Books About WW1 Aviation Worth Reading

[Larry R.]

To my knowledge, there aren't many novels about WW1 aviation, The Blue Max being one. In the years following the war there were, however, a number of war pilot biographies and autobiographies. I have a few in my small home library. Fighting tbe Flying Circus by Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker is a good one. Hawker VC RFC Ace by Terrel Hawker is another. Knight of Germany is about Oswald Boelke. I have that one, too. There have been a number of books written about Richthofen, including his autobiography. Some books are available in ebook form, and I have a few of those, one being the autobiography of the controversial (historically speaking) Canadian ace Capt. William "Billy" Bishop.

I always have my eye out for autobiographies of WW1 flyers, especially, but biographies and novels are also on my list of wants.

[georgerutherford1861]

Larry,

One of my personal favorites is Winged Victory by V.M. Yeates. It is a novel, but one with so much drawn from Yeates' own experience as a pilot in 46 Squadron RFC that one could look at it almost as much as a fictionalized memoir as anything else.

No melodrama in this one, Yeates seems to have been pretty disillusioned by his wartime experiences, as many of his peers were. It is a very gritty read, lots of low-level ground strafing in the face of the 1918 German offensive, very dangerous work. Sadley Yeates died of tuberculosis in 1934.

Doug

[Larry R.]

Thanks, Doug, for recommending Winged Victory. I just now acquired an ebook version. I'm looking forward to reading it.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, Larry R. Your search for WWI pilot autobiographies and novels is an interesting one. While at my computer, I was quickly able to find two autobiographies by Willy Coppens titled, Flying in Flanders, written in 1971, and, Days on the Wing, written in 1934. Also, Ace of the Black Cross, The Memoirs of Ernst Udet, published in 2013 was a quick find.

To locate these, I entered the name of a Great War flyer, then typed in the word autobiography, and all kinds of information came up. I hope this technique will bring you quite a few interesting books.

There’s an old saying, “You can always tell a pilot, but you can’t tell him much.” Pilots love to talk about their exploits, and they love to write about them, too. If you haven’t already, be sure to check Google Book to see if any of the books you are interested in are in their on-line library. Many of the Great War autobiographies are public domain now, as the books were published so long ago.

As for searching for novels on the subject, that’s a more difficult problem as the titles of the desired books and the author’s names are not known at the beginning of the search. I’d head down to my local library and ask a librarian for their help. They would have an inside track on that kind of information.

Good luck in your search.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Larry R.]

Good work, Thumb Dog. You mentioned two great pilots, Udet and Coppens, two successful flyers who survived the Great War. I did not know Wil!ie Coppens had published a memoir. Thanks, Thumb Dog, for your quick work at the computer!

[Wyvern]

Jack Hunter wrote another WW1 aviation novel, one not connected to the Stachel novels. The Flying Cross is a murder mystery/espionage thriller featuring an American Military Policeman investigator. A great yarn; worth looking for.

Wyvern

[Larry R.]

Thanks, Wyvern. I'm quickly becoming fan of Jack D. Hunter!

I've begun reading Winged Victory by V.M. Yeates. The narrative has the feel of having been written by a person who had first hand experience as a Camel pilot. The writing feels genuine in this regard.

[Yale]

Let's not forget American flyer Elliot White Springs. After the war, he wanted to be a novelist, so hung out with other literary types in Paris. But there was a running argument with his father, who wanted him to take over the family business -- Springmaid sheets. The father won the argument by dying, so Springs had to run the company after all. Still, he was able to write several novels, such as Diary of an Unknown Aviator, Above the Bright Blue Sky, and War Birds and Lady Birds.

His literary bent led him into deep involvement with advertising. One famous ad showed an exhausted Indian brave in a hammock made from a sheet, handing a dollar to a lovely young Indian woman. The caption was, "Another buck well spent on a Springmaid sheet."

[Larry R.]

Thanks, Yale, for the info about Springs. I do recall him being mentioned in some of my readings, though nothing about his assuming command of the family business, an interesting fact. I wonder if he published a war memoir or diary?