“War in the air over the Middle East Mesopotamia, ‘the land of the two rivers’, is deemed the birthplace of civilisation. Now modern day Iraq, it has known warfare throughout the millennia that man has inhabited it. By the first years of the twentieth century the Ottoman Turkish Empire had claimed Mesopotamia as their own and its alliance with Germany during the Great War brought battle to it once more. For the first time conflict came to its skies in the form of the newly formed air forces of the opposing armies. This book concerns the experiences of an officer of the R. F. C fighting a war far different from his comrades on the Western Front but one which was just as deadly. This is an usual account of early war in the air from one of the great conflicts sideshow theatres.”—Leonaur Print Edition Author — Group Captain John Edward Tennant D.S.O. M.C. d. 1941 Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, C. Palmer, 1920. Original Page Count – x and 289 pages. Illustrations — 38 illustrations.

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Mesopotamia - today s Iraq - is aptly summed by by the author of this vivid memoir as a land of sand, sun and sorrow - a description that would doubtless be recognised by British servicemen serving there today. The author was an RFC officer whose secondment to the MIddle East in 1916, he admits, came as a relief after the squalor of the Somme. His account of his and his comrades operations flying against Turkish and German aviators in Mespopotamia and Iran is dramatic and hugely informative. The narrative describes combined operations with the army, and naval units operating along the twin Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Among many other adventures, the author survived being shot down in his DH4 aircraft. His narrative, accompanied by a particularly fine range of some 40 photographs, including remarkable aerial shots, will fascinate anyone interested in aviation history, particularly in the lesser-known theatres of the Great War.

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