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.

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 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. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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 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.

Historical aerial photographs are an often overlooked source of information for archaeological, historical and landscape research. This monograph provides an overview and introduction to the collections which found their origin in the First World War and which are amongst the earliest systematic aerial collections. Along the Western Front from the end of 1915 onwards, aerial photo-reconnaissance units were sent out to record the outline of the enemy’s defences. The photographs were produced by an almost industrial process, brought together over four years, and survive in large quantities; archival collections are spread out across Europe, the United States and even Australia. The most important and interesting collections are discussed and dealt with, with a focus on their content, quantity, and geographic distribution. ------------------- Zgodovinske letalske fotografije so pri arheoloških, zgodovinskih in pokrajinskih študijah večkrat prezrt vir informacij. Monografija ponuja pregled nad kolekcijami, ki izhajajo iz prve svetovne vojne in sodijo med najzgodnejše sistematične zbirke fotografij posnetih iz zraka. Od leta 1915 naprej so vzdolž Zahodne fronte zračne opazovalne enote registrirale obrise sovražnikovih obrambnih položajev. Fotografije, ki so jih izdelovali v domala industrijskem obsegu in jih zbirali skozi širi leta, so se v velikem obsegu ohranile. Hranijo jih arhivi, ki so razprostranjeni po vsej Evropi, v Združenih državah Amerike in celo v Avstraliji. Opisane so najpomembnejše in najbolj zanimive zbirke letalskih fotografij Zahodne fronte, s posebnim poudarkom na njihovi vsebini, obsegu in geografski razprostranjenosti.

Volume eight, written by Frederic Cutlack, covers in great detail the first air operations in war undertaken by Australia. These first operations were carried out by the famous "Half Flight" of the Australian Flying Corps, which was despatched to disease-ridden Mesopotamia in 1915 to provide air services for the Anglo-Indian Army. This army was attempting to drive out the Turks and thus protect the Empire's oil resources. The next phase came in early 1916, with the formation of No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, and its despatch to Egypt where it took part in operations in the Sinai desert and then Palestine. Cutlack places in perspective the role played by the young Australian aviators in helping to win air supremacy against the German Air Force. After that victory, the Australian pilots had a devastating effect in the ground attack role, particularly in the final offensive against the Turkish armies in 1918. Finally, Cutlack describes the achievements of squadrons 2, 3 and 4, which arrived in France at a late, crucial stage of the war. After the briefest introduction to an entirely new way of fighting, they were sent into the thick of the aerial battle, remaining on operations until the war ended. Mesopotamia - The First Australian Airmen on Service. Mesopotamia - The End of the First Campaign. The Middle East - Advent of No.1 Squadron. Air Fighting in the Desert. Increasing Importance of Air Warfare. The Victory of Gaza.OThe Turkish Retreat to Nablus. Beginning of the Air Offensive. The Raids Across the Jordan. Growing British Supremacy in the Air. The Enemy Driven from the Sky. The Battle of Armageddon. Australian Airmen in France. Cambrai and Gouzeaucourt. Winter Work over Messines Ridge. Spring Fights North of the Scarpe. Meeting the German Offensive. Early Circus Fights with No.2 Squadron. No.3 Squadron's Operations over the Somme. Exploits of No.4 Squadron over the Lys. Harassing the Enemy on the Lys. The British Offensive on the Somme. The Battles in the Hindenburg Line. The Lille Air Raids. Fights of the Sweep Formation. The Last Great Air Battles. Flights Home to Australia. The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942. The first seven volumes deal with the Australian Imperial Force while other volumes cover the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force at Rabaul, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps and the home front; the final volume is a photographic record. Unlike other official histories that have been aimed at military staff, Bean intended the Australian history to be accessible to a non-military audience. The relatively small size of the Australian forces enabled the history to be presented in great detail, giving accounts of individual actions that would not have been possible when covering a larger force.