1918 We will remember them (29 page)

The Battle of Arras was delayed because the French were not ready and consequently began during a snowstorm. Despite that the British and Commonwealth troops made astonishing gains in the first few days. The German front line troops were, quite literally, shell shocked from the two week barrage they had endured. The defences ceased to exist.

General Trenchard was in command in France although he was a controversial figure. He was not universally popular. He was the first Chief of the RAF.  He was known for his penchant for offensive rather than defensive flying.

More aeroplanes were shot down by ground fire than other aeroplanes and I have tried to be as realistic as I can but Bill Harsker is a hero and I portray him as such. He does achieve a high number of kills. Lanoe Hawker was the first ace to reach 40 kills and he died just at the end of the Somme Offensive.

The Spring Offensive almost won the war for the Germans.  With Russia out of the war and the Americans still feeding men across the Atlantic Operation Michael almost succeeded. The Offensive was four attacks.  The first was in the Somme.  It was followed by one close to Ypres.  A third was to the south of the Somme and the final one was an attempt to enlarge the Somme salient. The Offensive cost the Germans almost 700,000 casualties whilst the allies lost nearly 900,000. It was stopped, in no small part by the RFC or, as it became on April 1
st
1918, the RAF. The new German aeroplanes could not defeat the RFC. There were a few Fokker D.VIIs in the air but by the time they reached the front the Spring Offensive had been halted. The battle cost many aeroplanes but once it was over then the RAF dominated the skies of Northern France.

I have tried to base the relationship between Bill and Bates on that of Frodo and Sam in Lord of the Rings.  This is not as bizarre as it sounds for Tolkien served in World War 1 as an officer in the trenches and had a close relationship with his servant.  It is widely believed that the Frodo/Sam relationship is that of Tolkien and his batman. For those readers who have commented to me about the lack of servants for the other officers I say that all of them would have had a servant and the relationship would have been a similar one to Bates and Bill but I was trying to encapsulate in Bates a sub plot to do with the stress of war and the remarkable changes it brings in the most mild mannered of people.

I have taken the idea of Bill’s injured legs from the true story of Douglas Bader who defied the odds in World War II not only to be able to walk again with artificial legs but also to fly a Spitfire and lead a whole wing of aeroplanes.

The swastika was used by pilots in Jasta 17 and appears to have been the personal emblem of Oblt Hermann Pritisch who was the acting Jastafuhrer.  He scored one victory.

The war in 1918 surged one way and then the other.  The Spring Offensive came within a whisker of succeeding but the German plan wasted their finest troops in their assaults. Ludendorff, in particular, did not use the elite troops well. Their job was to punch a hole through and then the rest would flood through the gaps they made.  Ludendorff had these storm troopers making costly attacks on the British redoubts.  They could have been bypassed.  Another crucial factor was the control of the air.  The Germans were between their good fighters. The triplane was on the decline and the new Fokker D.VII was not ready in enough numbers. Even though the German air force was never defeated it could never control the skies because of their lack of production.

The Hundred Days Offensive began in August and lasted until November 1918. It ended with the allies in Germany. Ironically the worst month of the war was September when 560 allied aeroplanes were lost on the Western front. The previous worse month had been bloody April in 1917 when 305 Allied aeroplanes were lost. In both bloody battles the bulk of the losses were amongst the pilots of the RFC/RAF. These figures pale into insignificance when compared with the losses on the ground and amongst the infantry.

Selected Specifications
for the aeroplanes mentioned in the novel

FE2b

2 crew

47 feet wingspan

12 feet 6 inches height

Rolls Royce Eagle engine 360hp

Maximum speed 81 mph (up to 88 at higher altitude)

Ceiling, 11000 feet

2 Lewis machine guns and up to 517lb of bombs

AEG G1

3 crew

52 feet wingspan

11 feet four inches height

2 Mercedes 8 cylinders in line engines 100 hp each

Maximum speed 78 mph

Ceiling 7874 feet

2 machine guns

Aviatik B1/B11

Crew 2

Wingspan 40 feet

Height 10 feet 10 inches

Mercedes D11 Engine 99hp

Maximum speed 60 mph

Ceiling 16404 feet

1 machine gun

Bristol F.2A

2 crew

39 feet 3 inches wingspan

9 feet 9 inches height

190 hp Rolls Royce Falcon v-12engine

Maximum speed 123 mph

Ceiling 18,000 feet

1 .303 Lewis (rear facing) machine gun (+an optional Lewis on a Foster mount)

