A fascinating examination of the strategies and uses of air power in the First World War, Sky on Fire covers not only developments in military hardware and tactics but also how public policy and political considerations shaped the ways air power was deployed. Providing an excellent balance of data and statistics as well as human insights, Fredette’s book is essential reading for readers interested in the air power, both historically and in contemporary conflicts.
List of MapsList of IllustrationsForewordW. BaldwinHanson‘A Single German Aeroplane’A VISION OF MODERN WARFAREThe Coming of the ‘Wong-Wongs’Air War and Baby-KillingThe England SquadronGotha in the SeaLONDON BY DAYA Grand but Deadly Show‘Send Over … One or Two Squadrons’‘The Hammer is in Our Hands’The Raid Heard Round the WorldThe Fortress of LondonSunday in SouthendDefeat of the Day Raiders‘The Magna Carta of British Air Power’… AND BY NIGHTTrials and ExperimentsGiants to the WestThe First Blitz‘We Will Give it All Back to Them’‘All that Flies and Creeps’Winter Twilight of the Gotha BombersThe Nights of the GiantsKhaki and Blue: An Air Force is BornEND OF A ROUNDThe Biggest Raid—and the LastRetreat to OblivionThe First Bomber CommandA FEARSOME LEGACYOnly a BeginningThe Sky on FireAN AFTERWORDMarshal of the Royal Air force Sir John Slessor, G.C.B., D.S.O., M.C.TablesBritish Air Defence in 1918Home Defence Squadrons, L.D.A., November 1918British Air Raid Casualties, 1915–18Summary of the Gotha and Giant Raids on EnglandBibliographiesSourcesIndex
Raymond H. Fredette is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who during World War II flew 31 combat missions over Germany.