Some Light Reading...
Here is a list of my latest reads - I will drop them in as book reviews in due course if not already done - All are on Kindle for next to nothing if you don't want to fill your bookcase and all are pretty easy reads.
The story of the LaFayetteEscadrille told by it's commander - Captain Georges Thenault
ISBN-10 : 1519085745
ISBN-13 : 978-1519085740
This is George Thenault’s history of the Lafayette Escadrille covering from its very inception to the end of the war.
Americans were initially rejected from joining the air force and had sign up with the Foreign Legion instead to get into service with the French forces.
Eventually, after much waiting, the Americans were given planes and later, under Thenault’s command, they developed their own squadron which became The LaFayette Escadrille.
Thenault provides descriptions and tales of characters from the unit such as Norman Prince, the Rockwell brothers, William Thaw and the ace Raoul Lufbery, (William Thaw bought the lion mascots named Whiskey and Soda)
Eventually with the United States joining the war the Lafayette Escadrille was disbanded and a number of its members were inducted into the U.S. Air Service as members of 103 Aero Squadron.
A great insight into the history of this famous unit from start to finish written just after the war and an easy read.
Go, Get ‘Em! —The True Adventures Of An American Aviator Of The Lafayette Flying Corps by William Augustus Wellman
After initially enlisting as an ambulance driver during the Great War, American born Wellman transferred into the French Foreign Legion. By the end of 1917 he had earned his wings as a fighter pilot and had joined N. 87 escadrille of the Lafayette Flying Corps. The ‘Black Cats’ flew Nieuport ‘pursuit’ aircraft-first 17s and latterly 24s. Wellman named his own plane Celia-after his mother. In his career as a fighter pilot Wellman chalked up three confirmed ‘kills’ and five ‘probables’ before eventually being shot down by German anti-aircraft fire in March 1918. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre with two palms. Due to his crash injury he was invalided out of French service and returned to the United States where he began a highly regarded career as a film director. This book, published in 1918, recounts Wellman’s wartime experiences while they were still fresh in the mind, as such it is an invaluable first-hand account of the aerial war over the Western Front from the first days of air combat.
Wellman was hired in 1927 to direct the movie Wings. It was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.
This is a nice easy read of a pilot's eye view as an American member of a French escadrille, with photo's throughout.
The First Fighter Pilot: My Wartime Diary 1914-1916 by Oswald Boelke
Boelcke was the first pilot to formalise air fighting tactics in his June 1916 DICTA BOELCKE a couple of versions of which are in the book.
The diary is a simple read, brief entries for the most part leaving out names of locations and pilots, mostly, though some can be worked out - Ltn von R being the most obvious ! He also leaves out detail of the planes he flew so a Fokker can be one of a few - not even a mention of the Alabtros's introduction, though the dates can be cross referenced so you can work out what he was likely flying at the time.
One thing he does mention is jamming one gun of a pair and continuing with the remaining if that interests you in game terms.
Now into Rickenbackers Fighting The Flying Circus then on to Bishops Winged Warfare - Hunting The Hun's In The Air...
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Kindle is your friend if you are running out of Library space although I always want a hard copy of any I want for future reference. 
Originally Posted by gully_raker
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