ALEX REVELL MASTERS JAMES McCUDDEN

[David Filsell]

EXPERTEN

Alex Revell

: James Thomas McCudden VC, Aeronaut books, £19.25 (Amazon ), large format paperback, 304pp, ills throughout, 8 appendices, index. ISBN 978-1-935881-34-46

There are books a plenty on the Great War pilots the Germans called experten; men whose nerve, flying skill, bravery, eyesight, and shooting ability enabled them to master the art of aerial warfare. It was a job which very few fighter pilots mastered sufficiently to earn large numbers of victories. Even James McCudden, an excellent rifle shot, initially grappled with the problems of effective deflection firing - as well as the frequent unreliability of Vickers and Lewis guns - before mastering the skills of close in shooting in the air.

Many recent works on the aces - not least the recent work on Bishop, or that on Mannock published in 2001- which centred on the myth and left wing political views and concluding that, had he survived the war he could have become Britains socialist prime minister - have been great disappointments. Alex Revells McCudden VC soars high above such a sad fate by a country mile. The Happy Warrior is a most satisfactory and highly detailed biographical examination of its subjects life, career and finally his sad, undefeated, demise.

Writing a really sound biography is not a task to be undertaken lightly. While Revell makes no attempt to hide his admiration for the man neither does he over egg his achievements. The result is a skilled, well written narrative which combines the authors long and hard learned grasp of fact with the remaining records to offer revealing detail.

The author underlines his reputation as the doyen of British writers about the Great War in the air. The wartime experiences of the one-time boy soldier McCudden are represented on a day by day, mission basis. They story is punctuated by letters, family reminiscences and the views of contemporaries. Each flight, each combat, each downing of an enemy, reads fresh off the page. In anothers hands this could be simply boring in repetitive detail. Here it is not.

This biography has, by the authors own admission, ... been over 60 years in the making. McCudden, the hero of his Alex Revells youth, and his comrades deserve every one of the authors 17 chapters and the support of a huge variety of photographs; aircraft, colleagues, airfields, postcards, sketches, he offers. Notes and references are copious and satisfying - virtually every one of McCuddens comrade and friends is subject of a brief entry.

I own to turning to the appendices first. The first, the evaluation of the death of James McCudden VC following take off, is a subject lesson for writers who seek to draw compelling conclusion from widely differing sources, eyewitness accounts and facts. Over the years the story of the fatal air crash has been variously represented. Not least. It has been claimed the aircraft was fitted with the wrong carburettor, that he turned to return to the airfield with a dead engine a beginners mistake unlikely by such a flyer. The authors conclusions are compelling.

I doubt if any of the most successful wartime flyers have, or will ever enjoy, such a detailed examination of their lives his life, work or achievements. Highly impressive only starts to describe The Happy Warrior. It is a straight forward must for anyone claiming a genuine interest in the Great War in the air and a template for others

[Steven Broomfield]

And for under 20 notes. Can't be bad.

[David Filsell]

How very true. I would have preferred it hard back. It's definitely a Bob to hang on to.