13 October 1915
89. L. E. O. Charlton, War Over England, pp. v-vi
Chapter 5 Representations of War
1. Mark Abrams, The Condition of the British People 1911–1945: A Study Prepared by the Fabian Society (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1945) pp. 113–115
2. H. Gregory, Never Again: A Diary of the Great War (London: Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd, 1934) p. 6
3. C. E. Montague, Disenchantment (London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1922) p. 145
4. Jay Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) p. 204
5. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms RFC and RAF will be used concurrently to refer to the air services, with RFC referring to the period before April 1918 and RAF thereafter. Therefore in discussing representations of the air service during the war they will be called the RFC, and in the inter-war period the RAF, to reflect their actual titles at these times.
6. Stefan Goebel, ‘Intersecting Memories: War and Remembrance in Twentieth-century Europe’, The Historical Journal, Volume 44, No. 3 (September 2001)
7. ———. ‘Re-membered and Re-mobilized: The “Sleeping Dead” in Inter-war Germany and Britain’, Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 39, No. 4 (2004)
8. Jan Christian Smuts, born in South Africa, was commissioned as a member of the War Cabinet in July 1917 by the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, to re-evaluate the aerial defence of England and the future distribution of air resources.
9. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 4, pp. 331–332
10. Major Draper in RNAS (ed), Naval Eight: A History of No 8 Squadron RNAS – Afterwards No 208 Squadron RAF – From its Formation in 1916 until the Armistice in 1918 (London: The Signal Press Ltd, 1931) pp. 49–50
11. ‘PIX’, The Spider Web: The Romance of Flying-Boat War Flight, pp. 243–4
12. RNAS, Reminiscences..
13. Malcolm Cooper, ‘Blueprint for Confusion: The Administrative Background to the Formation of the Royal Air Force, 1912–1919’, Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 22, No. 3 (July 1987)
14. War Office, Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, p. 509. N.B. These figures are exclusive of RAF men serving in India
15. Wilkinson Sherrin, The Rights of the Ex-Service Man & Woman (London: L J Gooding, 1921) p. 55
16. The first UAS was established at the University of Cambridge on 1 October 1925, with members drawn from the undergraduate population. The very first student member was G. H. Watkins, an explorer credited with identifying the first Arctic air routes in Greenland.
17. Cambridge University Air Squadron website: www.raf.mod.uk/cambridgeuas/
18. John Ross, The Royal Flying Corps Boy Service. RFC-RNAS-RAF: The Link is Forged (London: Regency Press) p. 19
19. Hugh Driver, The Birth of Military Aviation, Britain 1903–1914 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1997) pp. 129–130
20. David Omissi, in J. Mackenzie, (ed), Popular Imperialism and the Military, 1850–1950 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992) pp. 198–199. Spectators to the pageant, as Omissi explained, could purchase a box for six people at £4, £5 or £7, with general tickets available in advance for 10s or 5s. The tickets available on the day cost 2s. This is comparably more expensive than the cinema, which Omissi claimed could cost as little as 6d in a working-class area.
21. Len Deighton, Battle of Britain (London: Jonathan Cope, 1980) p. 33
22. Adrian Gregory, The Silence of Memory, p. 136
23. Ibid., p. 24
24. Anna Makolkin, Anatomy Of Heroism (NewYork: Legas, 2000) p. 129
25. Stephanie Barczewski, Antarctic Destinies: Scott, Shackelton and the Changing Face of Heroism (London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007) pp. 149–150
26. Barczewski argues that in the mid-twentieth century perceptions changed and anti-hero characteristics became prevalent, thus realigning the markers of heroism. Therefore, Shackleton became heroic because he was seen to have overcome his human weakness and saved all the men in his charge. Scott, by contrast, was then seen as failing to protect his men, putting unrealistic aims above their lives and dying needlessly.
27. Richard Hillary, The Last Enemy (London: Pimlico (Random House), 1997 {1942}) pp. 15, 43–44
28. Graham Dawson, Soldier Heroes: British Adventure, Empire and the Imagining of Masculinities (London: Routledge, 1994) pp. 173–4
29. Mosse, George in Hinde, Robert & Watson, Helen (eds) War: A Cruel Necessity? The Bases of Institutionalized Violence (London: I B Tauris, 1995) pp. 137–8, 132
30. William Miller, The Mystery of Courage, p. 9
31. The most popular example of public enthusiasm was the ‘Biggles’ novels by Captain W. E. Johns which first appeared in 1932, by which time the idealized First World War airman was already a popular figure. Johns wrote almost 100 novels and short stories until his death in 1968, 17 of which were published between 1932 and 1939. Many of the early novels were reprinted in the 1950s to capture a new young audience.
