Full Description
During the Great War, 1914-1918, New Zealanders were keen participants in the new field of military aviation. Close to 850 men, and a small number of women, from the Empire's southernmost dominion sought positions in the British and Australian air services.Drawing on extensive archival material from New Zealand, Australia and Britain, historian Dr Adam Claasen explores New Zealand's reluctance to embrace military aviation, the challenges facing the establishment of local flying schools and the journey undertaken by the New Zealanders from their antipodean farms and towns to the battlefields of the Great War. In spite of their modest numbers the New Zealanders' wartime experiences were incredibly varied. Across the conflict, New Zealand aviators could be found flying above the sands of the Middle East and Mesopotamia, the grey waters of the North Sea , the jungles of East Africa, the sprawling metropolis of London and the rolling hills of northern France and Belgium. Flying the open cockpit wood-and-wire biplanes of the Great War, New Zealanders undertook reconnaissance sorties, carried out bombing raids, photographed enemy entrenchments, defended England from German airships, strafed artillery emplacements and engaged enemy fighters. By the time the war ended many had been killed, others highly decorated, some elevated to `ace' status and a handful occupied positions of considerable command. This book tells their unique and extraordinary untold story.
Contents
CONTENTSINTRODUCTION 6CHAPTER ONE THE PIONEERS 1908-1912 12CHAPTER TWO FLYING FEVER 1912-1914 36CHAPTER THREE LUCKY DEVILS 1914-1915 54CHAPTER FOUR ABOVE THE FRAY 1915 74CHAPTER FIVE DUST AND DYSENTERY 1915 98CHAPTER SIX AIRMEN FOR THE EMPIRE 122CHAPTER SEVEN BASHED INTO SHAPE 150CHAPTER EIGHT DEATH FROM ABOVE 1916 174CHAPTER TEN BLOODY APRIL 1917 232CHAPTER ELEVEN THE SUPREME SACRIFICE 1917 260CHAPTER TWELVE A BIGGER ENDEAVOUR 1917 286CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE 'GREATEST SHOW EVER SEEN' 1918 316CHAPTER FOURTEEN SPRING OFFENSIVE 1918 334CHAPTER FIFTEEN SEA ASSAULT 1918 360CHAPTER SIXTEEN ONE HUNDRED DAYS 1918 386 CONCLUSION 414NOTES 438SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 480ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 484INDEX 488
