British Air Forces 1914 - 1918, Images of War

[Smithy]

Random photos taken at London Colney, near St Albans, Hertfordshire....

Ball, front row, second right.

View attachment 15146

This photo is of all the officers of 56 at London Colney in April 1917, either on the 7th or in the days immediately prior to it.

Back row: Maxwell, Melville, Lehmann, Knight, Barlow, Knaggs
Front row: Lewis, Leach, Blomfield, Ball, Hoidge

It's a historic photo and was commissioned by the father of H.N. Charles, the engineering officer of 56.

The second photo down in those you have posted is from the 6th April and shows Ball in the cockpit of A'4850. This is from a series that were taken that day of Ball with his SE.

Your third photo also shows Ball in the cockpit of A'4850 but on the 7th April with the squadron just about to take off for France. The brother of Ball's fiancé, Flora Young, is looking over the rear of the fuselage.

I have a few photos of 56 at London Colney and especially from the 7th April and will scan a couple and post here later.

 

[Smithy]

It makes me understand that I do not know that much about the armed forces especially young men and bravery . I am of a generation that knows about the second world war but know very little about the first . Fifty years from now will it be all forgotten to all but a few scholars who specialize in certain aspects of history the majority only interested in material things around them . How do we preserve the memory and the deeds of the few who made us free today or is time going to wipe it out . Thanks Smithy for creating this WW1 14- 18 images of War I am going to research this era a little more .

BIP

That's great to hear Jeff.

One of the sad things about the air war during WWI is that people know so little about it and have many misconceptions about it, often those who know quite a bit about WWII.

Probably due to Biggles and Snoopy and the Red Baron, and Lloyd George's ridiculous "cavalry of the clouds" speech, many have this idea that the air war in WWI was a genteel and civilised affair. The truth could not be further from this. It often surprises those who know a bit about WWII to learn that the first air war was a far more brutal, deadly and vicious one than that of the Second World War. RFC veteran Oliver Stewart famously likened it to back alley brawling with broken bottles and bicycle chains, and waiting behind a corner to bash someone over the head from behind with a brick in a sock. Quite far removed from the knights jousting bullshit that Lloyd George peddled as heart warming propaganda for the masses during the conflict.

The aircraft were flimsy mostly fabric and wood, and had a tendency to fall apart when damaged, or more terrifyingly, to burn. The reason why many aircrew carried sidearms was not to fight it out behind enemy lines (survival from being shot down was exceedingly low) but to blow one's brains out to save the agony of being burnt alive if the aircraft caught fire.

Because of aircraft's relatively slow speeds compared to WWII aircraft, combat took place at much closer distances. With most WWII memoirs you'll hear fellows taking about how they didn't feel they were shooting at someone but rather at an aircraft and how they got a shock when chaps started bailing out. There was none of that with WWI. Combat was very close, most of the good pilots aimed for the pilot, and even better tried to sneak up on him unawares and then put a bullet in his back before he'd even seen you. The propellor of Rhys Davids' SE5a was something like less than 2 yards behind Voss' F.1 when he delivered the coup-de-grace to the German ace. Coming back with blood over your machine from whom you had shot was not uncommon. Also, due to low speeds, dogfights were far slower to break up and as a result air fighting was generally much more protracted than in WWII. It wasn't uncommon for dogfights to last 20 to 30 minutes, and that's constant twisting and turning in an open cockpit, exposed to the elements and with no oxygen, and no radio to receive warnings or to offer help to other squadron mates.

The survival rate was horrific. Flying itself was new and inherently dangerous. Aircrew had bugger all training, especially compared to their WWII descendants and subsequently due to the mass slaughter that was taking place in the skies, the duration that someone could expect to live was very low (roughly 11 hours for a RFC airman during Bloody April for example).

The sooner that the "jolly hockey sticks", pottering around the skies idea of the WWI air war disappears the better. These were terribly brave men, fighting a quite unfathomably violent new type of war. It was and still remains the most lethally dangerous war in the skies.

 

[Micawber]

Well said Smithy.

Lest We Forget

 

[saucerfiend]

Wow! Smithy, thanks for the education. Utterly terrifying!

Brian

 

[Southoftheborder]

That's great to hear Jeff.

One of the sad things about the air war during WWI is that people know so little about it and have many misconceptions about it, often those who know quite a bit about WWII.

