Eight countries are covered – Great Britain,
France, Italy, USA, Belgium, Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary. Each
country’s section begins with a brief history of the development of
its Air Force, including the main types of aircraft used and listings of
equivalent ranks. Then follows a quite arbitrary alphabetical selection
of life histories of some of the Aces, who were those credited with five
or more kills. Limitations of space prevent all being so described, but
all are listed. Interestingly, the Germans considered that ten rather
than five was the relevant number, and those with six or more are listed
in that section. There are many photographs, most of which are familiar.
I found this book rather uneven. For
example, there is a picture and a brief description of Eugene Bullard,
the only African American pilot, who was not an ace. On the other hand I
read about Indra Lal Roy, the only Indian Ace with ten kills, of whom I
was previously unaware. Dowding is covered for his exploits in World War
II, and Alan Jerrard VC is only mentioned for being shot down! My hero,
Gwilym Lewis is only listed, which earns a black mark from me. The
things I really liked were that (in the British listings) Bomber Gunners
and Observers are in their rightful places, and figures for kills are
followed by revised figures from the latest research. This has a
remarkable effect on some, especially French, numbers. Finally, I was
charmed to learn that Italian Francesco Baracca (34 kills) emblazoned
his aircraft with a prancing horse, because he had been a cavalryman. On
his death, his mother gave the emblem to Enzo Ferrari, and it is on
every Ferrari car to this day. Sadly, I could not make the emblem out on
the poor quality picture accompanying his story.
