Sources and Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Extracts from Crown copyright material in the custody of The National Archives at Kew have been reproduced courtesy of that institution. The documents listed below include the more important Piece Numbers which have been consulted. Many of these Pieces contain a number of separate files which have not been individually identified here, although in most cases the appropriate one(s) will be evident from their titles. On the other hand, where a particular file has been used to support the main narrative, it has been specifically identified in a related footnote.

ADM1/10491	ADM1/11844	ADM1/28005
AIR1/16-17	AIR1/27	AIR1/30
AIR1/32	AIR1/59	AIR1/71
AIR1/109	AIR1/113	AIR1/115
AIR1/119	AIR1/120	AIR1/122-123
AIR1/127-131	AIR1/133	AIR1/134
AIR1/137-138	AIR1/143	AIR1/160-161
AIR1/168	AIR1/173	AIR1/274
AIR1/279	AIR1/365-366	AIR1/373
AIR1/377	AIR1/390-408	AIR1/457
AIR1/459-463	AIR1/502	AIR1/513
AIR1/518	AIR1/520-522	AIR1/532-533
AIR1/616	AIR1/625	AIR1/643
AIR1/654	AIR1/662-664	AIR1/667-668
AIR1/674	AIR1/676	AIR1/678
AIR1/683	AIR1/687	AIR1/699-701
AIR1/724-725	AIR1/756-757	AIR1/771
AIR1/785	AIR1/799	AIR1/803
AIR1/806	AIR1/814	AIR1/818-819
AIR1/821	AIR1/823	AIR1/827-830
AIR1/832	AIR1/834	AIR1/861
AIR1/864	AIR1/867	AIR1/872
AIR1/899	AIR1/913	AIR1/920
AIR1/937	AIR1/946	AIR1/994
AIR1/997	AIR1/1001-1002	AIR1/1025-28
AIR1/1036	AIR1/1057	AIR1/1075
AIR1/1078	AIR1/1084	AIR1/1129
AIR1/1135	AIR1/1141	AIR1/1143
AIR1/1162-1164	AIR1/1169	AIR1/1214
AIR1/1266	AIR1/1273	AIR1/1283
AIR1/1288	AIR1/1290-1291	AIR1/1297
AIR1/1301-1302	AIR1/1305	AIR1/1320
AIR1/1326	AIR1/1585	AIR1/1603
AIR1/1607	AIR1/1830-1831	AIR1/1839
AIR1/1951	AIR1/1987-1988	AIR1/1990
AIR1/1996	AIR1/2011	AIR1/2086
AIR1/2103	AIR1/2108-2112	AIR1/2131
AIR1/2148-9	AIR1/2162 AIR1/2217	AIR1/2268
AIR1/2283	AIR1/2296	AIR1/2362
AIR1/2364	AIR1/2386-2390	AIR1/2400
AIR1/2405	AIR1/2423-2424	AIR1/2433-2434
AIR1/2521	AIR2/3	AIR2/8-9
AIR2/15	AIR2/36	AIR2/38
AIR2/60	AIR2/78	AIR2/84
AIR2/91	AIR2/97	AIR2/118
AIR2/121	AIR2/125	AIR2/163
AIR2/237	AIR2/291	AIR2/560
AIR2/2005	AIR2/2075	AIR2/2421
AIR2/2586	AIR2/2629	AIR2/2660-2662
AIR2/2860	AIR2/2968	AIR2/3077
AIR2/3160	AIR2/3638	AIR2/3647
AIR2/4021	AIR2/4062	AIR2/4456
AIR2/4459	AIR2/4467	AIR2/4470
AIR2/4692	AIR2/4700	AIR2/5837
AIR2/5862	AIR2/6146	AIR2/6225
AIR2/6336	AIR2/6388	AIR2/6830
AIR2/8065	AIR2/8077	AIR2/8119
AIR2/8122-8123	AIR2/8137	AIR2/8179
AIR2/8181	AIR2/8179	AIR2/8184
AIR2/8190-8191	AIR2/8195	AIR2/8239
AIR2/8270	AIR2/8297	AIR2/8348-8349
AIR2/8350	AIR2/8352	AIR2/8354
AIR2/8369	AIR2/8443	AIR2/8482
AIR2/8494	AIR2/8636	AIR2/8638
AIR2/8714	AIR2/9060	AIR2/9759
AIR2/10835	AIR2/11095	AIR2/11646
AIR2/11672	AIR2/11785	AIR2/12122
AIR2/12128	AIR2/12950	AIR2/13469
AIR2/13600	AIR2/15371	AIR2/18211
AIR5/351	AIR5/498	AIR5/1253
AIR5/1291	AIR5/1346	AIR8/3
AIR8/5-6	AIR8/19	AIR8/67
AIR8/204-205	AIR8/1356	AIR8/1359
AIR8/1541	AIR8/1545	AIR8/1882
AIR8/2123	AIR8/2300	AIR8/2337
AIR9/36	AIR10/64	AIR10/7
AIR10/150	AIR10/160-162	AIR10/190
AIR10/192-193	AIR10/223	AIR10/258
AIR10/276	AIR10/290	AIR10/315-316
AIR10/336-337	AIR10/358	AIR10/820-821
AIR10/922	AIR10/947	AIR10/991
AIR10/1082	AIR10/1746	AIR10/1931
AIR10/2012	AIR10/2315	AIR10/2317
AIR10/5059	AIR10/5551	AIR14/8-10
AIR14/16	AIR14/43	AIR14/53
AIR14/57	AIR14/67	AIR14/179
AIR14/298	AIR14/895	AIR14/1012
AIR14/1941-1942	AIR14/3264	AIR14/3906
AIR14/4129	AIR16/20	AIR16/246
AIR19/23	AIR19/297	AIR20/492
AIR20/496	AIR20/498	AIR20/1334
AIR20/1367	AIR20/4090	AIR20/4101
AIR20/432	AIR20/4592	AIR20/6228
AIR20/6638	AIR20/7385	AIR20/9060
AIR20/9072	AIR20/9087	AIR20/9099
AIR20/12267	AIR24/674	AIR24/1792-1798
AIR24/2028-2029	AIR24/2032	AIR24/2125
AIR24/2133	AIR24/2135-2138	AIR24/2384
AIR24/2415	AIR25/546	AIR25/675-676
AIR25/1158-1159	AIR25/1571	AIR25/1581
AIR25/1584	AIR32/15	AIR32/70-71
AIR32/122	AIR32/175	AIR32/323
AIR40/2116	AIR41/4	AIR41/65
AIR41/69-71	AIR41/81	AIR46/7
AVIA2/1526	AVIA2/1668	CAB/23/15
CAB23/58	LAB6/595	T1/12341
TS28/4	WO32/9873