Probably due to Biggles and Snoopy and the Red Baron, and Lloyd George's ridiculous "cavalry of the clouds" speech, many have this idea that the air war in WWI was a genteel and civilised affair. The truth could not be further from this. It often surprises those who know a bit about WWII to learn that the first air war was a far more brutal, deadly and vicious one than that of the Second World War. RFC veteran Oliver Stewart famously likened it to back alley brawling with broken bottles and bicycle chains, and waiting behind a corner to bash someone over the head from behind with a brick in a sock. Quite far removed from the knights jousting bullshit that Lloyd George peddled as heart warming propaganda for the masses during the conflict.

The aircraft were flimsy mostly fabric and wood, and had a tendency to fall apart when damaged, or more terrifyingly, to burn. The reason why many aircrew carried sidearms was not to fight it out behind enemy lines (survival from being shot down was exceedingly low) but to blow one's brains out to save the agony of being burnt alive if the aircraft caught fire.

Because of aircraft's relatively slow speeds compared to WWII aircraft, combat took place at much closer distances. With most WWII memoirs you'll hear fellows taking about how they didn't feel they were shooting at someone but rather at an aircraft and how they got a shock when chaps started bailing out. There was none of that with WWI. Combat was very close, most of the good pilots aimed for the pilot, and even better tried to sneak up on him unawares and then put a bullet in his back before he'd even seen you. The propellor of Rhys Davids' SE5a was something like less than 2 yards behind Voss' F.1 when he delivered the coup-de-grace to the German ace. Coming back with blood over your machine from whom you had shot was not uncommon. Also, due to low speeds, dogfights were far slower to break up and as a result air fighting was generally much more protracted than in WWII. It wasn't uncommon for dogfights to last 20 to 30 minutes, and that's constant twisting and turning in an open cockpit, exposed to the elements and with no oxygen, and no radio to receive warnings or to offer help to other squadron mates.

The survival rate was horrific. Flying itself was new and inherently dangerous. Aircrew had bugger all training, especially compared to their WWII descendants and subsequently due to the mass slaughter that was taking place in the skies, the duration that someone could expect to live was very low (roughly 11 hours for a RFC airman during Bloody April for example).

The sooner that the "jolly hockey sticks", pottering around the skies idea of the WWI air war disappears the better. These were terribly brave men, fighting a quite unfathomably violent new type of war. It was and still remains the most lethally dangerous war in the skies.

Absolutely, and with no parachutes of course. Although pilots agitated to get them issued and pointed out the benefits to morale, they were only issued to balloon observers. Experiments with bailing out of moving aeroplanes were made with smaller free fall parachutes than the balloon type and they were even used to drop agents behind the lines. But still the powers that were didn't feel they were necessary for aircrew right up until September 1918 and the war was nearly over.

 

[saucerfiend]

Weren't necessary for air crew? Morons in charge, should have been shot!

 

[Smithy]

Wow! Smithy, thanks for the education. Utterly terrifying!

Brian

Thanks Brian. Hopefully this thread gets some members wanting to learn more about the WWI air war and dispels some of the myths which don't do any justice to the men who flew and fought in the Great War. It's a fascinating subject and when you learn more about you can't help but be both horrified and amazed by what it was like for these men who fought the first war in the air.

Parachutes had been available for observers on observation balloons for quite some time but with aircrew the thinking was that they would encourage people to jump from their aircraft to escape combat. The Germans started to bring in parachutes for aircrew in the last months of the war.

 

[Smithy]

Well I got asked in a PM what a good introductory book on the WWI air war would be so I thought it might be useful to post this here in case there might be others who were interested in picking up a book to learn more.

Firstly there's a lot of books on the air war and many very good memoirs as well. Maybe later in this thread we can build a reading list but for now I wanted to give my opinion on a good introductory text which would give a good general understanding and a solid basis from which to read more if so inclined. First off, this is just my opinion, others may very well suggest other books which are just as good but for me it would be Alan Clark's "Aces High". Now this has been around for quite some time being first published in 1973 so there's the odd small detail which has been superseded by more modern research but for giving an overview it is excellent. It only covers the Western Front but it gives a brilliant account of the technological advance, tactics, the ebb and flow of the air war and the men who fought it on both sides. It also ties the air war in with the war on the ground which is very important because the war in the air was dictated by the offensives and strategy which was being played out below in the trenches. Clark's book is also excellent at painting a good picture of what it was like to fly in WWI and especially the personalities of the aces. It is also very readable.

