Book Title: Sharks Among Minnows
Author: Norman Franks
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-1902304922
Category: History
Format: Hardback
Summary: Sharks Among Minnows: Germany’s First Fighter Pilots and the Fokker Eindecker Period, July 1915 to September 1916
by Norman Franks
From the Publisher:
In early 1915, with the world war in its infancy, the attention of Allied and German air strategists was focussed on trying to stop each other making reconnaissances and artillery observation sorties over the lines. Various ingenious schemes met with limited success, then suddenly in the summer of 1915 there was a breakthrough for the Germans – the arrival at the front of the Fokker Eindecker.
Its advantage was the synchronised machine gun firing through the whirling blades of the propeller – a revolution in contemporary air fighting. Those German pilots disposed to flying these first single-seat aeroplanes, if successful, soon became famous and the first aces. Names such as Boelcke, Immelmann, Wintgens, Parschau, Mulzer, Hohndorf, Frankl and von Althaus quickly became the first heroes to the German public and the first winners of the coveted Pour le Mérite – the famed Blue Max.
These men and others caused havoc amongst British and French airmen over the Western Front for just over a year, something history has called the “Fokker Scourge.” Although comparatively small in numbers, they were deadly when attacking lightly armed, almost defenceless British and French aeroplanes; truly “sharks among minnows.”
Norman Franks has covered this period in detail, bringing to light new information and insights, and explaining how these early German fighter pilots achieved their kills, who they shot down, when and where. Contains many rare and previously unpublished photos.
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Product Details
- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Grub Street; 1st Edition (2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1902304926
- ISBN-13: 978-1902304922
- Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
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Despite some (alleged) errors of translation, spelling, and proofing identified by at least one reviewer of this title (I can neither confirm nor deny these claims, but they’re out there), I found this title to be worthy of recommendation.
Serving as an informative introduction to a sparsely-covered era of Great War aviation, this volume will appeal to the avid historian, but may be beyond the interests of the casual reader…though the text is well-written and accessible to the layperson (not overly technical in its treatment of the aircraft and tactics of the period).
Rather than a straight narrative, Sharks Among Minnows provides the reader with a series of short vignettes describing the circumstances surrounding the various victories of those flying Eindeckers (both Fokker and Pfalz). I found these short entries to be engaging, as they detailed not only the encounters themselves, but also addressed the questions and inconsistencies that go hand-in-hand with an incomplete historical record.
Basically laid out in chronological order, the book chronicles the careers of the earliest aerial hunters, from the initial deployment of the various Eindecker models up to the formation of the first Jastas. Additionally, Franks clearly demonstrates that it was the critical combination of pilot skill/initiative and the revolutionary nature of the Eindecker’s armament, rather than any superiority in doctrine and/or engine or airframe technology, that permitted such dominance.
Supported by more than 90 b/w photographs, many published for the first time, this monograph includes a number of indices (incl. Fokker Pilots on Other Fronts, Fokker Eindecker Aces, Two-Seater Claims, and maps detailing the Immelmann’s and Mulzer’s claims), a bibliography and index. One point of criticism is that only the first and last chapter do much to provide context for impact of the “Fokker Scourge” in the larger air war.
Though it struck me as a more detailed version of Osprey’s “Aircraft of the Aces” series, I found this to be an enjoyable, informative read.
Recommended, especially for those with an interest in the early years of the war in the air.
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