Various Orders drawn from the AIR30, AIR72, ADM182, WO123 and WO293 series.

Sundry pieces from the AIR/6 series, ie memoranda submitted to, and the conclusions of meeting held by: the Air Council and the Air Council Standing Committee; the Secretary of State’s Progress Meetings on RAF Expansion Measures; the Air Force Board and the Air Force Board Standing Committee.

Various pieces from the ZHC series, ie Hansard; maps from the WO153 series and unit and station records drawn from the AIR25 to AIR29 series, inclusive.

Published Works:

Air Force Lists (London)

Air Ministry; AP1234, Air Navigation (London, 1944)

Air Ministry; AP3233, Vol 1, RAF Flying Training – Policy and Planning (London, 1952)

Air Ministry; AP3368, 0perational Research in the RAF (London, 1963)

Alabaster, Adrian; A Quintet of Alabasters (Knebworth, UK, 1997)

Army Lists (London)

Ashton, J Norman; Only Birds and Fools (Shrewsbury, UK, 2000)

Baring, Maurice; Flying Corps Headquarters 1914-1918 (London, 1985 – originally published 1920)

Bartlett, C P O; Bomber Pilot (London, 1974)

Bewsher, P; Green Balls (Edinburgh, 1919)

Bickers, Richard Townshend; The First Great Air War (London, 1988)

Bott, A (aka ‘Contact’); An Airman’s Outings with the RFC (London, 1917)

Bourgain, Louis; Nuits de Feu sur l’Allemagne (Imprimerie Panda; Noisy le Sec, France, 1991)

Bowman, Martin; Wellington; The Geodetic Giant (Shrewsbury, UK, 1989)

Bowyer, Chaz; For Valour: The Air VCs (London, 1978)

Bowyer, Chaz; Guns in the Sky (London, 1979)

Boyle, Andrew; Trenchard, Man of Vision (London, 1962)

Brandon, Lewis; Night Flyer (London, 1961)

Brett, R Dallas; History of British Aviation, 1908-1914 (Crawley, UK, 1988 – originally published 1933)

Brookes, Andrew; V-Force, The History of Britain’s Airborne Deterrent (London, 1982)

Brown, Alan; Airmen in Exile (Stroud, UK, 2000)

Bruce, J M; Airco DH4, Vol 1 (Berkhamsted, UK, 2000)

