Here's the rest of mine:-
3) "Hornets Sting" by Derek Robinson
The third book in the Hornet Squadron WW1 trilogy, this novel is actually part 2 in chronological terms, taking place in 1917 between War Story (1916)and
Goshawk Squadron (1918).
With the Battle of Third Ypres about to begin, Hornet Squadron has traded in its FE2bs for Sopwith Pups. After the heavy losses of the previous year, the squadron has many new faces but some of the older ones remain, namely Paxton and O'Neill, the latter supposedly killed in the previous novel but, in true Days-of-Our-Lives fashion, he has been reasurrected. (We are given no actual explanation for his survival apart from a flippant remark or two).
A new arrival is the pilot MacKenzie and it soon becomes apparent that Robinson is using this character as a thinly-disguised portrait of
Albert Ball. He is young, ruthless and brash, has little time for discipline or procedure and next-to-no respect for his superiors. He is a difficult person to get along with and he cruelly taunts and even bullies one of the younger fliers. However it soon becomes apparent that much of this outward personality is all surface, hiding a vulnerable, cynical and insecure young man. MacKenzie may be an excellent flier but he is also emotionally immature and is found to be hopelessly awkward around the opposite sex.
Hornet Squadron is sent across the lines again and again as they offensively mount patrols. The flying scenes are excellently and convincingly described and the utter randomness of death is soon apparent. The action builds in intensity as Third Ypres gets under-way. Half-way through the novel, Hornet Squadron trades in its Pups for the new 'Biffs'- the two-seater Bristol F2As. The real-life infamous combat debut of the Biffs in which 4 out of a flight of 6 were shot down by Von Richtofen's Jasta in a single action is used in this novel. Whereas the real event took place on the last day of
Bloody April, it is on April 1st when Hornet Squadron suffers such a disaster.
To be honest, I enjoyed this book the least out of the 3 novels in the trilogy and, in fact, found myself losing interest towards the end. The novel is over-long and, in parts, it seems tediously un-inspired. Robinson seems to be repeating the mood and themes of Goshawk Squadron and most of the characters are overly-familiar. One, a pilot named Charles Dash, is simply a repeat of Paxton's character from War Story. At times, Robinson almost parodies himself in the over-the-top banter and black humour which sometimes appears more like Monty Python than the real RFC.
There is even a jarring-note when the squadron receives two Aristocratic Russian pilots, both loyal to the Tsar, who arrive on an exchange program and then, after learning of the Bolshevik seizure of power back home, are forced to stay. Things get over-the-top when two agents of the new Soviet government arrive to 'collect' them only to be machine-gunned to death by one of the Russian pilots right in the Squadron-Leader's office. Such self-indulgent scenes such as this detract from the novel's realism. As the Ypres campaign progresses, the squadron suffers more losses. Paxton and O'Neill depart when they are both wounded. Woolley, the future anti-hero of Goshawk Squadron, arrives. The novel plods along to a somewhat predictable ending as MacKenzie, after receiving a decoration from the King, goes AWOL with a young, well-to-do woman who is hooked on gambling. Eventually rounded up and returned to duty, MacKenzie soon Goes West.
There are some effective scenes. One memorable line, as a patrol flies high over an artillery barrage at Ypres, describes it looking from above as resembling a 'great sea of boiling porridge'. In one grim scene, a new flier, trying to keep up with his flight who are climbing as high as they can, passes out from oxygen deprivation and falls to his death. In another, a horrified pilot, out of ammunition, can only helplessly watch as a regiment of British cavalry are wiped out by a German machine-gun post. In the slaughter of the Biffs scene, one gunner who has neglected to strap himself in, simply falls out as his pilot takes sudden evasive action.
The novel was an interesting read but not a patch on the two earlier novels.
For interest's sake, Robinson has written three WW2 novels set in the air war- 'Piece of Cake' (1983) which portrays one year in the life of a Hawker Hurricane squadron from the beginning of the war in 1939 to the climax of the Battle of Britain in 1940. It was made into a TV mini-series in 1988.
"A Good Clean Fight' (1993) which depicts both an RAF P-40 Tomahawk squadron and an SAS Long-Range Desert Patrol group in the desert campaign in North Africa.
"A Damned Good Show" (2004) which portrays the early years of the British night-bombing campaign 1939-1941 through the experiences of a bomber squadron equipped with Hampdens and, later on, Wellingtons.
Apparently, Robinson's next aviation novel will be about an RAF jet unit based in Europe during the early Cold War.
First Published: 1999
Still in Print- Yes.
4) "The Blue Max" by Jack D Hunter
One of the classics of the genre, this novel has been in-and-out of print since its publication in the 1960s. Made into a big-budget film in 1966, starring the then leading actor George Peppard, the novel is about a young Leutnant named Bruno Stachel who joins a German Fighter Unit in 1918. Stachel, a former Infantryman with a humble background, is soon feeling out of place in a unit dominated by aristocrats and dashing high-achievers. But Stachel is a ruthlessly ambitious young man.
In one of his first actions, he eagerly goes after and destroys a crippled English machine but in doing so, neglects to go to the aid of his patrol leader Fabian who is cornered and shot down by two other enemy planes. Rather than show any feeling for Fabian's death, Stachel is merely angered that he cannot get confirmation for his own kill. In his next action, he cripples an RE8 that then surrenders and Stachel escorts it to his aerodrome. At the last moment, the RE8s gunner appears to recover and seems about to use his weapon whereupon Stachel shoots his prize down in flames with the entire squadron watching him. Stachel calmly strolls over to the wreck after he lands and slices off the RE8s serial number and drops it on the grass in front of the adjutant. He has his first confirmed kill.
The battle scenes are written in a straight-forward blunt fashion devoid of any melodrama. One sequence where Stachel test-flys a Fokker D7 is well-written.
The novel's Stachel is a more ruthless, cold-blooded character than was the one in the movie version. In the film, his rival Willi Von Klugermann is killed when the two are trying to out-do one-another in stunt flying, whereas the novel's Stachel quite deliberately flies Klugermann into the ground. The film has Stachel meeting his end when he is duped into testing a faulty new aircraft but in the novel, that is the fate that meets squadron-commander Otto Heidemann, a more correct, idealistic officer. The novel's Stachel is still very much alive at the end of the book. Indeed there later came two sequels about Stachel's experiences in the Thirties and the rise of the Nazis and eventually his ultimate demise in WW2.
First published- 1965
Still in print- Yes.
5) "The Unfeeling Sky" & " The Enemy Sky" by Peter Saxon
These two novels, published in the 1960s by UK author Peter Saxon, are less-well known WW1 air war novels. They both focus on units operating Sopwith Pups and centre on the RFC pilot Lieutenant Frank Thompson. 'The Unfeeling Sky' has Thompson and his German rival and Albatross pilot, Max Nebel heading towards their show-down. Earlier in the novel, Nebel shoots down and kills Thompson's best friend and the novel predictably reaches the climatic one-on-one duel between the two enemies as Thompson seeks revenge. "The Enemy Sky" has a more meandering story-line as Thompson leads patrols over German Territory. Both novels are fairly routinely written and somewhat forgettable but are still enjoyable to read. The cover art is quite good, too.
The Unfeeling Sky first published in 1968
The Enemy Sky first published in ?
Neither book is currently in print.
More to come. Thanks everyone for the lists, they are great. Pete