by David Ward
On March 14, 1918, I packed my kit bag, made my bed and took one last look at the inside of our hut.
“You’ll make a much better home with Nellie,” Rogers quipped.
A truck was waiting to get me to the docks, where a ship would take me across the Channel.
I paused at the door. “I need one more look,” I said. I walked out to the field in the drizzling rain and stepped through the growing mud puddles. Five Camels sat neatly side by side, as if watching me. I could see Hurrah! in the middle of the pack and Billy’s Vengeance right beside her.
“She won’t be the same without you,” Rogers said, coming up beside me. “But I promise you that whoever flies her will honour the memory. You’re an excellent pilot, Paul. And my closest friend in this messy war. I can only be happy for you that you’re getting out of it all.”
I put my arm around his shoulder. “You’ll visit us?”
He nodded. “England or Canada. I’ll find you.”
At that moment a Camel came down for a landing, a single scout, out for a brief patrol of the Channel. We watched the pilot bank around and approach the strip, his wings dipping and fighting both the feisty engine and the wind. He held her steady and brought her down, bumping and rolling along the field. As I watched, I imagined my hands on the control stick, my right foot pressed hard on the rudder. I smelled the castor oil and felt the wind on my face. It was glorious.
“Goodbye, Billy,” I whispered. “Goodbye.”
Epilogue
March 19, 1918
Dear Sarah,
I’m coming home! And I won’t be alone either. Nellie and I will marry on the 20th of April in Redcar and then take the train to London. From there we’ll board a ship to Halifax and make our way back to Winnipeg. Nellie says she knows you already through your letters and can hardly wait to see you face to face.
I can’t be certain of how easy our travel will be. There is a lot of uncertainty in Europe right now. The Germans have massed enormous advances of late. There has also been more trouble with attacks against British shipping. The word on the street is that the Germans might even win the war. I can’t believe it will happen — not with the likes of Rogers and Tyler chasing down the Hun in the air.
I will be most careful bringing Nellie home.
Your last letter came as a shock. I am relieved that Robert is no longer in the war. The difficult part is imagining him with only one leg. I knew the trench foot was bad, but did not realize that it had come back with such a vengeance. Poor Robert! I’ve actually drawn him in a picture to prepare myself for our meeting. In my mind’s eye I can see him in the far pasture with the new wheat reaching as high as his knee. I’ve seen many men on crutches in this war, but the thought of our brother needing them for the rest of his life fairly catches my breath. We’ll make it through, don’t you worry, Sarah! If a man has his mind and his hands, then there is life for him on the farm.
Tell Dad not to worry about picking us up from the train station. The Lewises’ farm is a short walk and I’m sure Harold will be happy to bring us home.
And one more thing: Robert isn’t the only one I’ve drawn in the picture — you’re there too, dear sister. The basket in your hands is full of seeds, all that we need to plant our own fields. One day I hope to see Rogers crossing our farm, without injury and in a time of peace. We’ll shake hands and make a toast to Billy and all the others. We’ll breathe the fresh air and stare into a blue sky free of bombers, bullets and fire. I’m coming home, Sarah!
Your loving brother,
Paul
* * *
Though Paul Townend’s career as a flyer ended, others kept up the pressure against the German squadrons, and new aircraft and strategies continued to develop. The Sopwith Snipe, a plane created to replace the Camel, came into the war in 1918. Canadian ace William Barker flew his Sopwith Snipe alone against fifty enemy aircraft. Although greatly injured, he shot down four enemy planes before landing.
Paul’s discharge also came just as a major German offensive began — so major that many people thought the Germans would win the war.
Freed up by the withdrawal of Russia from the war on the Eastern Front, they attacked quickly and with massive artillery bombardments in order to beat the Allied forces before the Americans arrived in greater numbers. A million shells were fired at the British Fifth Army. After a single day, over twenty thousand British soldiers were taken prisoner, and the Somme once again lay in German hands. However, the lightly armed storm troopers who had advanced so quickly against the British found themselves short of supplies, and unable to hold the positions they had taken.
Between March and April the Germans had lost some 230,000 men. In April 1918, the Germans also lost their number-one flying ace, the Red Baron, who was shot down behind enemy lines.
By June 1918 the Germans had pressed forward with three major offensives. After a final attack in July, the combined forces of the British, French and American armies fought back with counter-offensives in July, August and September. By October the Germans were asking for an armistice. The Kaiser abdicated the throne on November 9, and on November 11 the armistice was signed. As late as early November 1918, Allied pilots were being shot down or went missing in action.
Historical Note
Canadian pilots played an enormous role in air warfare during World War I. Many of them were farm boys who came from right across the country. Raymond Collishaw from Nanaimo, B.C., was credited with 60 victories. William Barker, credited with 50 victories, was born in Manitoba. Billy Bishop, Canada’s greatest flying ace, with a record 72 victories, came from Owen Sound, Ontario. Although he only recorded 10 victories, Arthur Roy Brown of Ontario was heralded with the most successful one of all. On April 21, 1918, he was credited with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, although the actual facts of that incident are still disputed. Recent information indicates that an Australian machine-gunner on the ground may have shot the Baron after Brown’s skirmish with the German ace.
