The First Air War, 1914-1918

by Lee B. Kennett

In this concise study, Kennett tells the complete story of World War I's air battles, from Eastern to Western front, from the skies of Europe and its seas to those of the Middle East and Africa.

Genres: History, Aviation, World War I, Military History, Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Lee Boone Kennett was a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Georgia. He lived in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina until his death in 2011 "after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease".

Kennett had a long career as a historian and a writer, in which he specialized in military history. He received many honors, prizes, and awards, including the University of Georgia Research Award, the Lindbergh Professorship at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., a position as a visiting lecturer at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Aeronautical Section, in Moscow, and his decoration by the French Government as Chevalier, Ordre des Palmes Academiques, for "services to French culture".

Besides his devotion to the study of history, Prof. Kennett also liked old cars and cats.

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile book since most of its kind simply recall the lives of the aces. Kennett discusses that, but also observation balloons, the relationship in two-seaters, and the reality of training. He also discusses, however breifly, the war outside of the western front. All in all this book is a good way to learn about air combat although he does seem a little too focused on debunking "myths" but he rarely goes in the extreme with this. His main error is contending that aircraft had only a minimal effect on the war, although his own text often contradicts this.

[William Hamman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't really an operational history of air operations in World War One, nor does it offer biographical sketches of any of the major aces. It doesn't even mention aces like Rene Fonck or Werner Voss. Nor is there much technical information on the airplanes themselves; I don't recall seeing a single mention of the Fokker D.VII, or the SE-5A.

But it's still a good book. In a handful of chapters, it offers a kind of sociology of aviators, a theory about why the British were so much more offensive-minded in the air than anyone else, the growth of scattered squadrons into autonomous air arms, and it also discusses the weird disconnect between what people thought airpower could do, and what it actually did (namely, that artillery spotting and reconnaissance were airpower's main contributions, and that bombing and ground attack didn't really add up to much.

If you want to read about aces, dogfights, airplanes, campaigns, or kill statistics, this may not be for you. But if you're interested in the thinking and demographics of fighter pilots, and the formation of air arms in general, it's worth a read.

[Heinz Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty decent overview, and primer, on a topic that does definitely seem to be largely overlooked outside of specialty bluffs who are rather obsessive over WW1 aviation. My own knowledge on the subject matter is quite limited, so my review will be a brief one.
This was, in all honesty, a difficult book to comprehend at times. Rather than take the reader chronologically through the evolution of prewar aviation, how it was adapted for military use, the evolution of the use of aircraft first as reconnaissance planes and then expanding their roles, and on into the development of doctrinal specialties, and the technology advancements made during the course of the war, this book jumped around all over the place.
The author divided the narrative by theme, not by chronology, which made it hard to follow at times, and also gave it a bit of a cursory feel to it. It's not a long book by any means, 229 pages of main text, so no one subject that he delves into is ever more than skimmed over or given a glance at. That said, there were a few things that stood out for me.
This book is very useful in bursting a still persistent cultural myth of the idea or meme of Great War airpower being that of the fighter aces. In truth, fighter aircraft were a secondary consideration in and of themselves. They were designed primarily to first hint down enemy reconnaissance planes, and then to protect their own. The fighter as we know it now, designed to hunt other fighters, was very much a tertiary stage in the evolution of the type. And while it's easy to understand how and why the dogfights over the Western Front still define the role of military aviation in the Great War, Lee Kennet points out that it was both aerial reconnaissance, and artillery spotting that was the main role of all sides aircraft during the war.
The Eastern Front, with it's vast distances, and less developed countryside the further east one went, meant that the air war was remarkably different there than in France and Belgium. The Russians and Habsburgs did have air forces, but they were tiny in comparison to those of the French, Germans, or British, and neither were as technologically or technically sophisticated. In fact, both the Austro-Hungarians and the Russians had to largely rely on outside help with building and maintaining their own smaller air fleets. The Russians relying heavily on the French while the Germans were the patrons of Vienna. In fact, this relative paucity of numbers of aircraft in the East, meant that many German pilots considered it a punishment to be sent East as there was few chances to be made famous as an ace by flying against a foe with so few aircraft. German squadrons that were transferred West to bolster numbers were reportedly looked down upon as their lack of combat experience was all too apparent.
The Italians, like they did with everything else in the Great War, went into the air with a tremendous enthusiasm and glee, but met with very mixed results. Like the Russians and the Austrians, they lacked the industrial or technological base to build their own air force from the ground up (though they could some, the Italians being extremely skilled at building small numbers of very sophisticated equipment, but being baffled at mass production). Then again, being Italians, they made up for their technical sophistication, or lack thereof, with extreme energy and enthusiasm and a will to persevere. And their own leading ace's symbol worn proudly on his aircraft, a prancing black horse, has been adopted and still seen today in the Ferrari car firm.
Airships and stationary balloons were just as important an asset as were winged aircraft, especially on the Western Front.
Everyone experimented with bombers, and strategic bombing got it's genesis in the Great War, but overall, no one was overly impressed by these early efforts, either in uniform, or those who endured the bombing raids. While there were a few examples, especially of German raids causing numerous civilian fatalities on occasions, or of Russian bombers having some success against enemy transportation and supply lines on the Eastern Front, for the most part, strategic bombing was too early to be truly effective.
It is clear from this work that the main use of the aircraft in the war is the last one most of us think of. The task of observation, range spotting and artillery monitoring, and reconnaissance photography flights almost never enter the minds of those who study the Great War or early military aviation, and yet that was the majority use of all air forces during the war. While the aces are touched upon in this book, as is the development of fighter aircraft, it is a very small section of the book.
While nothing is delved into deep enough for this to be ever considered more than a mere introduction to the topic, it is well written, well sourced, and not a dry read.
This one I can recommend.

