Airmen o' War

[Jos]

Hello,

Last summer I went to Gent (Belgium) and bought in a second-hand bookstore Airmen o' War by Boyd Cable.
The interesting thing is that the stories in this book are written in WW1 and were published in 1918. Most of the writing was done while the RNAS and RFC were still in existence. In his foreword Cable mentions that he has lived for over a year in the squadrons at the front and he hopes he has "absorbed enough of the nature and atmosphere of the work (of the squadrons) to present a true picture of the life".

In 18 short stories he tries to convince the soldiers in the trenches the importance of the airmen, and that they owe them a lot. If they didn't "clear" the skies, he explains two soldiers in "The Little Butcher" that they: "have to sweat for every Hun that comes over the line; every minute a gun-spotter or photographer or reconnaissance machine works over you, you pay for in killed and wounded".
In almost every story this subject returns.

Remarkable is that in none of these stories Cable mentions the type of airoplanes that are used by the English.
He is "naturally anxious to avoid angering the censor by naming any particular type or make of machine".
However in the story "The Fo-Fum's Reputation" he describes a type of plane he calls the "Fo-Fum 2" in such an extensive way one knows Cable means the FE 2.

In "Air Activity" he puts the mechanics on a pedestal. He tells about their importance to get the planes in good shape and their long working days.

In other stories Cable writes about balloonobservers, a ferry pilot, night bombing, etc.

If you bear in mind the time in which the stories are written it's a good, readable book. However, it is a "good guys - bad guys" book and good guys always win (or die like a hero).


Maybe someone else has also read this book and I would like to "hear" his comment.

Greetings,


Jos

[Ginger.]

'Siver Wings' is the one tale I recall. Will find the book out tomorrow (it's gone midnight over here) and have a read.