32. Angus Calder, Disasters and Heroes: On War, Memory & Representation (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2004) pp. 121–2
33. Peter Hancock, and Gabrielle Hancock, in Robin Rosenberg, (ed) The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration (Texas: Benbella Books, 2008) p. 114
34. Fry, Air of Battle, p. 61
35. Ward, An Erratic Odyssey, p. 39
36. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit, p. xv
37. Bishop, Winged Warfare, p. 141
38. Fry, Air of Battle, pp. 158–9
39. Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, pp. 59–61
40. Angus Calder, Disasters & Heroes: On War, Memory & Representation, p. 172
41. Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p. 2
42. Stefan Goebel, The Great War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in Britain and Germany 1914–1940 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) p. 159
43. The Times, 3 July 1920
44. Charles C. Turner, The Struggle in the Air 1914–1918 (London: Edward Arnold, 1919) p. 275
45. Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p. 45
46. Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, p. 173–4
47. Middleton, The Great War in the Air, Volume 1, p. 25
48. Middleton, The Great War in the Air, Volume 4, p. 61
49. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit, p. xv
50. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 12
51. James McCudden, Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, p. 37
52. In Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, p. 203
53. Middleton, The Great War in the Air, Volume 1, pp. 140–1
54. Royal Flying Corps, The Work & Training of the Royal Flying Corps, (London: The Illustrated London News, 1917/18{?}), p. 4
55. Lewis, Sagittarius Rising, p. 31
56. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 159
57. Adrian Smith, Mick Mannock Fighter Pilot (New York: Palgrave, 2001) pp. 59–60
58. Stefan Goebel, The Great War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in Britain and Germany 1914–1940, p. 154
59. Fry, Air of Battle, p. 124
60. The Times, 17 July 1923
61. Jan Rueger, ‘Nation, Empire and Navy: Identity Politics in the United Kingdom 1887–1914’, p. 160
62. Mabel Rudkin, Inside Dover 1914–1918: A Woman’s Impressions (London: Elliot Stock, 1933) pp. 32–33
63. Jan Rueger, The Great Naval Game: Britain & Germany in the Age of Empire, p. 225
64. Keyes, The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, Volume 2, pp. 379–80
65. ———. The Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, Volume 1, pp. 15–16
66. Peter Liddle, Home Fires and Foreign Fields, p. 56
67. H. A. Jones, The War in the Air. Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume 3, pp. 148–9
68. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929, p. 143
69. K. G. B. Dewar, The Navy from Within, p. 280
70. Henry St John Fancourt, in Max Arthur (ed), The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914–1939, p. 24
71. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 4, pp. 323–4
72. ———. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 2, pp. 379–382
73. Admiral Sir Roger Bacon, The Concise Story of Dover Patrol, p. 169
74. Sir Douglas Browning, Indiscretions of the Naval Censor (London: Cassell, 1920) p. 14
75. ‘Argus’ in The Times, 27 June, 1919
76. Lord Fisher in The Times, 2 September, 1919
77. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow. The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 5, p. 176
78. Gordon Maxwell, The Naval Front, p. 189
79. L. Cope Cornford, The Parvane Adventure (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1919) p. 23
80. Arthur Hungerford-Pollen, The Navy in Battle, pp. 19–20
81. L. Cope Cornford, The Parvane Adventure, pp. 260–2
82. K. G. B. Dewar, The Navy from Within
Conclusion
1. Bill Stone, Royal Navy veteran, died on 10 January 2009, aged 108. Bill joined the Navy in September 1918 and served in both World Wars. Henry Allingham was a founder member of the RAF and served with the Royal Naval Air Service during the war. He died on 18 July 2009, aged 113. Harry Patch, the very last survivor of the First World War living in Britain, was a soldier on the Western Front serving at Ypres in 1917. He died on 25 July 2009, aged 110 years old. Claude Choules served with the Royal Navy from 1916 but lived in Australia. He died aged 110 on 5 May 2011 and was the final British survivor of the First World War.
2. M. Philpott, ‘Disillusion During the Great War’, p. 65
3. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 12
4. Alan Bott, Cavalry of the Clouds, p. 140
5. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, p. 35
6. Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson, 24 Squadron, IWM Ref 99/14/2
7. Sir H. W. Richmond, Naval Training, p. 29
8. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 5, pp. 330–4
9. Frank Haylett, IWM Ref 02/35/1–16 March 1916, letter to Lena and Gladys
10. E. F. Knight, Harwich Naval Forces: Their Part in the Great War, pp. 234–5
11. Stephen King Hall, My Naval Life 1906–1929, p. 114
12. Frank Haylett, IWM Ref 02/35/1 – 10 October 1917, letter to his wife Lena
13. William Fry, Air of Battle, p. 158
14. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, p. 159
15. Joubert de la Ferte, RAF Ref DC70/12
16. Arthur Gould Lee, Open Cockpit, p. xvi
17. Douglas King-Harman, IWM Ref 99/35/1 – account enfolded in a letter to his parents 1916
18. Ibid., 16 June 1917 – letter to father
19. H. G. Downing, IWM Ref 88/7/1 – 8 November 1917, letter to family
20. Jan Rueger, The Great Naval Game: Britain & Germany in the Age of Empire, pp. 113–114
21. C. de Burgh, IWM Ref P228–5 August 1914
22. Frederick Allen, IWM Ref PP/MRC/301
23. Arthur Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919, Volume 2, p. 19
24. Francis Pattenden, RAF Ref X001–2334/005/001
25. Anon., Death in the Air, pp. 78–9
26. Lionel Dawson, Flotillas: A Hard-Lying Story, pp. 20–21
27. Paul Nesham, in Felicity Nesham, (ed), Socks, Cigarettes and Shipwrecks: A Family’s War Letters 1914–1918, pp. 138–9
28. W. T. Blake, The Royal Flying Corps in the War, p. 35
29. Carroll Dana Winslow, With the French Flying Corps, pp. 101–2
30. H. H. Balfour, An Airman Marches, pp. 76–7
31. L. A. Strange, Recollections of an Airman, pp. 78–9