[John Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The airplane was one of the glamorous new weapons of WWI, though it ultimately had little impact on the outcome of the war, as aircraft were not yet large or powerful enough to change the flow of the action on the ground. This book covers military aviation from its beginnings in nineteenth century balloon scouting units through the end of WWI. It makes it clear that the period from the 1880s, when the first military dirigibles were constructed, through the end of the war was a time of constant and almost feverish development in military aviation. This development continued after the Armistice ending the war, and by the late 1930s the airplane had assumed a role equal in importance to naval and ground forces.

In general, this book adopts a workman-like, cover-the-waterfront approach to reporting the history of military aviation, with chapters divided according to major developments in aviation and the geographic fronts on which the war was fought. There are, however, two subjects which I think merited more attention in the book.

First, the advent of military aviation made it possible for armies to strike behind the front lines for the first time. This development opened a whole new discussion on which attacks behind the lines were legitimate strategic strikes, and which were outright war crimes. This issue periodically popped up prior to and during WWI (on one occasion, an English coroner's inquest returned an indictment for murder against German Kaiser Wilhelm after a civilian was killed in a bombing attack), became a major topic of discussion in the 1930s, and continues to be debated to at least some extent even today. This debate has assumed new relevance today as terrorism seeks to erode the difference between civilian areas and the battlefield. Mr. Kennett addressed this issue in cursory fashion only.

Second, the book entirely overlooked the stories of derring-do that WWI flyers so justly generated. The author may have decided that such stories were not part of the serious history he was writing. However, there is nothing wrong with including thrills and adventures in history, especially when there are so many great stories to be told.

[Mark Jacobsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fulfills its author's promise: to present a single-volume overview of the role air forces played in World War I. It is a solid introduction to the subject, well-structured and concisely written, touching on the main themes of the air war. In contrast to an earlier reviewer, I found it an enjoyable read and appreciated the many anecdotes about the creative and sometimes crazy ways in which pioneering airmen confronted new challenges. The chapters on culture within flying units were particularly interesting, especially in light of the sterile and heavily regulated service culture today. Kennett's overall conclusions are balanced, acknowledging airpower's many contributions while simultaneously deflating some of the more zealous claims about airpower's utility. The author's ultimate conclusion is that while airpower was of limited importance in the overall shape of the war, the war was critical in shaping airpower's evolution.

[David Carniglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good to see such a book, because WWI subjects in general, and its air war in particular, usually take a back seat to their WWII counterparts for interest level. As others have noted, the author's comment that the war was far more crucial to the development of aircraft than the air war was to the over all struggle is succintly put and very accurate.

