Von Richthofen: The Legend Evaluated by Bickers Richard Townshend

Author:Bickers, Richard Townshend
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2015-04-15T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12 - FRENCH, ITALIAN AND AMERICAN ACES 1914-1918

The French air force had many gifted fighter pilots, few of whom were outstanding tacticians or formation leaders. The national attitude to life is selfish, so it is logical that there was an abundance of young airmen who wished to make their best possible demonstration of patriotism, and to distinguish themselves most, by individual achievement rather than as part of a team.

Italians, although by nature inclined towards flamboyance, and bravura performances that excite their own and their admirers’ emotions, had many fine bomber, as well as expert fighter, pilots. That the number of the latter was much fewer than in the British and French air services is owed to the smallness of Italy’s indigenous aircraft industry, late entry into the war on 24 May 1915 and the small size of their enemy, the Austro-Hungarian Air Service.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, l’Armée de l’Air system for identifying its squadrons is confusing. The squadron number was preceded by the initial letter of the make of aircraft it flew: thus, No. 3, Les Cigognes, flying the Morane Saulnier, began its existence as MS3; when it had the Nieuport it became N3 and when it flew the Spad it changed to S3.

Public adulation of the air services, above all, of fighter pilots, which surpassed admiration for the army and navy, was common to all the combatant countries. In France this reached its apogee.

In the early years of military aviation it was soon recognised that, whatever their nationality, pilots tended to be resentful of any discipline not directly connected to flying, were adventurous and usually had a streak of wildness in them. Whatever constraints they were under during their early training, this was relaxed when they qualified. In the peacetime RFC, for instance, it was common practice for officers to land in the grounds of friends’ country houses on a weekend visit.

The French service appears to have been the most lenient. A pilot sergeant wrote, about his kith, ‘Once called to the firing line he is treated on the same footing as an officer, whatever his rank’. Brindejonc de Moulins informed his parents, ‘Apart from the guns which one clearly hears rumbling, this is the veritable country life lived in a château and, my word, I should greatly enjoy myself here. Yesterday I ate wild duck. Today it will be partridge for lunch and probably pheasant for dinner. What admiration we should have for the men in the trenches.’

Single-seater French pilots protested against any measure that tended to withdraw privileges from them and reduce them to the level of those in other combatant arms. To mitigate the ground troops’ supposed jealousy, it was proposed to increase from five to ten the number of aerial victories needed to qualify for mention in despatches. Jacques Mortane, editor of La Guerre Aérienne, complained on the pilots’ behalf in his columns and clinched the matter by denying that other arms envied them: ‘Our troops are more tolerant, thank God!’

The

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