"Wings" TV Series

[Gregvan]

And this one:

YouTube - Be2 Wings

YouTube - Be2 Wings

[Major Larabee]

Originally Posted by Gregvan

And this one:

YouTube - Be2 Wings

And that one shows our BE2 replica in all her glory

[robbiefwall]

Hello...

I am just posting to get the required "10" out of the way for posting URLs in No Man's Lane

[robbiefwall]

Hello...

Two is enough here...

Thanks for your patience...

[karrart]

Originally Posted by Major Larabee

And that one shows our BE2 replica in all her glory

Glory is right- gorgeous, top to bottom, back to front!
Robert Karr
lovin' BE's at:
RK’s Pfalzhood - Pfalz, Halberstadt, Nieuport, CAMEL!!!

[Mad Mac]

I remember watching the BBC TV series "Wings" about 20 years ago. I was quite disappointed in it because the planes seemed almost incidental to the (rather weak) plot even though they were supposed to be a key element in the story. If I remember correctly the Be2's had fast-revving, modern-sounding engines and there were no rotary engined planes to be seen. And the underlying theme of class distinction grated with this egalitarian Kiwi boy. Why is it that UK war movies always seem to emphasize conflict betwen the characters themselves, instead of portraying a unified approach by the characters in their conflict with the enemy? That seems to be a uniquely English thing.

[Chock]

I think the emphasis on class distinction is inevitable in portrayals of WW1, since it is such an integral feature of the conflict, and not just for the Brits, but not always in the same way.

The blurring of social distinctions was not just limited to men at the front either; when women were of necessity, brought into factories to do engineering work that had typically been the domain of men, at a time when they were fighting for emancipation, it was a mirror to what was happening at the front as the war progressed. Initially there was a social barrier to making it into the officer class, just as there was a social barrier to women doing skilled engineering work, but in a war with such massive casualties lasting four years, eventually the nation had to start casting the net wider for officer material and skilled labourers. Such a situation is a rich vein of material for drama and character exposition.

Of course the really interesting thing with flying squadrons in WW1, was that a lot of the time, and in contrast to the war on the ground, it was the upper classes who were the ones doing the dying, whereas the working classes were the ones sat in the rear. Admittedly the lower social classes were doing a lot of the work necessary to put those planes in the air, and serving the officers, but officers were the ones going where the meat meets the metal, whereas RFC people lower down the social pecking order had a comparatively 'safe' war.

Anyone who has studied WW1 flying from the German side will know that the situation was practically the reverse of that of the UK in social terms. Initially flyers were seen as little more than grimy chauffeurs for the observers, who were normally the officer and the one in charge of the aeroplane, a situation which occurred on German bombers in WW2 as well. Of course as we know, when those grimy chauffeurs started grabbing the attention of an adoring public, that was when the officers started thinking about getting a piece of the action. This situation is of course what the movie The Blue Max focuses on, and is also vividly brought to life in Richthofen's own book.

If anyone ever gets to making a movie about Mannock or Jones and how they tended to rub the toffee-nosed types up the wrong way by ignoring many social conventions for the officer classes in the RFC, then that would certainly be a film worth watching. And whilst I agree that it is nice to see the action in the air in a movie, the action on the ground, in the mess, is often more likely to light up the screen.

Al

[Sandy Spigot-Colon]

I've also got a set of rather grainy/blurred set of the series on DVD.
I tend to think that it was one of the only attempts ever made to portray with some attempt at accuracy the life of a squadron on the western front. It certainly avoided the inane mock heroics of Fly-paper and for that reason alone it’s worth watching.
I rate it as good to excellent and with the Good Major (writing here on this very thread) restoring the BE2 replica from the show, it has added modern interest in my ‘onest.

I don’t think you could portray any aspect of the British army or British life in The Great War period without a mention of the class structure, as it was so pronounced in those days.
Snobbishness is a two way street by the way—the working classes (that’s where I’m from) certainly often had no desire to mix with the upper classes. This is a point American film makers often fail to grasp—I’m thinking here of the stupid scene in Titanic (another complete load of tosh) where the good old Irish boys and girls are dancing down in the bowels of the ship and the Kate Twinset character (supposedly very upper class) goes down and joins them. I guess if you’re not British you won’t understand, but my guess would have been that the party would have been a non starter with her there.

As to the upper classes, they were dying in substantial numbers on the ground too, look at junior officer casualties if you doubt me and even officers of senior rank died in considerable numbers—often rather giving lie to the idea that they were all thirty miles back getting drunk in a chateaux.

S S-C.

[Chock]

Originally Posted by Sandy Spigot-Colon

As to the upper classes, they were dying in substantial numbers on the ground too, look at junior officer casualties if you doubt me and even officers of senior rank died in considerable numbers—often rather giving lie to the idea that they were all thirty miles back getting drunk in a chateaux.

S S-C.

Oh absolutely, especially in the very large battles in WW1. Artillery shells don't care what accent you have, or what school you went to.

Al

[Gurgast]

Ha ha ... I love the way somebody in the BBC thinks that the Germans used to hand crank balloons down.