1 Vickers .303 (synchronised) machine gun

Fokker E1

1 crew

29 feet wingspan

9 feet 5 inches height

.7 Cylinder air cooled rotary engine 80 hp

Maximum speed 81 mph

Ceiling 9840 feet

1 machine gun (later variants had a machine gun firing through the propeller)

Arco DH2

1 crew

28 feet wingspan

9 feet 6 inches height

Gnome Monosoupape 10 hp Rotary engine

Maximum speed 93 mph

Ceiling 14,000 feet

I machine gun either fixed or moveable

Nieuport 11

1 crew

29 feet wingspan

7 feet high

1 Le Rhone Rotary Engine 80hp

Maximum speed 97 mph

Ceiling 15,000 feet

1 machine gun

Fokker D.1

1 crew

29 feet wingspan

7 feet 5inches high

Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine

Maximum speed 93 mph

Ceiling 11000 feet

1 7.92 Spandau mg

Albatros D.1

1 crew

27 feet 10 inches wingspan

9 feet 8 inches high

Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine

Maximum speed 109 mph

Ceiling 17000 feet

1 x 7.92 Spandau mg

Albatros D.11

1 crew

27 feet 10 inches wingspan

8 feet 8 inches high

Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine

Maximum speed 109.4 mph

Ceiling 17000 feet

2 x 7.92 Spandau mg

Albatros D.111

1 crew

27 feet 6 inches wingspan

9 feet 6 inches high

Mercedes D 111 160 hp Engine

Maximum speed 102 mph

Ceiling 18000 feet

1 x 7.92 Spandau mg

Fokker D.11

1 crew

28 feet 8 inches wingspan

8feet 4 inches high

Oberursel 100 hp Engine

Maximum speed 93 mph

Ceiling 14700 feet

1 x 7.92 Spandau mg

Halberstadt D111

1 Crew

28 feet 10 inches wingspan

8 feet 8 inches high

Argus As.11 inline 120hp engine

Maximum speed 99.4 mph

Ceiling 14764 feet

1 7.92 Spandau mg

Bristol F.2B

2 crew

29feet wingspan

9 feet 9 inches height

Rolls Royce 275 hp engine

Maximum speed 113 mph

Ceiling 20,000 feet

1 synchronised Vickers .303 machine gun

1 rear mounted Lewis .303 machine gun

Sopwith Pup

1 crew

28 feet wingspan

9 feet 6 inches height

La Rhone 9C 80 hp engine

Maximum speed 105 mph

Ceiling 17,500 feet

1 synchronised Vickers .303 machine gun

Sopwith Camel

1 crew

28 feet wingspan

8 feet 6 inches height

Clerget 9 cylinder air cooled rotary piston (130 hp) engine

Maximum speed 117 mph

Ceiling 19,000 feet

2 synchronised Vickers .303 machine guns

Fokker D I (Triplane)

1 crew

23 feet 8 inches wingspan

9 feet 8inches high

Oberursel 110hpEngine

Maximum speed 115 mph

Ceiling 20015 feet

2 x 7.92 Spandau mg

Fokker D VII

1 crew

29 feet 1 inches wingspan

9 feet 6 inches high

Mercedes DIII 180hpEngine

Maximum speed 118 mph

Ceiling 22695 feet

2 x 7.92 Spandau mg

I used the following books to verify information:

World War 1- Peter Simkins

The Times Atlas of World History

The British Army in World War 1 (1)- Mike Chappell

The British Army in World War 1 (2)- Mike Chappell

The British Army 1914-18- Fosten and Marrion

British Air Forces 1914-1918- Cormack

British and Empire Aces of World War 1- Shores

A History of Aerial Warfare- John Taylor

First World War- Martin Gilbert

Aircraft of World War 1- Herris and Pearson

Thanks to the following website for the slang definitions

• www.ict.griffith.edu.au/~davidt/z_ww1_
  slang
  /index_bak.htm
  ‎
  

Griff Hosker February2015

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