Bloody April: Slaughter Over the Skies in Arras 1917
by Peter Hart
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter HartEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-06
ISBN: 0297846213
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Book Reviews of Bloody April: Slaughter Over the Skies in Arras 1917
Book Review: excellent historical work
Summary: 5 Stars
Bloody April is about the air war over Arras in 1917: the
British lost large numbers of aircraft to the Germans, and
the life expectancy of a rookie pilot could be measured in
days. Yet, paradoxically, the British won the battle that
month. Bloody April goes into depth on the characteristics
of the aircraft, the training, the prelude to April and the
aftermath: there are innumerable quotes from diaries,
letters home, and other accounts that help show the attitudes
and the stress.
The romantic view of the war in the air in W.W. I is usually
that of single-seat fighters in combat with each other. The
reality is that for the RFC in the Arras sector, only a third
of the aircraft were single-seaters: the rest were all two-
seaters, although some of these had to be employed as fighters
at times. The primary mission of the RFC was to help with
photo reconnaissance (thousands of photographs had to be taken
each day) and artillery spotting (using wireless transmitters
to help artillery zero in on targets). The primary role of the
fighters was to escort the photo recon and artillery spotting
aircraft and to screen them by offensive patrols. Trench-
strafing, anti-balloon attacks, and bombing were of secondary
importance, as was the need to prevent photo recon and artillery
spotting by the Germans.
The German fighters were far superior to almost all of the
British two-seaters, and were superior to most of the British
fighters, but the Germans had only half as many aircraft in
the sector as the British, and so they usually played a
defensive role. The British accepted very heavy losses in
exchange for getting the photographs and the artillery
spotting done. There are quotes about how a squadron with
32 planes lost 35 pilots during April--replacement pilots
would survive only a few days. Flying a BE2 with only 10 hours'
flying experience against veteran German pilots whose planes
were twice as fast and had twice the firepower was not
conducive to lasting very long.
Bloody April never gets bogged down in small details--it gives
a first-class flavor to what things were really like, and it
helps dispell the romantic myths. It's a fine book.
addendum: august, 2007. Aces Falling by Peter Hart (available Amazon UK
august, USA October?) carries the air war through 1918--it's a good sequel
to Bloody April.
Summary of Bloody April: Slaughter Over the Skies in Arras 1917
As the Allies embarked upon the Battle of Arras, they desperately needed air support from the Royal Flying Corps. But by this point the RFC were flying obsolete planes. The new German Albatros scouts massively outclassed them in every respect: speed, armament, ability to withstand punishment and manoeuverability. Many of the RFC's pilots were straight out of flying school - as they took to the air they were sitting targets for the experienced German aces. Over the course of 'Bloody April' the RFC suffered casualties of over a third. The average life expectancy of a new subaltern on the front line dropped to just eleven days. And yet they carried on flying, day after day, in the knowledge that, in the eyes of their commanders at least, their own lives meant nothing compared to the tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground who were being lost daily. In this book Peter Hart tells the story of the air war over Arras, using the voices of the men who were actually there. His research has uncovered a vast amount of previously unpublished information, some of which is controversial: for example, were some of the British aces being completely truthful about their fabulous victories?Aviation Books
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