In the summer of 1917, more than two hundred American men volunteered for service in England's Royal Flying Corps, where they would be trained to fly with the Allies until American squadrons could be organized. John MacGavock Grider, assigned to Royal Air Force Number 85 Squadron, flying SE-5a pursuit planes, was shot down and killed some twenty miles behind German lines in the summer of 1918. He was not a hero, nor were his training and combat experiences much different from those of his fellow pilots. He is set apart ...
Read More
In the summer of 1917, more than two hundred American men volunteered for service in England's Royal Flying Corps, where they would be trained to fly with the Allies until American squadrons could be organized. John MacGavock Grider, assigned to Royal Air Force Number 85 Squadron, flying SE-5a pursuit planes, was shot down and killed some twenty miles behind German lines in the summer of 1918. He was not a hero, nor were his training and combat experiences much different from those of his fellow pilots. He is set apart only by the records he kept of his experiences during that year. This is Grider's story, but in telling it he encompasses the opinions and prejudices, the successes and failures, the lives and deaths of those 210 volunteers. He details the rigors of training, the terrors of combat, and the respite of social activities. Of this group, fifty-two were killed in training or in combat, thirty were wounded, fourteen became prisoners of war, and twenty dropped out of training under the mental pressures of combat flying. After the war, many of these pilots returned home without rank or medals, suffering by comparison with the much-decorated pilots from the American front. This book is not an attempt to make heroes of these men, but rather to tell the story of one man and his friends, who fought for the United States in World War I as guests of an ally in a strange land.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Size: 5x0x8; 1926 Grosset Dunlap No issed DJ Pictoirial cover. Blue boards. Some wear on cover and spine. pen marks and craypn on splash page. A general good copy....Shelving cpode CB23.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. 1928 John Hamilton Press 4th printing, blur colth covers with gold plane image, solid binding, unmarked text, no jacket, covers have reading wear and fading. Fast Shipping-Safe and Secure Bubble Mailer!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Near Fine in near fine jacket. Second edition, 1988. Cloth hardcover in dust jacket, 277 pp., illustrated, clean unmarked text, Near Fine copy in Near Fine dust jacket, owner's signature in ink on the front pastedown, light soiling to the page-edges, a bit of creasing to the tips of the dust jacket.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. Texas A&M University Press; College Station, 1988. Hardcover. Very Good, tan cloth binding, binding solid and sturdy, trace shelf wear/handling marks, moderate scattered foxing to text block edges and front/back matters, bit dusty top text block edge, mild sunning to pages, in a Very Good, some handling/scuff marks to panels, scattered foxing verso panels/flaps, fading to spine, trace edge/corner wear, Dust wrapper. A nice and unmarked copy. 8vo[octavo or approx. 6 x 9 inches], 277pp., b&w illustrations. We pack securely and ship daily with delivery confirmation on every book. The picture on the listing page is of the actual book for sale. Additional Scan(s) are available for any item, please inquire.