The wide-ranging scope of the book has significant consequences. Since he's not focusing exclusively on airplanes, the balloon and dirigible history adds some fascinating detail to the overall picture. Especially for the Germans, the Zeppelin evolved alongside the airplane, rather than bring superseded by it, as was largely the case in other armies.

The image of a Zeppelin raid seems an eerie and terrifying experience, even though infinitely more destructive bombing occured in WWII from conventional aircraft. Another strength of the open-ended approach to his subject lies in these sorts of comparisons with aerial warfare in later wars (and even the brief period before 1914).

So, we get close-up analysis of the various belligerents' aircraft, the pilot's point of view, naval aviation, differentiation of aircraft types, and the various roles for aircraft, progressing rapidly as it did during the war. Observation, chiefly for the dominant arm, the artillery, was the primary role. Interestingly, bombers preceded the fighter plane--somewhat in the same reactive sense that the torpedo boat spawned the destroyer.

Almost as magnificent as the Zeppelin, and even more bizarre, some of the larger bombers were such ungainly beasts that they they looked as dangerous to fly as their bombs were dangerous to their enemies.

In a short book one can't expect too many pictures; those provided are excellent. The notes and index are appreciated as well. Another advantage of this broad narrative concept is that we get a decent view of other fronts--particularly the Italian--which are the ultimate arcane slideshows for most English language books of the war.

There's no debunking of myths or attempts to exaggerate or promote an agenda. Possibly ths British get a bit more attention, but, as with the Western Front focus, that's to be expected, given the language accessibility. We see that indeed there was more than a little chivalry in the dogfight business; one might say that Richthofen could legitimately be labeled The Red Knight of Germany.

Germany's 'last throw of the dice', the Michel offensive begun in March of 1918, we get, almost as an aside to the aerial role in these battles, amazing information showing the relative level of German success. They took more territory in one day than the Allies did in the 140 days of the Somme offensive of 1916, while taking less than 10% of the casualties.

The ability to use statistics in such a dramatic way is actually more illustrative than graphs or charts; like his conclusion about the interrelation of the air war to the overall war, the author can quickly sum up his arguments in a pithy manner.

On the other hand, despite his considerable writing skill, the impact of the book is somewhat lessened by the effects of his narrative plan. In a sense, there's a half-dozen books here--as he covers his many themes--but not quite a complete picture of any aspect. If the book were a hundred pages longer, there might've been enough space to follow each thread further.

Fir example, the structure of the aircraft and their power plants is a stand-alone topic in itself. What we get is a good look in the chapter on this; but it's almost more disappointing, because this very informative and unique information is worth exploring. The same with the other topics. I feel that, with The First Air War, I've got a shelf of books here on the '14-'18 air war, each of which is a good read, but I never get to read all of any volume.

With these disclaimers, this is still an important book. Recommended for WWI readers, essential for enthusiasts of Great War aeronautics.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

My interest in World War I aviation began with the Guillow’s balsa wood models of World War I aircraft which my dad and I assembled with tissue paper, dope, and paint. Dad did the hard stuff such as mounting the top wing on the thing while I was assigned the doping and painting chores. We had quite a collection hanging from the ceiling lights! This, and Quentin Reynolds’ They Fought for the Sky, fired my interest in the period which was mainly focused on the fighter planes and the great aces. Remember The Blue Max or Von Richthofen and Brown?

Left behind in the fun were the essential roles played by the observers, who served as cavalry in the sky, and the artillery spotters. Whether seeking their protection or destruction, they were the reason for sending fighters up. The author gives a good description of what these scouts were about, and their challenges beyond enemy aircraft. The air war was not fought solely over land; there was maritime aviation and experiments with aircraft carriers. The reader will also visit locations east of the Western Front.

Prior to the air war, there were the theorists, balloons, dirigibles, and Zeppelins. Kennett covers these, too. I was interested in the life of those guys who had to stand in the balloons and hope to get out quickly enough when the “balloon busters” came after them. Finally there is bombing and ground attack; aircraft being used in strategic missions (more of which in WWII).

You may miss your favorite ace in these pages, but you’ll get a good introduction to the how’s and whys of the Great War’s aviation.