Just one thing, if anyone does decide to pick up "Aces High" just make sure to pick up the 1999 edition which contains an enormous selection of excellent photographs and even some of Michael Turner's wonderful paintings of war in the air. Here is the cover of the 1999 edition.

 

[dinomartino1]

Regarding Smithys comments about parachutes it seems to be something being lost to folk memory which was very well known in my younger days that aircrew in WW1 had a choice of burning to death or jumping out of their plane for a less horrific ending if their plane caught fire and by the very materials used in the construction methods of the day they where highly flammable.
It was quite common for troops on the ground to see airmen leaping to their death from burning planes.

Second Lieutenant John 'Jack' Hay, an Australian of Gunningbar, NSW, serving with 40 Squadron Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

Hay travelled to England where he gained his Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate on 2 June 1916 and enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps. In August 1916 he travelled to France with 40 Squadron RFC, who were equipped with FE 8 pusher biplanes.

On 23 January, the day after his 28th birthday, he shot down two German planes, before becoming the 17th victim of the German Ace, Baron Manfred von Richthofen. That day, aircraft from 40 squadron and those of Jasta 11, led by von Richthofen fought near Lens. During the battle Hay's plane caught fire after being attacked by von Richthofen, flying in a red Albatros DIII. Hay leapt, or fell from his plane to his death.

British pilots were not issued with parachutes and it was not unusual for pilots to leap to a quick death rather than burn in the highly combustible aircraft. Hay's body was recovered by Canadian troops and buried at Aire communal cemetery near the squadron's base in France.

Royal Flying Corps embroidered pilot's qualification brevet, associated with Second Lieutenant John 'Jack' Hay.

Matchbox case with kangaroo: Second Lieutenant John Hay, 40 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps stud box: Second Lieutenant John Hay, 40 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.

Aire, France. An elaborately engraved brass plaque mounted on a wooden propeller forms the shape of a cross over the grave of 2nd Lieutenant John (Jack) Hay, No 40 Squadron, RFC (Royal Flying Corps), at a cemetery just outside the town. The inscription on the plaque reads "The earth holds not a finer gentleman".

Rounded brass grave marker A pair of pilot's wings have been shaped into the top The marker is engraved with the words '2ND LT JOHN HAY ./ R.F.C. S.R ./ No. 40 SQUADRON / KILLED IN ACTION / 23RD JANUARY 1917 / "THE EARTH HOLDS NOT A BRAVER GENTLEMAN" / R.I.P.'.
The grave marker was initially placed on a cut-down FE 8 propeller on his grave. It was later given to his family and brought back to Australia.

Tin funeral wreath plaque: Second Lieutenant John Hay, 40 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps
Tin plaque cut to the shape of a ribbon. One side is painted in white with the words 'A NOTRE FRE...' [A Notre Frere] "to our brother"

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8
Although a clean and well designed little aeroplane for a pusher, it could not escape the drag penalty imposed by its tail structure and was no match for the Albatros fighters of late 1916.
Armed with a single .303 Lewis gun

 

[Smithy]

Another thing which perhaps a lot of people aren't aware of as well Dino is that as well as fabric and wood (which obviously burn), aircraft were painted in treatments that were flammable. British aircraft for example were covered in dope, PC10 (a kind of non shrinking dope which was the green brown colour) or PC12 and two types of varnish, V114 and an oil based varnish (POV) on the metal and ply surfaces. All of these would go up like a torch at the merest whiff of a flame.

Speaking of no parachutes this reminds me of Arthur Gould Lee's brilliant memoir aptly titled "No Parachute" which is a collection of his letters about life as a Sopwith Pup pilot on the Western Front. Without doubt one of the finest memoirs from WWI, the immediacy of it when you read it is utterly striking. And not just WWI, it is one of the best recollections of a combat pilot from any era.

 

[Smithy]

Now here's a little humdinger, an interview with Cecil Lewis. Lewis is famous for being a co-founder of the BBC but before that he was a scout pilot over the Western Front, and as a member of the legendary 56 Sqn and being one of the longest lived aces from WWI, whilst alive he was a real tangible link to those Homeric figures of 56 like Albert Ball, James McCudden and Arthur Rhys Davids to name just a few. He lived quite a remarkable and varied life doing many things but one of the things for which he will be most remembered is as a writer. Arguably his standout book is "Sagittarius Rising" which has become a classic and is probably one of the most highly regarded pieces of aviation literature - and if you haven't read it and you're interested in flight then you should.

