This is the third and final volume in what has been a welcome insight into RFC routine and its day to day existence. As the title reveals this book covers the RFC's busiest period as witnessed by the pilot's own reports. Concise, factual and often remarkable, the comprehensive coverage includes observation and bombing sorties, damage inflicted and incurred in clashes with enemy machines, intelligence gathered and the like. Known to many as the 'Comic Cuts' after a well known contemporary children's magazine, these communiques are an important record of what the RFC actually was up to during its stay in France. It would be an unbalanced view to present the reader with a string of 'combat reports' because the reality of life was that of support for the PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry) and the role of the scout was to gain air superiority for the aircraft directly aiding the ground forces. However the majority of reports would make for tedious and repetitive reading, and to this purpose those documents represented are chosen by merit, and not surprisingly defer to the aerial combats and more unusual episodes of this time.

For me this has to be the most interesting of the volumes because the fifteen months covered saw the Royal Flying Corps fortunes vary tremendously, and one can sense the air of urgency written into many of the accounts. As for what the book offers, that has to depend on the individual reader, and I would like to offer a passage from 26 October 1917 that I stopped at and paused for reflection. This is 19 Squadron.

"Seeing troops in the main street, they flew down to practically between the house-tops at a height no greater than 50 feet. Lt de Pencier stated that he himself was lower than the church spire, and Lt Hewat was below him. Lt Hewat fired 200 rounds at these troops and Lt de Pencier SO rounds, when he had a stoppage. Both pilots then flew on to Gheluwe and when just north of the town Lt Hewat saw a two-seater EA at 800 feet: he attacked it at very close range and, despite heavy fire from the ground, followed it down to 400 feet: while correcting a stoppage he was hit in the face by a bullet and was badly cut over the eye and mouth and had his glasses broken, but returned to his aerodrome. The EA was seen to be going dawn completely out of control when not more than 200 feet up."
For those looking for different facts this was also the day a certain Capt W.G. Barker from 28 Sqn attacked and destroyed two enemy scouts, at least one in flames, and the weather was heavy rain so low flying and artillery work was being carried Out, in fact 8780 rounds were fired at ground targets that day. This passage also reminds me that some RNAS squadrons receive mentions.

I enjoyed flitting through the pages of this book, a kind of text book with added interest, but lt isn't one that I would read from beginning to end. For facts it scores very highly, for interest it manages to hold your attention, but I am uncertain exactly to whom I am recommending it - as recommend it I do, most highly.