A hitherto rare volume of the Official History of Australia in the Great War, this is the History of the Australian Flying Corps on the western front and in the Middle Eastern theatres. Almost half of the text ( 12 of the 27 chapters) is devoted to the Australian air force in the skies over Mesopotamia (Iraq), Egypt, Jordan and Palestine, culminating, appropriately, in the Battle of Armageddon. The AFC arrived on the western front in 1917, and their first ‘blooding' was above the mud-clogged battlefield of third Ypres (Passchendaele). Australian airmen supported ground attacks in the Battle of Cambrai in November, and during the great German spring offensives in the following year. Australian bomber planes backed up the Allied counter-offensives which broke the Hindenburg Line in the summer and autumn of 1918. Illustrated by 32 maps and 54 photographs.

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Excerpt from The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914-1918 For the war-theatre of Egypt and Palestine (no. I Squadron), particularly during the early twelve months of the squadron in the desert east of the Suez Canal, the author has had access to the private diaries of lieutenant-colonel R. Williams, who served in that unit as flight-commander and squadron-commander. This personal record has proved very helpful. He also owes great thanks to Colonel Williams, the late lieutenant-colonel W. 0. Watt, and Major A. Murray Jones, sometime flight-commanders in the squadron, and to Major T. F. Rutledge, sometime squadron-commander, who read his manuscript and helped him with their comments. In the European section, containing the story of Nos. 2, 3, and 4 Squadrons, he is indebted to the late Lieutenant Colonel Watt, Major Murray Jones, and Lieutenant E. R. Dibbs, of No. 2 Squadron, to Major D. V. J. Blake, of No. 3 Squadron, and to Captain G. F. Malley and Captain A. H. Cobby, of No. 4 Squadron, for reading the manuscript and for their notes, which were of great value, on obscure points. The author had the advantage of personal acquaintance with some of the work of the three squadrons in France during 1918. Captain Andrew Lang's invaluable notes on types and development of aircraft in the British, French, and German services are published in a special appendix. To Lieutenants H. Johnston and J. J. Malone are due the notes on the development of the use of wireless telegraphy in aircraft. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a curated and comprehensive collection of the most important works covering matters related to national security, diplomacy, defense, war, strategy, and tactics. The collection spans centuries of thought and experience, and includes the latest analysis of international threats, both conventional and asymmetric. It also includes riveting first person accounts of historic battles and wars.Some of the books in this Series are reproductions of historical works preserved by some of the leading libraries in the world. As with any reproduction of a historical artifact, some of these books contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. We believe these books are essential to this collection and the study of war, and have therefore brought them back into print, despite these imperfections.We hope you enjoy the unmatched breadth and depth of this collection, from the historical to the just-published works.

This is a curated and comprehensive collection of the most important works covering matters related to national security, diplomacy, defense, war, strategy, and tactics. The collection spans centuries of thought and experience, and includes the latest analysis of international threats, both conventional and asymmetric. It also includes riveting first person accounts of historic battles and wars.Some of the books in this Series are reproductions of historical works preserved by some of the leading libraries in the world. As with any reproduction of a historical artifact, some of these books contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. We believe these books are essential to this collection and the study of war, and have therefore brought them back into print, despite these imperfections.We hope you enjoy the unmatched breadth and depth of this collection, from the historical to the just-published works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force, was formed in 1912 and went to war in 1914 where it played a vital role in reconnaissance, supporting the British Expeditionary Force as 'air cavalry' and also in combat, establishing air superiority over the Imperial German Air Force. Edward Bujak here combines the history of the air war, including details of strategy, tactics, technical issues and combat, with a social and cultural history. The RFC was originally dominated by the landed elite, in Lloyd George's phrase 'from the stateliest houses in England', and its pilots were regarded as 'knights of the air'. Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, seat of landed gentry, became their major training base. Bujak shows how, within the circle of the RFC, the class divide and unconscious superiority of Edwardian Britain disappeared - absorbed by common purpose, technical expertise and by an influx of pilots from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He thus provides an original and unusual take on the air war in World War I, combining military, social and cultural history.