[Leigh Kimmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a much more technical focus than most books on WWI aviation. Instead of focusing on the aviators, and especially the famous aces (whose adulation sometimes reached cult of personality levels), we have considerable information on the development of various kinds of aircraft, including trainers in a time when aircraft engines often lacked the power to operate a two-seater. It's fascinating to see the early fumbling efforts to make the airplane into a weapons platform -- pistols and rifles, hand-dropped bombs, even suggestions of ramming the aircraft itself into balloons and airships (something that would be considered only in the direst of necessity, since Western culture didn't have the samurai traditions that led to the Japanese kamikaze pilots -- although the idea presaged the development of the guided missile in the Cold War). The machine gun proved the most suitable weapon, but first had to be redeveloped to work in an aircraft -- and has been one of the most enduring weapons in aviation, even after the development of guided missiles, because there are times when you really don't want to waste a multi-million dollar missile on a trivial target that can be taken out with the autocannon, or you want to fire a warning shot.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a retired active duty enlisted Air Force guy. So I was delighted to pick up Lee Kennett's "The First Air War 1914-1918". This 288-page hardback chronicled the rise of air power from long before WW I. Kennett showed how dirigibles were used and the developments there, especially for military purposes. Then came the planes, and their evolution. Design changes, mission, flaws, flops, successes. It was a pleasure to read. And the author seemed to give everyone their due, whether the allied forces or the axis. No one flyer takes center stage, but the ways aircraft became a new item in war, and how that developed and continued to develop after the Great War. If you like history, are a WW I buff, or like airplanes, this is a super volume. I highly recommend it.

[Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Great Air War is a thrilling non fiction experience of the First World War air combat with hints of pre-war evolution of air military. The only reason I gave this book 4 stars was that during the mid sections, the book was dull.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview

I teach WWI to 8th graders and there were definitely some interesting stories/facts to share. An easy read. Not weighed down with itself.

[Melanie Grosjean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read if you are interested in learning more about how airpower was developed around the world and how it was effectively used in World War I. Amazing information!

[James Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book about WW1 aviation

[James Early · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the air war of World War I.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to sum up the main thrust of this fine book, it would be that while aviation didn't have a decisive effect on the outcome of the battles of the First World War, the war had an enormous effect on the growth and development of combat aviation. Military aviation didn't begin in WWI (most serious militaries had recognized the usefulness of aircraft in the reconnaissance role) but air combat did. Lee Kennett traces the development of this new form of technology, the command relationships needed to take advantage of its qualities and to recognize its limitations, the machines and the men who flew them in this huge conflict. While almost the entire book concentrates on the Western Front, and the German, French and British air forces that fought there, it should be pointed out in fairness that some 90% of the world's military aircraft were fighting on that front. There are chapters on air warfare on other fronts and naval aviation. All in all, a broad-perspective introduction to how military aviation grew out of its diapers and began its path to equality with more traditional forms of combat. This book belongs on any serious World War I bookshelf.

[Nate Huston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good survey of WWI air power. Kennett's central proposition is that while air power did not play a substantial role in WWI, WWI played a substantial role in the development of air power. Though most work done by airmen was in the realm of recon and observation, important early steps were taken in fighter/air-to-air tactics as well as development of bombing.

The chapters on squadron life and fighter pilots as a "new breed of heroes" were entertaining, if not altogether groundbreaking. Kennett emphasizes the role of airplanes, dirigibles and tethered balloons as the "eyes of the army" and specifically points to their effectiveness in support of field artillery. By no means is this book riveting, but it provides a comprehensive view into the different aspects of the dawn of air power.

[M.T. Bass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a decade or so after the Wright Brothers' first flight, the airplane went to war, which proves that when motivated by self-preservation government can move rather quickly.  While most of us pilots have a rather myopic view of the importance of the duels in the air by the likes of Rickenbacker and von Richtofen, Lee B. Kennett puts aviation's role in the "War to End All Wars" into proper perspective as more of a supporting player--but certainly one that would quickly move to center stage just two decades later. 

[Rory James Gilfillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good

This book took along time to get into and I put it down a number of times. However it picked up about part way through. There are some fascinating insights into the machines and the men who flew them..

[John Wilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fact based review of the air war during WWI and how it set the stage for the rapid development of aircraft and weapons that dominated WWII. Definitely interesting if your a modern war or aviation buff, but a little dry for those who are not.