Learning how to fly a plane and how to fly in combat differed for these young Canadian men. Some, like Raymond Collishaw, had to pay for their own flying lessons before heading to England and France. In some cases the Royal Naval Air Service paid for the pilot’s licence at the Curtiss Aviation School near Toronto, where pilots were trained using the Curtiss Jenny 4 (JN-4 or Canuck). Others did not receive training until they arrived in England or France. Some men had as little as 12 hours in the air before heading into the skies on their first mission.
Unlike most of their fellow British officers, the Canadian pilots did not come from well-to-do or titled families. Nonetheless, in battle and in the air, the Canadian pilots earned the respect of the British officers. Pilots came from various countries in the British Empire and squadrons were usually mixed. There were exceptions. No. 10 Squadron of the RNAS, for example, had all Canadians. Raymond Collishaw’s Flight B, Black Flight — one of three flights that comprised No. 10 Squadron — consisted of five men (including Collishaw himself). These men flew in Sopwith Triplanes and named each of them to match the Black Flight theme: Collishaw’s Black Maria, Ellis Reid’s Black Roger, Mel Alexander’s Black Prince, John Sharman’s Black Death and Gerry Nash’s Black Sheep. These men alone downed 87 German aircraft in the three months from May to July, 1917.
Aviation was a hazardous activity in the early years of flight, even without the complications of war. On a monthly — even daily — basis throughout the war, engineers experimented with how they might make faster, more efficient planes. Ideas and inventions flourished. Before the arrival of synchronized machine guns, for example, pilots tried everything — hurling grenades, bricks, and in one case a grappling hook from the cockpit, in order to bring an enemy down. The synchronized machine gun, an invention that allowed bullets to be fired through a running propeller, greatly increased pilots’ ability to fire straight ahead while flying.
Some inventions were successful while others resulted in disaster. At times,
it was the pilots themselves who made suggestions to the engineers for improvements. It was truly a period of trial and error, with creativity spurred by the demands of war. Just when one country produced a plane with more power, an opposing nation might create an aircraft with better manoeuvrability. For example, the nimble, high-flying Gotha bombers enabled Germany to attack England at night and even in the daytime. Britain’s answer was the Sopwith Camel, a machine that could not only operate well at high altitudes, but was incredibly versatile in the air.
At times, the life expectancy for new pilots at the Western Front was abysmal: as low as 2 to 3 weeks. Crash landings, mid-air collisions and flying at night were among the hazards pilots experienced. The Sopwith Camel accounted for hundreds of non–combat-related deaths.
Dogfights could be exhilarating but extremely stressful, and pilots often required stress leave to calm their nerves and catch up on sleep. Attentiveness was crucial to survival in the air, and pilots who were exhausted or overly stressed made mistakes that endangered their own lives as well as those of their companions. Some men tried to ease their stress by drinking large amounts of alcohol; some even drank alcohol while flying.
First World War pilots firmly believed they had a better existence than the soldiers on the ground. They chose to be in control of a machine in the freedom of the open skies, despite the obvious dangers. In addition, pilots typically ate better food and slept in huts with proper bunks. They did not have to hunker down in often squalid trenches, as soldiers did at the front lines.
The public tended to see pilots as “knights of the air” — jaunty, clever, courageous and daring. Such popularity tempted some young men in their late teens and twenties to enlist. It was also not uncommon for pilots to meet their future brides when they visited French and English towns.
The purpose and usefulness of aircraft grew with every year of the war. In 1914, planes were used almost exclusively for reconnaissance — to see from the air what the enemy was doing on the ground. Enemy movements were reported back at base, and troop adjustments were made accordingly. It wasn’t long before photographers went on reconnaissance flights as well. Untold thousands of aerial photos were taken.
Airplanes also took on the new role of protecting England’s major cities from Zeppelin attacks. Although Zeppelins accounted for only a small amount of damage in World War I, they created a great deal of anxiety for citizens. This was especially true at night, when the giant dirigibles dropped their bombs on London and other cities. They were a terrifying spectacle, and seemingly unstoppable in the skies. Airplanes soon became a mainstay of home defence against Zeppelins for the duration of the war.
First World War flyers fought through extreme conditions, provided vital reconnaissance information, and participated in shaping the inventions and mechanisms that would change the course of warfare in the skies.
Images and Documents
Image 1: A Royal Flying Corps (RFC) plane soars above the German trenches.
Image 2: Pilots needed warm jackets as well as helmets, goggles and gloves. The silk scarf many flyers wore was used to wipe engine oil from their goggles.
Image 3: The Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny 4) was the plane in which many RNAS pilots did their initial training. This formation is flying above a bank of clouds.
Image 4: An airman in a Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) training machine is learning to use the machine gun.
Image 5: Lt.-Colonel Raymond Collishaw, leader of the all-Canadian Black Flight squadron, was the first flyer to score 6 victories in one day.
Image 6: Lt.-Colonel William Avery “Billy” Bishop of the Royal Flying Corps was Canada’s top ace. He had incredible vision and seldom wore goggles.