Lewis speaks with such eloquence and colour that it's a real joy to listen to. I hope it'll be enjoyed by some of the members here who are following this thread.

And Lewis back in his RFC days...

 

[B-Man2]

Tim
Great story and interview!
Thank for posting!

 

[Smithy]

Pleased you liked it Burt. It really is a great interview. For such an ebullient speaker, the bit from 12:25 to 12:40 where he is talking about all the chaps who were lost and then his suddenly silence I found to be incredibly touching. The pain after nearly half a century was still very raw and clearly obvious.

He was apparently a most impulsive person and full of joie de vivre, he taught flying in China, started the BBC, won an Oscar for best screen adaptation for "Pygmalion", flew a small Miles Gemini from England to South Africa where he farmed for a time, lived in both the South Pacific and Italy for periods and settled in retirement on the Greek island of Corfu. A busy and interesting fellow.

 

[Falcon_52]

Thanks for posting that. His voice completely captured me - really fascinating.

Noel

 

[Smithy]

I agree, people with that kind of diction and manner of speaking are few and far between in this day and age.

 

[dinomartino1]

Thanks for posting that. His voice completely captured me - really fascinating.

Noel

Same here

 

[Smithy]

Here's Cecil Lewis at London Colney on the 7th April 1917 right before (as in a matter of minutes before) 56 Sqn flew to France for the first time to be stationed at Vert Galant. This shows the original "canopy" which was on the very first SE5s and which the pilots hated so much. It was only a few days after arriving in France that these ridiculous canopies were removed.

 

[dinomartino1]

SIR LAWRENCE JAMES WACKETT
Sir Lawrence James Wackett (1896-1982), air force officer, aircraft designer, aeronautical engineer and aircraft-industry pioneer, was born on 2 January 1896 at Townsville, Queensland. Lawrence entered the Royal Military College, , in 1913. While a cadet he displayed his technical aptitude by designing and building a model of an automatic fuse-setting mechanism. With the outbreak of World War I and the consequent need for officers for the Australian Imperial Force, Wackett’s class was graduated early, in June 1915.

Transferring to the newly established Australian Flying Corps, AIF, Wackett qualified as a pilot at Point Cook, Victoria, in October 1915 and was posted to No.1 Squadron, which arrived in Egypt in April 1916. He flew on operations that included reconnaissance, bombing, strafing, photography and air-to-air combat.
In Egypt he designed a mounting to attach a Lewis gun to the upper wing of his BE2c considerably improving the fighting ability of a type that was described as the "poorest of all offensive, or defensive aircraft"
The BE2c was normally armed with a machine gun at the observer's position, but the observer sat in front of the pilot and behind the engine, and between the upper and lower wings. This meant that the machine gun could only be fired in fairly narrow arcs if the Observer was to avoid hitting his own aircraft. Wackett's modification meant that all he had to do was point the whole aircraft at his adversary and that he had a measure of protection when on a bombing mission (because the BE2c could carry bombs or an Observer, but not both].
Wackett used his modified BE2c to good effect on several occasions. He once gave the enemy pause when while on a reconnaissance mission he was attacked by two Rumplers. Wackett flew towards them firing the gun and the Rumplers broke off the fight. On 11 November 1916 he was in his BE2c on a 7-hour bombing mission to Beersheba with four other BE2s and a Martinsyde G.100 when the formation came under attack by two much superior German aircraft. Wackett was able to use his aircraft to assist the Martinsyde in defending their comrades and fighting off the attack
In January 1917 he was put in charge of repairing and overhauling the Royal Flying Corps’ damaged and unserviceable aircraft to increase the number available for the anticipated Gaza offensive. His success in this role resulted in his being mentioned in despatches (1917) and posted in April to the Orfordness Experimental Station in Britain.

