An old book, "War Birds; Diary of an Unkown Aviator"?

[Freebooter]

Hello all,
I picked up an old paperback at a used book store some time back called "War Birds; Diary of an Unkown Aviator". It is a diary of a WWI aviator and it says it was copyrighted 1926 by Elliot White Springs and a second copyright in 1951 by Elliot White Springs.

On the back cover it says, among other things, "Back by Popular Demand; Letters from all over the world have been asking that this Diary be repringted, unabridged, as it originally appeared LIBERTY Magazine. It is now offered for those that might have missed this most famous of all of the true stories to come out of the 1st Big War".

In the forward, written by Elliott White Springs mentioned above, and a member of the unit, it says that he showed the diary to the ten men most often mentioned in the diary and they all compared it and its info with their own diaries, notes, and memories and they all agreed that it was more than probably John MacGravoc Grider's diary. It is old and trying to fall apart but I look forward to reading it.
Anyway, anyone ever heard of it? I thought some of y'all might know of this old book or find it interesting. I will let y'all know how it was after I read it.
Take care,
Freebooter
Alabama

[FOKKERJ]

Hi Freebooter,

I picked up an old hardback in a used book store around 1971. I haven't read it again since then, but would consider it one of my treasures, I probably hauled it every where long after I was done reading it. I don't remember where I came up with a possible name, John MacGravoc Grider sounds familiar, at least the John Grider part. I probably wrote it down in the book or on a piece of paper inserted into same. I would have to dig it out and dust off the cob-webs.

Enjoy, it's worth a go!

HAPPY TRAILS, FOKKERJ

It's time to read it again....Past time!
I have to read "Sagittarius Rising" first, bought it two months ago and it's still waiting for me to crack it open!

P.S. Do you know "BAMA LOWE"? One Blue eye and one Brown.

[rainbase]

I'm working from memory here at work, but the story of Warbirds goes something like this:

Warbirds is a semi-fictionalized account of the group of Americans who trained and flew with the British. The first chapter or two were basically taken from Grider's diary. He died. E.W Springs wrote the rest of the book, which was a pretty big seller in the 1920's and made Springs a fair amount of money. Springs went on to pen a handful of books, both fiction and non-fiction. Most, if not all of these, are somehow based on wartime flying (or the aftermath of it).


My listing for Elliott Spring's books in my online bibliography is HERE.

Springs is a great character, and I would recommend Burke Davis' Warbird: The life And Times Of Elliott White Springs. After taking over his father's linen mill he became one of the richest men in South Carolina. It's said that his ads for Spring Maid Sheets ("A Buck Well Spent") revolutionized advertising.

Warbirds is a fun book. While I file it under under fiction, there is a lot of true anecdotal material in there including some stories with some famous airman of the war. Springs has an easy "wiseacre" style that makes for fun reading.

[Russell Smith]

Rainbase - good memory. you pretty much summed it up. "WarBirds..." is a classic!

russ

[Kilian]

Hi freebooter.

Read here please Click here!!

[ONEALM]

Freebooter -

Steve Ruffin did an excellent article in Ocver the Front some years back volum 11 #1, 1996 -

The "Unknown Writer" Behind the "Unknown Aviator:" The Story of War Birds by Lt. Col. Steven A. Ruffin, USAF

It pretty much covers it completely and sifts through much of the fact and fiction of the work. Springs left most all of the names as they were - he may have changed details of events, but he did leave the names of his friends - many of whom had attended Princeton University with him - intact. Lindley DeGarmo, Taber, Bill Neely, Bonham Bostick, all came out with the Second Oxford Detachment and his recounting of their service is pretty accurate.

Even for the bits he did fictionalize, it's a super account of the experience of those men in trainign and later at the front.

-Mike

[TomVrille]

Greetings Freebooter..

War Birds is indeed a classic, and your paperback copy is probably the 1951 reprint of the serial published in Liberty Magazine. The classic hardback edition was published in 1926 by Springs and George H. Doran. If you would like to get a copy in top condition, there is a 1988 reprint published by Texas A&M University Press that features the text and artwork of the 1926 original edition.

Basically, the only material drawn exclusively from Grider's diary involves the Atlantic crossing. Much of the rest of the book is a mildly fictionalized account of Springs' own experiences. The book War Bird - The Life and Times of Elliott White Springs by Burke Davis pretty well spells out the extent of Springs' efforts as an editor, and documents his most interesting life!

If you find yourself in or near Myrtle Beach, stop by the Springmaid Beach Resort and have a look at the Museum Room containing Springs' wartime memorabilia.