Image 7: Pilots who were shot down could sometimes manage to land their planes relatively safely, though more serious crashes were common.
Image 8: Major W. G. “Billy” Barker sits in the cockpit of a Sopwith Camel. He downed 50 enemy aircraft.
Image 9: The huge German airships called Zeppelins (after their inventor) brought fear to the British people. This downed Zeppelin has had its outer “skin” burned away, revealing the frame inside.
Image 10: Posters such as this helped citizens know whether a plane or airship overhead was the enemy’s or their own.
Image 11: Two Sopwith Camels engage in a dogfight with the infamous Red Baron. This illustration shows the Red Baron (centre) being chased by Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown.
Image 12: Speed varies according to altitude and engine. Estimated endurance time is for cruising speed, not combat speed.
Image 13: Hundreds of Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Flying Corps and RNAS air bases were clustered along England’s east coast, and in France. The map above shows some of them.
Credits
Cover cameo (detail): Young men from Metcalfe, Jean-Baptiste Dorion, Library and Archives Canada, PA-122937.
Cover scene: The Ringmaster, © Stan Stokes, by permission of The Stokes Collection, Inc.
Cover details: journal © Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock; belly band © ranplett/istockphoto; back cover label © Thomas Bethge/Shutterstock.
Image 1: A British aeroplane flying over the German trenches, from The War Pictorial November 1917, Illustrated London News.
Image 2: Flight Sub-Lieutenant George R. Hodgson, R.N.A.S., H. Scott Orr, Library and Archives Canada, PA-113145.
Image 3: “Curtiss” J.N. 4-D above the clouds, Canada, Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada, PA-006344.
Image 4: Aircrew in Curtiss J.N.-4, Gunnery Training Machine, School of Aerial Gunnery, Camp Borden, Ont., 1917, Canada, Dept. of National Defence, Library and Archives Canada, PA-022934.
Image 5 (detail): Squadron-Commander Raymond Collishaw in Sopwith F1 Camel aircraft, Allonville, France, 1918, National Archives of Canada, PA-002788.
Image 6 (detail): Billy Bishop in his S.E. 5a fighter, William Rider-Rider, National Archives of Canada, PA-001654.
Image 7: Mud in Your Eye, © James Dietz, courtesy of James Dietz.
Image 8: Major W. G. Barker in a Sopwith Camel aircraft of No. 28 Squadron, R.A.F., Library and Archives Canada, PA-118321.
Image 9: Wreck of zeppelin L.33 near Little Wigborough, Library and Archives Canada, PA-000086.
Image 10: “Public Warning” poster to familiarize the public with enemy aircraft, 1915 (litho); Bridgeman Art Library, PFA 113168.
Image 11: The Red Baron, © Frank Wootton, by permission of Tracy Wootton.
Image 12: Figures from Jane’s publications, supplemented by Lloyd’s Aircraft of World War I and various WWI aviation websites.
Image 13: Map © Paul Heersink/Paperglyphs.
The publisher wishes to thank Janice Weaver for her attention to the factual details, and Dr. Terry Copp for sharing his expertise. Thanks also to Steve Beth Suddaby, author of “Buzzer Nights: Zeppelin Raids on Hull,” for his detailed notes on First World War aircraft.
Author’s Note
World War I has always been of interest to me, ever since my mother and father first showed me my great-grandfathers’ medals and military papers. My brother, Phil, built model airplanes such as the Sopwith Camel in our basement. We often talked about what it must have been like for pilots in the war. When I was in Grade Four, I wrote a research project on Charles Lindbergh. Although his flying came after World War I, it was still in the adventurous age of flight, and completely captured my interest. While researching this book, I gleaned information from pilots’ journals, flight records, eyewitness accounts and military records.
As I was writing the novel, Phil helped with many, many details regarding planes and the conditions that pilots faced in the air. As a professional model builder, he learned a great deal about the details of various aircraft. His expertise was essential for this project.
The story of Paul Townend is woven from threads taken from the exploits of many of the First World War flyers and their peers. In particular, I found accounts of Raymond Collishaw’s participation in the war to be o
f great value. Collishaw led the famous Black Flight (officially, Flight B) — a group of five Canadian pilots. Black Flight took down 87 enemy aircraft between May and July 1917. Much of the timeline of Collishaw’s service was used as my guide for Paul’s duties in France from 1916 to 1918, although there are places where I have taken some liberties with the dates for the sake of the story.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my brother, Philip Ward, and Les Westlake, for their research and commentary; also to Stan Steiner for his encouragement in writing. The Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley, B.C., was an excellent resource and so helpful throughout the project. Also, thanks to my editor, Sandy Bogart Johnston, for her meticulous pursuit of strong writing and accuracy of information.
Other books in the I AM CANADA series
Prisoner of Dieppe
World War II
Hugh Brewster
Blood and Iron
Building the Railway
Paul Yee
Shot at Dawn
World War I
John Wilson
Deadly Voyage
RMS Titanic
Hugh Brewster
Behind Enemy Lines
