DIARY AND LETTERS OF A WORLD WAR I FIGHTER PILOT, THE [Hardcover]

Christopher Burgess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2008

This is a first-hand account of the author's grandfather, Guy Mainwaring Knocker and his experiences as a pilot in the R.F.C. in the First World War written as a series of letters and diary entries. He wrote letters virtually every day to his family, while he trained in England and was in service in France, and often illustrated them with little sketches. Guy was a gifted artist, particularly pencil and pen and ink, and also an excellent photographer. He flew with No 65 (Fighter) Squadron that was formed in June, 1916 as a fighter squadron, and flew to France in March 1917 in time to play a prominent part in the air operations during the Battles of Arras. In June 1917, the squadron moved to Calais for special patrol work in the Dover Straits area, to intercept enemy aircraft raiding England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pen and Sword (November 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844157415
• ISBN-13: 978-1844157419
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,300,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memoirs of A Sopwith Camel Fighter Pilot!, April 24, 2010

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DIARY AND LETTERS OF A WORLD WAR I FIGHTER PILOT, THE (Hardcover)

In many respects, THE DIARY AND LETTERS OF A WORLD WAR I FIGHTER PILOT is a time capsule. The material was orignally written in 1917 and 1918 by 2nd Lieutenant Guy Knocker, a Sopwith Camel fighter pilot with 65 Squadron. Compiled and edited by his grandson in 2008, the material details not only the long-ago aerial combats waged in WWI but the inner thoughts of a typical English lad off to fight the Hun. DIARY is an evocative, exciting and alltogether charming look at one Englishman's war.

From April 1917, when he began RFC training, until April 1918, when he was wounded, Guy Knocker not only kept a diary but also wrote home to his family virtually every day. That material constitutes the bulk of the DIARY narrative, explanatory notes being given by Chris Burgess, GK's grandson. In his letters home, Knocker told of his training adventures, assignment to 65 Squadron, dogfights and ground-strafing missions at the controls of Sopwith Pups and then Camels, squadron life and personalities, etc. He frequently included rather well-done drawings of aircraft, maneuvers, formations and what not.

Since he was writing to family, there was no need to 'line-shoot' and indeed that wasn't in Knocker's character. His letters and diary reveal a sweet, guileless 18-year old patriot who was having the adventure of his life. The letters are filled with references to "topping flips," "having a merry scrap with umpteen Albatri," watching another pilot do "a ripping roll," duelling with a "jolly good (Hun) sportsman...who fought jolly well" and "frightfully exciting and mostly amusing" low-level strafing missions. His mates in 56 Squadron was "all jolly good fellows...a simply topping Squadron, no hot air at all." Dogfights were "great fun." And when a squadronmate was killed in a test flight, it was "jolly rotten luck."

Since Knocker wrote so frequently, his descriptions of dogfights are quite vivid and exciting. In the course of his year in combat, he claimed about a half-dozen victories, many of them OOC. Wounded while ground strafing in April 1918, he saw no more combat. He stayed in the RAF postwar, retiring in 1946. Knocker died in 1971.

Air combat enthusiasts wil greatly enjoy THE DIARY AND LETTERS OF A WORLD WAR I FIGHTER PILOT. It is an unvarnished, fresh-from-the-cockpit and wonderfully human account of air combat in World War I. Finishing the book, you realize you've had the pleasure of getting to know a simply topping young man. Highly recommended.