Bryant, Frank; There’s Always Bloody Something! (Benalla, Victoria, Australia, 1991)

Carroll, Warren; Eagles Recalled (Alglen, PA, USA, 1997)

Chandler, Chan; Tail Gunner (Shrewsbury, UK, 1999)

Charlton, Lionel; Charlton, an autobiography (London, 1938 – originally published 1931)

Chorley, W R; Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Vols 1-6 (Earl Shilton, UK, 1992-98)

Clarke, R Wallace; British Aircraft Armament, Vol 1 – RAF Gun Turrets from 1914 to the Present Day (Yeovil, 1993)

Collier, B; Heavenly Adventurer (London, 1959)

Committee on Higher Education; Higher Education Report of the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister under the Chairmanship of Lord Robbins 1961-63; Cmd 2154, ‘The Robbins Report’ (London 1963)

Connon, Peter; An Aeronautical History of the Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway Region, Part 2:1915-1930 (Penrith, UK, 1984)

Conroy, Dennis; The Best of Luck (Victoria, Canada, 2003)

Copeman, Geoff D; Right-Hand Man (Baldock, UK, 1995)

Cormack, Andrew; The Royal Air Force 1939-45 (Men-at-Arms No 225) (London, 1990)

Cormack, Andrew and Cormack, Peter; British Air Forces, 1914-18 (I) (Men-at-Arms No 341) (Oxford, 2000)

Courtney, Frank T; Flight Path (London, 1972)

Critchley, A C; ‘Critch’ (London, 1961)

Cronin, Dick; Royal Navy Shipboard Aircraft Developments, 1912-31 (Tonbridge, UK, 1990)

Cropper, Eric; Back Bearings (Barnsley, 2010)

Coyle, Tim; Track Made Good – A history of air navigation in the Royal Australian Air Force and its predecessor, the Australian Flying Corps – 1914 to 1945 (PhD thesis submitted to Australian authorities, 2006)

Davis, Brian L; British Army Uniforms and Insignia of World War Two (London, 1983)

Docherty, Tom; Training for Triumph (Bognor Regis, UK, 2000)

Donnelly, G L; A Quest for Wings (Stroud, UK, 2000)

Douglas, Sholto; Years of Combat (London, 1963)

Dunmore, Spencer; Wings for Victory (Toronto, 1994)

Dyson, Freeman; Disturbing the Universe (New York, 1979)

Egles, Dudley C; Just One of the Many (Durham, 1996)

Ellis, Geoffrey; Tool Box on the Wing (Shrewsbury, UK, 1983)

Eyton-Jones, Arthur; Day Bomber (Stroud, UK, 1998)

Falconer, Jonathan; Stirling Wings (Stroud, UK, 1997)

Finnegan, Terrence J; Shooting The Front (Stroud, UK, 2011)

Ford, Keith S; Swift and Sure – Eighty Years of No 51 Squadron RAF (Preston, 1997)

Franks, Norman and O’Connor, Mike; Number One in Peace and War (London, 2000)

Franks, N, Guest, R & Alegi, G; Above the War Fronts (London, 1997)

Golley, John; Aircrew Unlimited (Yeovil, UK, 1993)

Gould-Lee, Arthur; No Parachute (London, 1968)

Grey, C G; History of the Air Ministry (London, 1940)

Griffiths, Hubert; RAF Occasions (London, 1941)

Guin, Gilbert S; The Arnold Scheme (Stroud, UK, 2007)

Halley, James; Air Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial Monographs, various volumes (Tonbridge, UK, various dates 1976-2006)

Hamlin, John F; Stand by Yer Beds! (Newmarket, UK, 1995)

Harbord, Frank; Familiar Voices (Knebworth, UK, 1998)

Hart, Peter; Aces Falling (London, 2007).

Haslam, E B; The History of Royal Air Force Cranwell (London, 1982)

Hatch, F J; Aerodrome of Democracy (Ottawa, 1983)

Henshaw, Trevor; The Sky Their Battlefield (London, 1995)

Henry, Mike; Air Gunner (London, 1964)

Hering, P G; Customs & Traditions of the Royal Air Force (Aldershot, UK, 1961)

Hobson, C; Airmen Died in the Great War, 1914-1918 (Polstead, UK, 1995)

Hunt, C W; Dancing in the Sky (Toronto, 2009)

Hurren, B J; Fellowship of the Air (London, 1951)

Huskinson, P; Vision Ahead (London, 1949)

Insall, A J; Observer (London, 1970)

