Wings Over the Desert: In Action with an RFC Pilot in Palestine 1916-1

[rmcguirk]

What are the odds against this happening? A book appears in 2009, with the amazing and previously untold personal story of a WWI aviator, with 100 superb photos, most of which appear to be from the author's private collection and (so I assume) previously unpublished. Well, it's happened, and it's an excellent book.

This is the story of the RFC's No. 14 Squadron in the Palestine Campaign and the role played by the author's father W E L Seward, who seems to have flown every kind of aeroplane in service with the allies in the Middle East, who spent three years flying with the Squadron and survived six major crashes. The broader history of the EEF and the Palestine Campaign has been assimilated and deftly retold by Seward. He tells us about the strengths and weaknesses of the various aircraft; the pilots' moments of exhilaration and of terror; the extraordinary bond that developed between British and German aviators, who, when not trying to kill one another, waved to each other, drank to the health of their enemy, and wined and dined their prisoners. The personal story of the author's father – clearly an extraordinary man – is expertly blended into the whole to give us a very satisfying book.

Desmond Seward has written a dozen or more books of history, and I can't help but think he savoured his father's story in private for years, saving it up to cap an already distinguished writing career. The book has been beautifully produced by Haynes Publishing.

Reviewed by R McGuirk