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The French Air Force in the First World War

Published by Pen and Sword in their Images of War series, January 2018, and available where all good books are sold.
The French air force of the First World War developed as fast as the British and German air forces, yet its history, and the enormous contribution it made to the eventual French victory, is often forgotten. So Ian Sumner's photographic history, which features almost 200 images, most of which have not been published before, is a fascinating and timely introduction to the subject. The fighter pilots, who usually dominate perceptions of the war in the air, play a leading role in the story, in particular the French aces, the small group of outstanding airmen whose exploits captured the publics imagination. Their fame, though, tends to distract attention from the ordinary unremembered airmen who formed the body of the air force throughout the war years. Ian Sumner tells their story too, as well as describing in a sequence of memorable photographs the less well-known branches of the service the bomber and reconnaissance pilots and the variety of primitive warplanes they flew.

Reviews
WWI saw the baptism of fire of two modern weapons that changed the course of military history: the tank and the aeroplane. The second evolved in a dramatic manner during only few years just in this tragic conflict: from the few flimsy aircraft of the beginning the designers and military built huge quantities of modern fighters and bombers in 1918, paving the way for the foundations of the modern airpower. This nice book concentrated indeed on all these topics and is very well researched and enriched by rare, clear shots. Author Ian Sumner gives the right perspective of the incredible evolution of the WWI French military planes, running through the years describing all the main types but also many incredible flying machines that could perfectly stand in a Jules Verne book. Recommended to all WWI aviation fans. Marco de Montis on Amazon.co.uk

Great book Photos and Captions are Poignant and Well put Together Geoff Boultwood on Amazon.co.uk 

Author Ian Sumner has come up trumps for me with his new addition to the Images of War series from Pen and Sword.  While there have been many books on the subject of WW1, this one covers a subject I knew little about beforehand.  While perhaps I knew a little about the fighters and the French fighter aces before, but this goes so much further in exploring the wider subject of French military aviation in WW1. As pointed out in the introduction, it was only in 1903 that the Wright brothers made that first flight in a heavier than air machine and aviation was really still only in its' infancy by the time war broke out in 1914, and the military role of aircraft was still a subject of debate (and disagreements!) as well as development.  Then the book is split into 7 chapters, each of which has a couple of pages if text that sets the scene, followed by a selection of archive photos, each of which has even more information within their individual captions.  Chapter 1 deals with the pre-war period, the establishment of the French air force, pilot training and pictures showing not only the people involved but some of the flimsy machines they flew.  Chapter 2 tackles the roles of artillery spotting and reconnaissance, missions seen as the particular benefit of aircraft over balloons, and balloons and even man-lifting kites are among the photos.  In chapter 3, 'Giving them Something to Think About' tackles the bomber, including seaplanes.  Air to Air combat and he task of developing the Fighter comes in with chapter 4, before chapter 5, which concentrates on the efforts to defend Paris itself.  Defences pictured include high angle mountings for anti-aircraft guns, sound locators and even the use of the Metro as air raid shelters.  Chapter 6 goes under the title of 'Fit for Service', with the development of different aircraft types and the manufacturers and has some of my favourite pictures in the book, showing factories, parts stores, and maintenance parks along with some weird and wonderful looking machines.  The final chapter considers the state of the French Air Force in the last year of the war, and how it had learnt lessons and adapted over the war years. Pretty much all of the photos in this one  are new to publication, and some of the machines we see I don't think I had seen before.  So lots to see in this one that were new to me.  For the aircraft enthusiast and particularly for modellers  lots of useful references and plenty of ideas for some dioramas as well. Robin Buckland in Military Modelscene

The French aviation industry was a world leader in the early years of aviation and the newly created French Air Force served with distinction during WWI. It had taken a somewhat different path to that followed by the British and the Germans and was to be overtaken by these nations during the war, before falling further behind during the inter-war peace. The images in this book, together with a well-written supporting text, shows some of the differences. Where the Germans had made significant advances in rigid airship design as part of its naval aviation, and Britain had also made great advances with its Royal Naval Air Service in the use of rigid and semi-rigid airships for naval convoy escort, and anti-submarine patrol, the French, who had been the early pioneers of dirigibles, placed a lower priority on airship development and deployment by the French Air Force. In part this may be due to the early lead established by French fixed wing heavier-than-air machines. Strangely, the French Air Force continued to make use of man-carrying kites, which had been discounted by the German and British Armies and by the Royal Navy after extensive naval trials from 1903 to 1908. The French also returned to service the spherical observation balloons of the previous century, which had a number of serious weaknesses, although these were progressively replaced by the more streamlined captive balloons of the type developed by the British and German Armies. In fixed wing aircraft, the French continued to develop leading edge machines, taking the first steps to using fixed forward firing machine guns on single seat fighter aircraft, firing through the propeller arc. The images in this book are, almost without exception, of the greatest clarity and definition, giving some indication of the extent of French photo library stock. Considering the conditions, under which many images were shot, processed and stored, books of this type often have to use a number of images that have suffered from the conditions of the time. Fire Trench Project

'Lots of period photos I’d never seen below and I’ve been collecting books on WWI aircraft over 40 years. Highly recommend.' Retired MopRRer on Amazon.com

It is often the case that when preparing a book the author will collate enough material to fill several. It is also true that the urge to collect stuff has an influence on proceedings. The thorny question of what to do with it all will almost inevitably rise to the surface at some point. I’ve enjoyed previous works published by Ian Sumner with Pen & Sword and I’m quite certain this volume fits into the scenario I have described. Aren’t we lucky? Mr. Sumner’s substantial knowledge of France during the Great War is used to full effect with this very pleasing book. He has drawn on leading collections of archive photography to bring us a genuinely fascinating look at French military aviation beginning with the pre-war era when the pioneers were at work amid competition between different arms of service seeking to control the potential and the doctrine of how to operate the new weapon, such as it was. Hot air balloons, glue, string and bracing wires may be the stuff of the hardware in our collective imagination, but it is the people who matter most here. The quality of the archive photography helps bring them to life and it is admirable that we don’t just see aircrew and senior ranks, but also the men who did so much of the hard work to keep the aircraft flying – building hangars, doing repairs and so much more. We see armorers and mechanics and many other important cogs in the wheel. This sort of imagery underlines the thoroughness of Mr. Sumner’s research and his commitment to making a very good book. As such this makes this book the ideal companion to the author’s King’s of the Air, but this book very much stands up on its own two feet and I have no qualms about recommending it. Mark Barnes on warhistoryonline.com

A fitting tribute to the French Air Force during the Great War. Superb collection. 10/10. Great War Magazine May 2018


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