This is an excellent book. Sadly, funding for the project was terminated after only 38 hours of interviews in the 1970s, and, even sadder, the material collected was then neglected for more than 25 years. However, it has now been published, and it is brilliant.

24 servicemen’s recollections are here; they vary from the comparatively well known – Gwilym Lewis and Freddy West – to the, in many ways much more interesting, because rarer, Other Ranks. And what I really enjoyed was the stories from Fitters and Observers, Kite Balloon specialists and Riggers, as well as the more usual pilots. And it is the details of their domestic lives, their training and their relationships with their pilots that I enjoyed reading. For example, Frederick Lang was Albert Ball’s fitter, and their relationship was one of the closest, despite the social barrier of their different ranks. There is also some fascinating information. I learnt a great deal about the RFC personnel who served with artillery units, and who were quite often ignored by them. And there are some strange sidelines: for example, kite balloons were quite early on fitted with parachutes attached to the baskets, which were useless, as the passengers did not wear any harness! And one of the lasting effects of having been a prisoner of war was constipation!

I wish there was going to be more of this.