"Combat Over Messines", painted by Mark Postlethwaite.
A Comprehensive look at the RFC
"Marked for Death" by James Hamilton-Paterson is a very thorough topical read on the air war from the British point of view. While it does include some coverage of German, French, and American air forces, this book is predominantly a very Anglo-centric narrative. In writing the book, Hamilton-Paterson distinctly chose to keep a narrow focus on terms of countries but to then dive deep into the minutiae regarding that country's aerial experience in World War I. The amount of topics he covers is laudable, including aircraft development, training of aircrews, medical complications while flying, types of missions flown, and how the government approached the air war. He even includes a chapter on RFC service in the Balkans and Mesopotamia, which is fascinating to read about!
Very occasionally, there is a slight slip-up in the editing (such as mislabeling a Fokker D.VII as a Fokker D.VIII on a photo insert) and in one case the author makes mention of Belgian Ace Willy Coppens landing on top of observation balloons to escape enemy fire, which I find stretches credulity. (Although someone please correct me if I am wrong!) Nevertheless, Hamilton-Paterson's work is well-researched and masterfully-portrayed, making it well worth the read.
Plight of the pilot
One thing Hamilton-Paterson excels at is portraying the everyday RFC airman's existence, oftentimes in their own words. Take this quote from Billy Bishop, for instance:
"After a cup of hot tea and a biscuit, four of us left the ground shortly after five. The sun in the early mornings, shining such direct rays from the east, makes it practically impossible to see in that direction, so that these dawn adventures were not much of a pleasure. It meant that danger from surprise attack was very great, for the Huns coming from the east with the sun at their back could see us when we couldn't see them. In any case one doesn't feel one's best at dawn, especially when one has had only four hours' sleep." (Hamilton-Paterson 182-183)
Things such as pilots dealing with G forces during dogfights, blacking out mid-flight due to hypoxia, feverishly trying to reload Lewis drums in the midst of pitched battle, and even aspects such as life on the ground and training experiences are all dealt with in a detailed manner that brings the period to life. I especially felt a deep sense of pity for pilots who received the bare modicum of training from inexperienced tutors, as recorded in the journal entry below:
"I have a Captain Harrison for an instructor. He seems to be a mere kid. He's about nineteen and is trying hard to grow a mustache. Classes are a joke." (John Macgovock Grider, quoted in Hamilton-Paterson 139)
Battlefield humor
Another point of interest that I encountered while reading "Marked for Death" was a particular brand of battlefield humor that emerged from the ranks of the RFC. Sometimes it would take the form of a wry sportsmanship such as in the following anecdote:
"It was a point of honour in the squadron that the decrepit old 'pig' [a hapless German artillery spotting airplane that frequented the area] should not actually be shot down. It was considered fair sport, however, to frighten it. Whenever our machines approached, the 'pig' would begin a series of clumsy turns and ludicrous maneuvers and would open a frightened fire from ridiculously long ranges. The observer was a very bad shot and never succeeded in hitting any of our machines, so attacking this particular German was always regarded more as a joke than a serious part of warfare." (Billy Bishop, quoted in Hamilton-Paterson 169)
In other cases, it would take the form of derisive odes to particularly-disliked aircraft, such as the B.E.2c:
The Pilot's Psalm
The B.E.2c is my bus; therefore shall I want.
He maketh me to come down in green pastures,
He leadeth me where I wish not to go.
He maketh me to be sick; he leadeth me astray on all cross-country flights.
Yea, though I fly o'er No Man's-Land where mine
Enemies would compass me about, I fear much evil,
For thou art with me; thy joystick and thy prop discomfort me.
Thou prepareth a crash for me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thy R.A.F [Royal Aircraft Factory engine] anointeth my hair with oil, thy tank leaketh badly.
Surely to goodness thou shalt not follow me all the days of my life,
Else I shall dwell in the House of Colney Hatch [Colney Hatch mental hospital] forever."
(Hamilton-Paterson 101)
In whatever form it emerged though, this battlefield humor was a way for airmen to keep sane in a mad war where lives and friendships could be snuffed out in an instant.
Stiff upper lip
While the birth of the RFC was a new development in the British armed forces, the attitudes displayed by the airmen themselves were as old as the sailors at Trafalgar or the longbowmen at Poitiers. War in the air - no matter how chivalrous - was still war. Shots were still fired. Men still died. (And often horrifically at that!) By the nature of the job, all aircrew came face-to-face with the brutality of aerial warfare at some point in their careers.
"Until yesterday, I never looked upon a German plane as anything but a machine to be destroyed. ...But when I saw the flames touch that German pilot I felt sick for a minute and actually said to myself in horror: 'There's a man in that plane.' Now I realize we can't be squeamish about killing. After all, we're nothing more than hired assassins." (James McCudden, quoted in Hamilton-Paterson 168)
How these men chose to deal with the realities of the air war proved to be the conditioning that kept them going... or slowly drove them insane.
"The war-time pilot fought the war in his own way. If the authorities wanted to drag a lot of infantry into the affair, well, that was nothing to do with him. He spoke a language of his own, understandable only to his own kind. If he was hurt, he complained solely because it meant leaving the Squadron; if he was killed his friends drank themselves unconscious and never mentioned his name again." (W.E. Johns, quoted in Hamilton-Paterson 175)
Conclusion
"Marked for Death" is a dramatic, well-researched, and easily readable account of the RFC's experience during the First World War. Hamilton-Paterson does a phenomenal job of bringing the first great aerial war to the armchairs of twenty-first century readers without dumbing down the material. His topics are backed up by solid evidence and his conclusions are fresh. He even led me to rethink some research I had done on parachutes in WW1. (He argues the point that even if parachutes had been available earlier, a sizable portion of RFC pilots might have eschewed wearing them - either because their squadron mates would have looked down on them for their cowardice or simply because they were worried bulky parachutes would impede their combat duties.) (Hamilton-Paterson 242-243)
Currently "Marked for Death" is the book to beat for me in terms of sheer scope of topics covered as regards the RFC/RAF. It is a book that suits all comers, whether they be neophytes to the study of WW1 aviation, enthusiasts seeking to grow their knowledge, or seasoned historians looking for a fresh perspective about the field. As such, I cannot recommend it highly enough for studying the RFC/RAF in World War I. I shall certainly be referring to it for many years to come.
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References:
Hamilton-Paterson, James. Marked for Death: The First War in the Air. Pegasus Books, Ltd., 2016.
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