Following in the same style as his previous book of Fleet Air Arm
recollections, Malcolm Smith has collected a compendium of reminiscences
from pilots who flew for the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines during the
First World War. He includes firsthand testimonies from pilots manning
early seaplane stations, an enthralling account from F.J. Rutland (the
'Rutland of Jutland'), who became the first pilot to take off in a
Sopwith Pup from a platform on the roof of one of HMS Yarmouth's gun
turrets, the true tale behind Rudyard Kipling's short story 'A Flight of
Fact' (concerning Guy Duncan-Smith's experience of becoming marooned in
the Maldives following a dramatic shoot-down), amongst many other
personalized and illuminating stories.
All these anecdotes are drawn from the extensive archive maintained by
the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton, Somerset. The archive contains an
enormous quantity of material, in the form of handwritten diaries,
transcripts, log books and documentation of many kinds. Alongside the
written material, the Museum maintains an unrivaled photographic archive
and a representative sample of these images is included in the book.
Excerpts from diaries, transcripts of spoken firsthand accounts and
other recorded narratives make up the bulk of the book, with whole
chapters dedicated to some of the most vocal members to see service
during the course of the RNAS's Great War history. Guy Leather, a pilot
destined to track an impressive trajectory with the RNAS features in one
such chapter; his day to day accounts relay the full gamut of pilot
experience at this time.
This humane and thoughtful consolidation of pilot reflections is sure to
appeal broadly, particularly as we approach the one hundredth year
anniversary of the First World War.
