A Few of the First: The True Stories of the Men who Flew in and before the First World War

by Bruce Lewis

This book is being published to co-incide wi th the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. It conta ins eye-opening accounts of the lives of airmen in the First World War, collected by a flier in the Second World War. '

246 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Military History

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another opportunity to spend time with those daring young men and their flying machines. These are marvelous stories and photos from the days of the Sopwith Camels, Vickers machine guns, and things so exotic as the Caproni C42 Triplane Bomber. Wonderful people to meet. "[Major Quintin:] Brand, a South African, had lost an arm during the war, a disability that never seemed to detract from his considerable flying skill…" Archibald B. [Archie:] "was later to discover the [Sopwith:] Camel was more difficult to master than the airplanes he had previously flown. In fact, it was a 'vicious little devil' that probably killed more novice pilots than any other aircraft…Archie flew over large tracts of Southern England, occasionally mixing business with pleasure. On one occasion he landed at Eastbourne, called at his sister's school and took her out to lunch…" A wonderful reading experience.