In June 1918 Captain Wackett returned to operations with No.3 Squadron, AFC, in France.Wackett played a significant role in the Battle of Hamel fought on 4 July 1918. Captured German documents revealed that they had been experimenting with dropping ammunition from aircraft and No. 3 Squadron was asked to investigate doing the same. Wackett was asked to do the work as his reputation had spread; 'he had a gift for mechanical inventions' according to his superiors He devised a small parachute that could be used to drop supplies to troops, designed a modified bomb rack to hold the supplies and then trained No. 3 Squadron personnel in the required technique. Gen. Monash's battle plan for Hamel involved resupplying the engaged machine-gunners with ammunition dropped by aircraft. In the event No. 3 Squadron was assigned other tasks during the battle and the ammunition dropping was performed by No. 9 Squadron RAF. Monash later wrote, "at least 100,000 rounds of ammunition were [dropped] during the battle with obvious economy in lives and wounds. The method thus initiated became general in later months.
Later that year, on 25 September, Wackett undertook a daring reconnaissance mission in 3 Squadron's first Bristol F.2 Fighter, when he penetrated six miles (10 km) behind enemy lines to take aerial photographs of the German Joncourt-Villers Outreaux line, that were needed for a forthcoming attack.[Two days later he carried out an ammunition resupply flight to some isolated troops using the equipment he had designed. As a result of these two actions he was awarded the DFC.

After the war Lawrence then began designing planes, and was one of 21 officers appointed to the RAAF formed in 1921.
Wackett designed many planes in Australia.
Distressed by Australian casualties of WWII, and concerned about the small supply of war aircraft to Australia, Wackett began to petition the government to begin manufacturing aircraft in Australia. In 1937, the Federal government agreed to build a £100,000 factory at Fisherman’s Bend in Melbourne.
The government asked Wackett to manage the mass production plant. Despite strong objections from the British, a team led by Wackett selected an American aircraft the Harvard with which to begin production. The Australian version was named the Wirraway and the first deliveries to the RAAF took place in July 1939. That same year Wackett designed the Wirraway which he gave to the RAAF as a training plane., this was then followed by the Wackett Trainer and Boomerang in 1941.
Throughout World War II the production and maintenance capabilities provided by CAC were essential to the operations of the Australian and American air forces in the Pacific as well as the Empire Air Training Scheme. In 1939-46 CAC built 755 Wirraways, 200 Wackett trainers, 248 Boomerang fighters and 59 Mustang fighters. The successful trainer named after Wackett was largely his conception and he was involved in the design of the Boomerang.

In the early 1950s his influence was crucial in the selection of the American Sabre.
The anglophobe govt of the day wanted to buy Hawker Hunters to replace the RAAF’s Meteor and Vampire fighters. The Australian variant, the CAC Avon Sabre, gave excellent service.
When the time came to replace the Sabre, Wackett once again was largely responsible for deciding which aircraft was selected, the govt was ready to announce the purchase of Starfighters but caved in to Wacketts objections that it was unsuitable for the RAAF and instead his choice the Mirage lll was made under license in Australia.
The Wacketts only son, Wilbur was killed in 1944 flying a Beaufighter.


.

Lieutenant L J Wackett, Australian Flying Corps

Egypt: Suez Canal, Kantara, May 1917
Officers of No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. Included in the group are: Captain (Capt) Ross Macpherson Smith (later Sir Ross Macpherson Smith KBE, MC and Bar, DFC and 2 Bars, AFC), Major (Maj) Allan Murray Jones (later MC DFC and Bar), Maj Lawrence James Wackett (later DFC AFC); Capt David Thomas William Manwell (later MBE (with back to camera); Lieutenant (Lt) Alexander Leighton Macnaughton; Lt Roy Maxwell Drummond.

Pt. Cook, Melbourne 1916
“Major Macartney and Lt Wackett in flying machine.” Both officers with the Permanent Forces prior to enlistment, Lieutenant Lawrence James Wackett (left) and Major Henry Dundas Keith Macartney (right]

This parachute was used to drop ammunition to the 13th Battalion near Vaire Wood on 4 July 1918 during the Battle of Hamel.
This was the first time dropping supplies to troops in the middle of battle had been attempted.
It was developed and made by 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps at their aerodrome at Villers Bocage in late June / early July 1918 and used by an aircraft of 9 Squadron, Royal Air Force to drop ammunition to the 13th Battalion near Vaire Wood on 4 July 1918 during the Battle of Hamel. This new innovation of using aircraft to resupply ammunition was part of a co-ordinated assault on a limited front using air and ground forces, a strategy employed for the first time at Hamel and used to devastating effect during the Battle of Amiens the following month.
According to the 3 Squadron war diary, about 90 boxes, consisting of about 114,000 rounds of ammunition, were dropped by 9 Squadron Royal Air Force, (operating from 3 Squadron's aerodrome) behind the new front line. The parachutes and system to carry and drop the ammunition from RE8 aircraft were designed by Captain Lawrence Wackett, 3 Squadron and tested by members of the squadron in the lead up to the battle.

