One rarely thinks of those who fly bomber or reconnaissance aircraft as being able to reach the rank of an ace. Indeed, before manned reconnaissance basically disappeared, these planes were generally unarmed, relying on speed and surprise to evade the enemy. Bombers are also unarmed aside from their bombs and even in WWII, were generally not what one would consider an air to air combat plane. One can have a bit of difficulty thinking of a B-17 or Lancaster being flung through the air after an enemy plane. However, their many gunners could well reach ace status, though to my knowledge, in WWII, none actually did.

Things were quite different a world war earlier. To begin with, initially there were only reconnaissance planes. These were generally unarmed until a pilot figured out that taking a rifle with him might give him the opportunity to shoot at the opposition. This became the norm and eventually planes were fitted with guns for the guy in back and perhaps the pilot as well. We all know where this led; to specialized pursuit planes whose lone task was to shoot down enemy planes.

In this seemingly busy sky, full of people shooting at each other, it was inevitible that some would get to be rather good at it, regardless of what they were flying. Indeed, not only pilots, but often observers were able to knock down an enemy plane or two. In those days, both crew members got the credit and eventually the ranks of those who shot down five or more grew.

Since most bomber aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft and pursuit planes were not all that far apart in terms of performance, it should become clear that there would be quite a few men would be quite successful at this. Many of these pilots eventually went on to fly pursuit planes once their talents were realized while others were happy to continue in their original job.

In this book, we get to look at the men and machines of the bomber and reconnaissance units who were to eventually become aces. We look at the crews from the five major fighting powers, starting with the French, then moving on to the British, Americans, Germans and Austro-Hungarians. Several superb tales are told along the way and like all Osprey aviation books, there are quite a few nice period photos and a bevy of full color profiles to help whet our appetite for more. Frankly, I looked at some of the early war planes and was quite surprised that they'd be able to even fulfill their missions let alone successfully shoot down other planes.

In all, it makes for a most welcome and quite interesting book about a group of men that I would never have considered to succeed in air to air combat. It is a book I found fascinating and I know that you will as well. Highly recommended.

May 2015

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