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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0099.PDF
\ JANUARY 24, 1918. REVIEWS. •<An Airman's Wife." . • - S;;VTHE advice of a certai editor who wanted to get a personal account of any incident by one who was there butwas not a professional writer was " Go away, forget all about me and the paper, and then sit down and write a letter toyour sister, or wife, telling her all about it." It is, indeed, good advice, and has led to the production of many an inter-esting article. In " An Airman's Wife " we get the idea, double distilled as it were, for the letters, which largely makeup the volume, were written by a journalist—Captain William Bond—to his wife. Captain Bond, who alas, has " gone west,"used to write to his wife, if possible, every day, and in these little notes we get glimpses of the pilots' daily round at thefront. Everything, whether exploits in the air—Captain Bond had won the Military Cross and bar—or the common in-cidents of the aerodrome, is told in a calm deliberate style without any garnishings of journalese, and it is for thoseletters from " Bill " that many will value the book. There are many of them which one would like to quote, butwhere could one stop ? Better to get the book and read them— one and every one. The gaps between the letters are filledin with the touch of a " craftsman " by Mrs. Bond, so making the narrative a continuous one from the time Captain Bondstarts for the front to the time when news comes through of his being posted as missing. Although he lives to the end, inMrs. Bond's book, in fact he was killed. The book is published by Herbert Jenkins at 5s. net. "Tommy's Tunes," IT is with great pleasure that we have received the secondedition of " Tommy's Tunes," that excellent collection of " Soldiers' Songs, Marching Melodies, Rude Rhymes andPopular Parodies " which Mr. F. T. Nettleingham got together while he was on active service with the R.F.C. in France.The success of the first edition was so immediate that un- fortunately the new edition had to be got out so quickly thatthere was little time to incorporate new matter. " Tommy " is an inveterate improviser, and wherever soldiers have beenin camp or billet they have produced songs and rhymes far beyond the power of one man to obtain. To remedy this, itis to be hoped, therefore, everyone who can will for the future take the trouble to jot down the words of anything in the linewhich they come across, and send them to Mr. Nettleingham, so that the next edition may be even more complete. As itstands, however, the book contains a very comprehensive collection. Naturally, the author has a good many relating tohis own corps, but his net has been cast wide and every branch of the service is represented. Of course there is much materialwhich does not lend itself to rendering in cold print, but Mr. Nettleingham has taken the broad view and included manypieces which, although at first glance, may appear a little out of taste yet they do reflect facets of active service which it isas well to know. It is difficult to quote from a book such as this but the " Mechanic's Rosary," sung to the tune of " MyMother's Rosary," will give an idea of the sort of things the R.F.C. parodies. THE MECHANIC'S ROSARY. There's an awful noise at timesComes from out our planes. • Jim—'e calls it 'orrid names, 'Says it gives 'im pains Without any rhyme,Without any prose. One can never get the blamed thing to go ;But ten great big cylinders, And ten great big valves :You'll take them out, You'll put them in,And when your daily work is done, You'll count them each and every one—That is your Rosary. As to the general field which the " Tunes " cover, wecannot perhaps do better than reproduce the following dedi- cation of the compiler " To Those who Sang and Fought andDied." ToYou that have sung. You that have laughed,You that were happy Amateurs at warcraft,Amateurs all. ToYou that have cursed, You that have prayed,You that have joked, And, joking, were laidSide by side, Britons all. Your songs were ribald.Your rhymes were rude, Your ditties doubtful,Your quips quite crude, But you fought,Heroes all. The book is published by Erskine Macdonald,l_jLtd., andthe price is 2s. 6d. net. Elementary Mathematics and Wireless Telegraphy.FOR some time there has existed a pressing need for a specialised volume of elementary mathematics to enablestudents of fair education to continue their mathematical studies along the lines necessary for wireless work, withoutover-burdening themselves with matter of no immediate practical use. Mr. S. J. Willis, in a book which has beenpublished by the Wireless Press, Ltd., admirably fills the gap. He strikes a happy medium, presuming on the one hand thatthe student is sufficiently well acquainted with arithmetic not to need any preliminary instruction in that part of the work,and, on the other, that he has probably forgotten much of the elementary algebraic work he learnt at school. The price is3s. 6d. net. Three views of the Italian '«Macchi flying boat in flight.- " *• view. 95. Courtesy " Aerial Age " (U.S.A.). Note the steep climbing angle in the right-hand
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