"It was Captain Wackett, of the Australian Flying Corps, who perfected these ideas, and who trained the pilots to put them into practice. Each machine-gun crew, upon reaching its appointed locality, spread upon the ground a large V-shaped canvas (V representing the word "Vickers") as an intimation to the air of their whereabouts, and that they needed ammunition. After a very little training, the air-pilots were able to drop this ammunition from a height of at least 1,000 feet to well within 100 yards of the appointed spot"

France: Picardie, Somme, Flesselles
3 July 1918
The Australian Prime Minister, tWilliam Morris (Billy) Hughes, in the cockpit, tries the controls of an Australian RE8 aeroplane of the 3rd Squadron AFC. Standing, helping is Captain (Capt) L. J. Wackett

Wackett's Aviator's Certificate

 

[dinomartino1]

That's great to hear Jeff.

One of the sad things about the air war during WWI is that people know so little about it and have many misconceptions about it, often those who know quite a bit about WWII.

Probably due to Biggles and Snoopy and the Red Baron, and Lloyd George's ridiculous "cavalry of the clouds" speech, many have this idea that the air war in WWI was a genteel and civilised affair. The truth could not be further from this. It often surprises those who know a bit about WWII to learn that the first air war was a far more brutal, deadly and vicious one than that of the Second World War. RFC veteran Oliver Stewart famously likened it to back alley brawling with broken bottles and bicycle chains, and waiting behind a corner to bash someone over the head from behind with a brick in a sock. Quite far removed from the knights jousting bullshit that Lloyd George peddled as heart warming propaganda for the masses during the conflict.

The aircraft were flimsy mostly fabric and wood, and had a tendency to fall apart when damaged, or more terrifyingly, to burn. The reason why many aircrew carried sidearms was not to fight it out behind enemy lines (survival from being shot down was exceedingly low) but to blow one's brains out to save the agony of being burnt alive if the aircraft caught fire.

Because of aircraft's relatively slow speeds compared to WWII aircraft, combat took place at much closer distances. With most WWII memoirs you'll hear fellows taking about how they didn't feel they were shooting at someone but rather at an aircraft and how they got a shock when chaps started bailing out. There was none of that with WWI. Combat was very close, most of the good pilots aimed for the pilot, and even better tried to sneak up on him unawares and then put a bullet in his back before he'd even seen you. The propellor of Rhys Davids' SE5a was something like less than 2 yards behind Voss' F.1 when he delivered the coup-de-grace to the German ace. Coming back with blood over your machine from whom you had shot was not uncommon. Also, due to low speeds, dogfights were far slower to break up and as a result air fighting was generally much more protracted than in WWII. It wasn't uncommon for dogfights to last 20 to 30 minutes, and that's constant twisting and turning in an open cockpit, exposed to the elements and with no oxygen, and no radio to receive warnings or to offer help to other squadron mates.

The survival rate was horrific. Flying itself was new and inherently dangerous. Aircrew had bugger all training, especially compared to their WWII descendants and subsequently due to the mass slaughter that was taking place in the skies, the duration that someone could expect to live was very low (roughly 11 hours for a RFC airman during Bloody April for example).

The sooner that the "jolly hockey sticks", pottering around the skies idea of the WWI air war disappears the better. These were terribly brave men, fighting a quite unfathomably violent new type of war. It was and still remains the most lethally dangerous war in the skies.

"By 1917, ground attack missions had developed into a large component of the bloody offensives on the Western front, such as the battles of Cambrai and Passchendaele. The RAF commander in France, Sir John Salmond, attached high importance to such missions, confident that they would play a large role in stopping the expected German 1918 spring offensive. But any such achievements came at horrible cost; at Cambrai the average loss ratio for units engaged in strafing missions was 30 % per day of operations. Between March 1918 and the end of the war No 80 squadron lost 168 men, on an average unit strength of only 22, a figure that corresponded to a life expectancy of little more than a month."

 

[Smithy]

Well put Dino.

Many people have no idea of how dangerous it was to fly in WWI compared to other aerial conflicts. Those figures aptly demonstrate just how particularly dangerous it was and could be.