Irving, David; Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe, The – The Life of Erhard Milch (London, 1973)

James, A G Trevenen; The Royal Air Force; The Past 30 Years (London, 1976)

James, John; The Paladins (London, 1990)

Jefford, C G; The Flying Camel (High Wycombe, UK, 1995)

Jefford, C G; RAF Squadrons (Shrewsbury, UK, 1989)

Jones, H A and Raleigh, Sir Walter; The War in the Air, Vols I-VI (Oxford, 1922-37)

Jones, Neville; The Origins of Strategic Bombing (London, 1973)

Keith, C H; I Hold My Aim (London, 1946)

Kemp, Paul; U-Boats Destroyed (London, 1997)

Kilduff, Peter; Germany’s First Air Force, 1914-1918 (London, 1991)

Kimber, Charles T; Son of Halton (London, 1977)

Kington, John A and Rackliff, Peter G; Even The Birds Were Walking (Stroud, UK, 2000)

Laffin, John; Swifter than Eagles (Edinburgh, 1964)

Layman, R D; Naval Aviation in the First World War (London, 1996)

Leaf, Edward; Above All Unseen (Yeovil, UK, 1997)

Lewis, Bruce; Air Crew, the story of the men who flew the bombers (London, 1991)

Lewis, Bruce; A Few of the First (Barnsley, UK, 1997)

Lewis, Cecil; Sagittarius Rising (Barnsley, UK, 2009 – reprint of 1936 original)

Liddle, Peter H; The Airman’s War (Poole, UK, 1987)

Lomas, Harry; One Wing High (Shrewsbury, UK, 1995)

Mackie, George (Lord Mackie of Benshie); Flying, Farming and Politics (Stanhope, UK, 2004)

Mason, Francis K; Battle Over Britain (London, 1969)

Macmillan, N; Sefton Brancker (London, 1935)

McCudden, James; Flying Fury (London, 1930 – originally published 1918 as Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps)

McInnes, I and Webb, J V; A Contemptible Little Flying Corp (London, 1991)

Mead, Peter; The Eye in the Air (London, 1983)

Meekcoms, K and Morgan, E; The British Aircraft Specifications File (Tonbridge, UK, 1994)

Middlebrook, Martin and Everitt, Chris; The Bomber Command War Diaries (Harmondsworth, UK, 1985)

Money, R R; Flying and Soldiering (London, 1936)

Morgan, Hugh; By the Seat of Your Pants (Cowden, UK, 1990)

Morris, Alan; The Balloonatics (London, 1970)

Morris, Alan; First of the Many (London, 1968)

Navy Lists (London)

Musgrove, Frank; Dresden and the Heavy Bombers; An RAF Navigator’s Perspective (Barnsley, UK, 2005)

Nesbit, Roy Conyers; Eyes of the RAF (Stroud, UK, 1996)

Neumann, Georg Paul (Ed); The German Air Force in the Great War (British edition translated by J E Gordon, London, 1921)

Nichols, Edward; We Held the Key (Swindon, UK, 1996)

Noble, W; With a Bristol Fighter Squadron (Bath, UK, 1977–originally published 1920)

Paine, J R; Getting Some In (Worcester, UK, 1990)

Parsons, Leslie; Over Hell and High Water (Bognor Regis, UK, 2001)

Passmore, Richard; Blenheim Boy (London, 1981)

Pegg, Bill; Sent Flying (London, 1959)

Pitchfork, Graham; Buccaneer Boys (London; 2013)

Pitchfork, Graham; Men Behind The Medals (London, 1998)

Radford, R V; Watch Opened (RAF Finningley, UK, 1980)

Rawnsley, C F and Wright, R; Night Fighter (Morely, UK, 1976 Edn, originally published by Collins in 1957)

RAF Historical Society – various contributors; A History of Air Navigation in the Royal Air Force (1997)

RAF Historical Society – various contributors; Royal Air Force Reserve and Auxiliary Forces (2003)

RAF Historical Society Journal 20 – various contributors; Flying Training in Peace and War (1993)

Richards, D; Portal of Hungerford (London, 1977)

Richardson, F C; Man Is Not Lost (Shrewsbury, UK, 1997)

Roberts, E M; A Flying Fighter (London, 1988 – originally published 1918)

Rodgers, Jack; Navigator’s Log (Braunton, UK, 1985)

Roskill, S W; Documents Relating to the Naval Air Service, Vol 1, 1908-18 (London, 1969)

Rotherham, G A; “It’s Really Quite Safe!” (Belleville, Ontario, 1986)

Royle, Trevor; The Best Years of Their Lives (London, 1986)

