An Air Fighter's Scrapbook

by Ira Jones

Overview

Ira “Taffy” Jones was a well-known air fighter during the First World War, having scored about 40 victories flying SE5 scouts in France with 74 Squadron. Well known in flying circles, Jones recorded stories drawn from his own experiences during the war and wrote of the many personalities he had met or known by association, both during the war and in the post-war flying years.

An Air Fighter’s Scrap Book recreates the atmosphere of the days of the biplane, of wartime flying, of early peacetime adventures in the air, the development of civil aviation, and breathtaking record beating flights, all evoking the sheer delight in flying that characterized those early years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612001500
Publisher:	Casemate Publishers
Publication date:	05/21/2014
Series:	Vintage Aviation Series
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Throughout his service at No. 74 Squadron Jones won several awards and decorations; being awarded the Military Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross and bar and the Distinguished Service Order. Although having a reputation for crashing his aircraft when attempting to land, Jones recorded 37 victories in just 3 months whilst flying the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 during the First World War. After retiring in 1936, Jones was recommissioned after the outbreak of the Second World War, and flew briefly during the Battle of Britain. After retiring again at the end of the Second World War, Jones lived in Wales where he wrote three books on the RFC and RAF. He died in 1960 through complications after a fall at his home in Wales.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. They Risked Their Necks
2. The Child—The Boy—The Youth
3. I Find a “Friend for Life”
4. The Legend of the “Mad Major”
5. Richthofen and His “Circus”
6. Builders of the Air Force Tradition
7. With the “Tiger Squadron”
8. Exploits of the Dawn Patrol
9. Distinguished Service Order—Buckingham Palace—Arrested
10. Private War in North Russia
11. Sea and Sand
12. H.R.H. The Prince Of Wales—Charles Longcroft—Sefton Brancker
13. Lawrence of Arabia
14. Six Happy Years and Au Revoir
15. A Few Things the War Taught Me
16. Rugger
17. Foes—but Heroes
18. Falcons of France
19. They Blazed the Transatlantic Trail
20. Heroines of the Air
21. Flyers Who Blazed World Air Trails
22. Civilian Transport and Imperial Airways
23. Believe It or Not
24. Bombers and the Next European War
25. Notes, by Norman Franks

Editorial Reviews

"…lively and well told…a well done volume"

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