Bristol F2B

[Pips]

Quite rightly this aircraft is renowned as one of the best (if not The best) two-seater fighters of the Great War.

But has there ever been a book written by either a pilot or gunner who flew F2B's during the War? One that gets down into the "nitty-gritty" of flying and fighting in this aircraft?

[Gregvan]

Hi Cobby,

Have you ever read "Flying Minnows", by 'Roger Vee' (a pseudonym for Vivian Voss)? First published in 1935 by John Hamilton, it was re-published in 1977 by Arms and Armour, with identifications of people who were given false names in the original work. Voss (no relation to Werner!) was a South African who trained in Canada in 1917 and flew Bristol Fighters with Nos. 48 and 88 Sqns in 1918. My copy is currently on loan to Jon Guttman, but as I recall it was just a bit sensationalistic in the typical style of the 1930's era memoir-genre. It did give a first hand account of flying Bristols in 1918, though, and provided the flavor of what it was like. I don't think the author gave very many technical nitty-gritty details, but wrote in more of a boys' own 'ripping yarns' style.

There have been a number of short first hand accounts published in Cross & Cockade Great Britain/International over the years. You'll be pleased to know that Jon Guttman has written "Bristol Fighter Aces of WWI" for Osprey, and it will provide excerpts from many of these first-hand accounts. It should be published in a few months.

Greg

[Gregvan]

Hi,

Here's the link for Jon's book:

Osprey Publishing - Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I

Scheduled for publication in September!

Greg

[Pips]

Thanks for that info Greg. I'll plan on getting both books, especially Jon's.

[Fill]

Hi
It is a fairly rare book and deals with more the history of 22 Squadron than just it's time with the F2b , but " Pi in the Sky " by WFJ Harvey is a very interesting read . Harvey goes against our common thinking to some part by advocating the use of tight formation flying with the combined firepower of the rear guns to ward of attackers .... and this was in 1918 . 22 did deep escorts at times and would pull close to the DH4's and fly out of enemy territory with this tactic . Jim Harvey was obviously not advocating this tactic is all circumstances , but it's an interesting point considering what we think of Leefe-Robinson doing it in Bloody April . At times I think that the fact that L-R's formation had trouble with their Lewis's freezing up had something to do with it also .
Anyway , Harvey never lost a Flight member of B Flight and the read is extremely good .
It was the anniversay of his death last Saturday . Anyone who reads C&C int should raise a glass to him as he was a founding member .
Fill

[Pips]

Sounds like an excellent read Fill, many thanks for the suggestion.

[Barrett]

The only fictional treatment I know of the Brisfit was The Eagle's Height by Robt. Elliot (apparently a pseudonym.) Very good treatment of FE-2s, BFs, Camels and Snipes, especially considering it was published in 19-ought-61. Copies widely available at Amazon, etc. I recommend it.

The only BF guy I ever knew was Sir James MacDonald, an observer in 22 Sqn (8 victories.) He was British consul to Portland Oregon in the mid 70s, and I'd heard that he'd flown in the Big One. So I said, "Sir James, I understand that you were in the RAF."

He drew himself up to his full 5-ft-6 or something, and declared, "Royal FLYING CORPS laddie!"

Ek-chually he joined the squadron in April '18 but was proud of his RFC origins.

[vb136]

You have also With a Bristol Fighter Squadron. I have stored my copy (lack of space and a wife who wants to see other books than WW 1-related in the book-cases), so I do not remember the author. He writes about his service as an observer with 11 Sqn RFC.

[rainbase]

The middle book of Derek Robinson's WW1 trilogy, "The Hornet's Sting" is a pretty good fictionalized account of flying Brisfits also. Hornet squadron is given the honor of introducing the new two-seat fighter into combat where their initial tactics will fail them miserably....

[Pips]

Again thank you all for the recommendations. I especially like the sound of The Eagle's Height by Robt. Elliot .