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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 1170.PDF
DECEMBER 20, 1928 THE STORY OF A NORTH SEA AIR STATION* NOT very much has been published hitherto of the war work of the Royal Naval Air Service. Admiral Murray Sueter tells a good deal about it in his book " Airmen or Noahs" and " Pix " (Sqdn.-Commander T. D. Hallam, D.S.C.), in " The Spider Web," gives a vivid and most interesting account of the doings of the Felixstowe station. Lieut. C. F. Snowden Gamble has now performed a similar service for the station of Great Yarmouth. His book, however, has a far wider scope than that. He outlines the general history of the Royal Naval Air Service from its formation until the end of the war, by which time it had been merged in the Royal Air Force. The drawback to this method is that the reader would imagine that the R.N.A.S. was concerned entirely or mainly with the North Sea. The work on carriers is touched on here and there, but the Channel is almost ignored, and there is but scant notice of the airship branch of the service. As a very great deal is said about the development and activities of the German airship service, the impression might be created that our own authorities practically neglected this branch. Yet it seems to have been the case, and it is certainly more probable, that for the vital work of convoying ships into harbour, the non-rigid airship was more effective than any type of seaplane. The preface explains, however, that this book cannot fairly be criticised on the same lines as most histories of the war. It was originally written for private circulation among persons interested in the doings of Great Yarmouth, and there was considerable opposition to publishing it for general consump- tion. To the original band of readers there would be a special interest in the list of personnel and of aircraft (giving the identification numbers) at Great Yarmouth at various times. These seem superfluous to general readers. The latter may also feel that a history of the R.N.A.S. should deal with more than the North Sea stations ; while those for whom the book was first written doubtless find in it exactly the two bits of history which they want to have on record in their libraries. Now that the book has been published, the chief drawback to its arrangement is that the first 160 pages or so make rather heavy reading. There is a danger that some readers will not persist, and that would be a pity. If thej^ do throw the book aside, they will miss much in the last 270 pages which would stir the coldest blood. The last three-quarters of the book are splendid. With the pilots of the station we live through the almost ceaseless patrolling of the North Sea, the searching for submarines and other hostile men-of-war, the frequent Zeppelin raids, the tragedies (fortunately not too numerous) of comrades lost by sea or in action, and towards the end • By C. F. Snowden Gamble, Oxford University Press. 21s. net. some dashing encounters with German seaplanes. Three heroes stand out above the rest, the late Lieut.-Col. Vincent Nicholl, D.S.O., D.S.C.; Major R. Leckie, D.S.C.; and Major Egbert Cadbury, D.S.C., D.F.C. There must be many who met Col. Nicholl at Hayes since the war who never knew all that he had dared and endured, and how gallantly his decora- tions had been won. It was Nicholl and Leckie who, in 1917, brought a leaking flying-boat with one conking engine down to pick up two other officers from a sunk D.H.4. The boat, with six drenched, hungry, and thirsty men aboard her, was afloat for three days and nights before it was found—thanks to a gallant carrier pigeon. That story is worth reading and re-reading many times. It was Leckie who led out five boats to draw the seaplanes from Borkum into action, and finally led his three remaining boats in a head-on charge against 15 or 16 German seaplanes. After a desperate fight the enemy were put to flight but not before several of their machines had been shot down. Two British boats were interned in Holland, and one British officer was killed in the fight. Major Cadbury's speciality was hunting Zeppelins. Many were his disappointments when he saw the airships climb above his ceiling into clouds, and many a trying time he had finding his way home and landing in the dark. But on November 28, 1916, he shot down L 21 in flames ; and on August 6, 1918, he also wrought the destruction of Ger- many's best airship, L 70, which had on board the chief of the German naval airships, Peter Strasser. Leckie was Cadbury's observer on that occasion and actually fired the shots which set the hydrogen alight. Leckie also piloted the flying-boat from which, on May 14, 1917, the L 22 was shot down in flames by Flight-Commander C. V. Galpin. No charge of dullness can be brought against the accounts of these incidents. The author's method of presenting his matter is somewhat original, and is to be commended. Though the compiling of accurate chronicles is his strong point, he can tell a stirring story very well when he must. Yet he never does so if he can help it. In most cases he makes the hero of an incident tell his own story, and as these accounts are not formal reports but chatty, personal descriptions, the result is excellent. He has also persuaded various German officers to contribute their versions of certain actions, and these accounts, though naturally more restrained, are certainly an important feature of the book. The volume is illustrated with a number of good photo- graphs, some from German sources, and by numerous draw- ings of machines from the pencil of Mr. Leonard Bridgman, who was at one time an officer of Great Yarmouth station. F.A.DE V. R. H Practical Woodworking Books THERE must be many readers of FLIGHT who are interested in woodworking and to these the volumes upon " Cabinet Construction" and "Woodwork Tools and How to Use Them," just issued, should make a strong appeal, as they deal with the subject most lucidly, some 300 clear diagrams assisting the reader in the former case, the latter book also being fully illustrated. These are new volumes in their series, published by Messrs. Evans Brothers, Ltd., of Russell Square, and are supplemented by a 6d. monthly journal under the title of The Wood Worker. R.A.F. Diary WE would draw our readers' attention to the 1929 Diary of the Royal Air Force and British Empire Air Services, published, as usual, by Gale & Polden, Ltd., Aldershot. It is as informative and up to date in air matters and records as in previous issues, and introduces interesting information of civil aviation statistics for the years 1923-27. It is as useful for those in civil aviation as for the Royal Air Force officers and airmen. Prices are Is. 6d. and 2s. for the blue cloth editions, and 3s. for the Royal blue leather edition. Postage is extra. The Diary can also be supplied in refill form complete in solid blue Morocco leather wallets for Is. 6d. complete. Ten per cent, of the published price of each copy sold will be handed to the Royal Air Force Memorial Fund. D.H. •• Moth " Production in America AMONG recent purchasers of D.H. Gipsy-Moths through the Moth Aircraft Corporation, Graybar' Building, New York, are Mr. George Washington, Jnr., of Mendham, N.J., and the Heyer Products Co., Inc. (B. F. W. Heyer, president), of Newark, N.J. Mr. Washington's machine is for his private use, whereas that of the Heyer Products Co., who are manu- facturers of service battery chargers and electrical test equipment, is to be used for executive contact with their 11 sales branches, also as a laboratory for development of magnetos and electrical test equipment for the aviation industry. Both machines are equipped with the Handley- Page slotted-wing device and are imported models of the type which the Moth Aircraft Corporation will build at its plant at Lowell, Mass. A Useful Stop-Watch IT very often happens that one wants to time some object or event—at flying meetings, for instance, the times taken by competing machines to cover certain distances, etc.— with a fair degree of accuracy. Only a few, however, possess stop-watches, for generally speaking these are expensive instruments, and are only employed when very accurate and special readings are required, so that more often than not the second-hand of one's ordinary watch is employed with a not very high degree of accuracy. We have just been trying out a remarkably cheap " centre-seconds" stop- watch which should come in very handy for occasions such as described above. This is a 30-hour watch with ordinary minute and hour hands, and also a centre seconds-hand (giving readings of i second) which can be stopped and started by sliding a knurled piece on the rim of the watch. It is a guaranteed instrument, being fitted with a lever movement, and while, of course, it does not work on the fly back principle, it should, we think, prove to be quite a useful instrument. It is supplied by A. Arnold and Co., 17, Elmcroft Avenue, Golders Green, N.W.I 1, and costs only 7s. &d. 1076
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