Books

Fighter Heroes of WWI

The untold story of the brave and daring pioneer airmen of the Great War

Rewriting the rules of military engagement and changing the course of modern history, the pioneering airmen of the First World War took incredible risks to to realise the potential of aerial warfare.

Fighter Heroes of WWI is a narrative history that conveys the perils of early flight, the thrills of being airborne, and the and the unimagined horrors of the war in the air at a time when British pilots were not permitted to carry parachutes.

The men of the Royal Flying Corps who flew to France in 1914 were treading into unknown territory. They soon became heroes to the men on the ground and to civilians at home. Their dramatic airborne duels were in sharp contrast to the faceless fighting on the ground. For the first time the air was turned into a true battlefield.

The war changed flying forever. The Wright Brothers first flight and Blériot’s crossing of the English Channel seemed a distant memory as aircraft turned from slow, primitive kites into fast, manoeuvrable killing machines. Photographic reconnaissance, heavy bombing, and wireless artillery observation were all pioneered.

 This unprecedented struggle above the trenches was the direct precursor of the fearsome air wars of the later years. The iconic pilots of the Battle of Britain grew up in awe of the now forgotten First World War aces. This book brings them back to life.