Customer Reviews

Royal Naval Air Service, 1912-1918

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Mr. King has done a fine job of researching the aircraft flown by the RNAS from the time it disassociated itself from the fledgling Royal Flying Corps to its inclusion in the formation of the Royal Air Force. He has obviously done many hours of research on Commander C.R. Samson's 'armoured car navy' which roamed northern Belgium in late 1914 while they waited for their aircraft to appear. However, comparatively little space has been given to the magnificent work done by the RNAS fighter Squadrons (Naval 1, 8, 9 and 10) formed to aid the RFC during late 1916 and 1917. It is in these Squadrons that the story of RNAS comes alive. Within these Squadrons we find men such as Canadian Ray Collishaw, the third-highest scoring British ace with 68 victories and the Australian aces Bob Little with 47 victories and Rod Dallas with 39 victories. It is also noteworthy that there is little mention of Number 3 (Naval) Wing, the first Strategic Bombing Wing and the first unit to fly combined operations (British, Canadian, French, and American). This book gives a good over-view of the RNAS but says little of the day-to-day history of the units and men who made the RNAS Britain's prime aerial fighting force during 1914 and 1915.

I take exception to the first review of this admirable book. The Royal Naval Air Service was a large and complex organization tasked with many differing jobs. Scout squadrons on the Western Front were just a small part of the overall picture, training, home defence, anti submarine patrols, support in the Aegean, strategic bombing, coastal and port defence were all pieces of the jigsaw. Brad King covers most of this in an admirable manner - sure he concentrates on his areas of strength, namely his access to the photographic archives of the Imperial War Museum, but by using these resources the book covers aspects of the RNAS that have been very poorly documented in the past.

If you want to know more about the RNAS this book is for you - if you just want single seater scout squadrons of the RNAS then there are better books available.