BLOODY APRIL : Slaughter in the Skies over Arras, 1917

PREFACE

The myth of " Bloody April " is very powerful. As often told the story is deceptively simple : brave young British pilots of the Royal Flying Corps ( R.F.C. ), with just a few hours training, were sent up daily to face the " Red Baron " and his ruthless gang of merciless German Aces - the dreaded " Flying Circus ". Outnumbered, lacking even basic flying skills, outgunned and flying totally obsolescent aircraft, the young boys of the R.F.C. went to their deaths due to the blind stupidity and intransigence of their commanders. They died, like the men on the ground, as sacrifices to the doctrine of the offensive at any cost. There is certainly no doubt about the severity of the casualties suffered by the R.F.C. in April 1917. In that month alone the British lost 275 aircraft shot down, suffering 421 casualties of which 207 died. It took just 92 hours of flying time for every tragic death incurred. And indeed the worst carnage was amongst the new pilots - many of whom lasted just a day or two once they actually started flying missions over the front.

( ... ) The author tells the story of the air war over Arras, using the voices of the men who were actually there : tales from survivors shot down by the " Red Baron " himself, descriptions of frenzied dogfights and dramatic crash landings in the wastes of No Man's Land. All this is put firmly into the context of the Battle of Arras as a whole and the overall framework of the Allied strategy for 1917. ( ... )