Rudd, Peter; The Red Eagles (privately published, 1995)

Shores, Christopher; Fledgling Eagles (London, 1991)

Shores, C, Franks, N & Guest, R; Above the Trenches (London, 1990)

Schröder, Hans (translated from the original German by Claud W Sykes); An Airman Remembers (reprint Elstree, UK, 1986)

Shrive, F J; The Diary of a PBO (Ontario, 1981)

Silver, L Ray; Last of the Gladiators (Shrewsbury, UK, 1995)

Slessor, Sir John; The Central Blue (London, 1956)

Slessor, Sir John; These Remain (London, 1969)

Smith, Malcolm; British Air Strategy Between the Wars (Oxford, 1984)

Smyth, A J M; Abrupt Sierra (York, UK, 2001)

Steel, Nigel and Hart, Peter; Tumult in the Clouds (London, 1997)

Stocker, Ted with Feast, Sean; A Pathfinder’s War (London, 2009)

Strange, L A; Recollections of an Airman (London, 1933)

Stringman, D C; The History of the Air Engineer (RAF Finningley, UK, 1984)

Sturtivant, Ray with Cronin, Dick; Fleet Air Arm Aircraft, Units and Ships 1920 to 1939 (Tunbridge Wells, UK, 1998)

Sturtivant, R with Hamlin, J; Royal Air Force Flying Training and Support Units since 1912 (Tonbridge, UK, 2007)

Sturtivant, R C; The Anson File (Tonbridge, UK, 1988)

Sykes, Frederick; From Many Angles (London, 1942)

Taylor, John W R; CFS, Birthplace of Air Power (London, 1958)

Terraine, John; The Right of the Line (London, 1985)

Treadwell, Terry C and Wood, Alan C; German Knights of the Air (London, 1997)

Tredrey, Frank D; Pilot’s Summer (Ormskirk, UK, 2000 – originally published 1939)

Tredrey, F D; Pioneer Pilot, The Great Smith-Barry (London, 1976)

Turner Publishing (various contributors); Air Force Navigators Observers (Paducah, KY, 1997)

Voss, Vivian (aka ‘Roger Vee’); Flying Minnows (London, 1977 – originally published 1935)

Walbank, F Alan – Ed; Wings of War (London, 1942)

Wallace, Gordon; Carrier Observer (Shrewsbury, UK, 1993)

Webster, Sir C and Frankland, N; The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany (London, 1961)

White, Ian; The History of Air Intercept Radar & the British Nightfighter 1935-1959 (Barnsley, 2007)

Whitehouse, Arch; The Fledgling (London, 1965)

Williams, James N; The Plan; memories of the BCATP (Stitsville, Ontario, 1984)

Woodman, Harry; Early Aircraft Armament (London, 1989)

Woodman, Harry; Lewis Guns – Windsock Mini Datafile 3 (Albatros, Berkhamsted, 1995)

Periodicals and Journals.

Various issues and editions of the following: The Aeroplane, Air Clues, Flight, The Hawk, Intercom, RAF News, Roosters and Fledglings, The Royal Air Force Quarterly, Tee Emm and the Journals of The Royal United Services Institute, The Royal Aeronautical Society, The Royal Air Force Historical Society and Cross & Cockade International. The last of these provides a rich source of information on all aspects of the first war in the air. Examples of particularly relevant articles, many of them biographical notes on individual observers, appeared in the following editions: Vol 2/1, Vol 3/1, Vol 4/4, Vol 5/2, Vol 6/2, Vol 7/4, Vol 8/1, Vol 9/3, Vol 9/4, Vol 10/1, Vol 13/4, Vol 14/4, Vol 17/3, Vol 19/2, Vol 20/2, Vol 20/4, Vol 23/3, Vol 23/4, Vol 26/4, Vol 26/4, Vol 27/1, Vol 27/3, Vol 27/4, Vol 28/1, Vol 28/4, Vol 29/1, Vol 29/4, Vol 32/3, Vol 32/4, Vol 34/2, Vol 34/3, Vol 39/2 and Vol 40/2.

Weather Magazine, Vol 5 (1950), pp301-4; article entitled ‘Meteorology in the First World War’ by T H Kirk. Meteorology Magazine, Vol 84 (1955), pp173-8; article entitled ‘The Meteorological Office and the First World War’ by E Gold.

History of Education, Vol 26 (1997), pp71-90; paper entitled ‘Flying start: educational and social factors in the recruitment of pilots of the Royal Air Force in the interwar years’ by Dr Tony Mansell.