What Was Life Like for a British WW1 Pilot: Experiencing the Forefront of Flight

The early morning sun is already arching its way into the sky as you step across the field in northern France which has been made damp by the morning dew, leaving your boots squeaking underfoot as you walk with your observer out to your plane. You have been assigned to fly the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2. the mainstay of the Royal Flying Corps, the air arm of the British Army in August 1914. In today's episode of Wars of the World, we put you in the shoes of a British pilot during WW1.
0:00 Introduction
3:19 How did I even get here?
8:13 Into the blue
14:24 Enemy Spotted
20:48 Final Words
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Narrated by: Will Earl
Written & Researched by: Tony Wilkins
Edited by: James Wade
History Should Never Be Forgotten...

Пікірлер: 166

  • @crickcrot
    @crickcrot2 жыл бұрын

    I spoke to a ww1 veteran in 1963 i told him I was reading a book about WW1 he said to me thats good because ever since WW2 we have been forgotten about .

  • @jerrymccrae7202

    @jerrymccrae7202

    9 ай бұрын

    Sure ...right, and my uncle was Mamfred Von Richotoven!

  • @TheOsfania

    @TheOsfania

    9 ай бұрын

    Korean vets are much more ignored.

  • @crickcrot

    @crickcrot

    9 ай бұрын

    @@jerrymccrae7202 i’m old enough to remember lots of the generation that went through both world wars including my grandparents there were millions of them that went through both world wars in the 1950s, that elderly man that I spoke to used to come in and sweep the factory Yard for some money in hand ,My mother lost her first husband in World War II His ship was coming back from America with raw materials and it was sunk in the Icelandic sea War It’s not a joke as we’re finding out again now.

  • @crickcrot

    @crickcrot

    9 ай бұрын

    @@TheOsfania my uncle during the period of the Korean War was out there with the United Nations forces During that war He came home on leave after been billeted in Japan and brought me me a little clockwork toy It was a tank that used to go along and flip over made out of metal.

  • @ditto1958

    @ditto1958

    9 ай бұрын

    I think WWI is in many ways more interesting than WWII.

  • @gedduncan2454
    @gedduncan2454 Жыл бұрын

    My grandfather was an RFC pilot, was shot down but somehow survived, despite the lack of parachute. Thanks for this compellingly written and told amount, which has given me a glimpse of what the experience must have been like for him.

  • @wuffothewonderdog

    @wuffothewonderdog

    9 ай бұрын

    RFC and RAF WW1 pilots were not allowed to have parachutes. Higher Command believed that pilots would prefer to jump rather than fight.

  • @redblack8414

    @redblack8414

    9 ай бұрын

    @@wuffothewonderdog Absolutely true. The Germans started to wear parachutes in 1917 if I'm right.

  • @mattday8208

    @mattday8208

    9 ай бұрын

    My grandfather was also a pilot in the RFC/RAF. Flew Camels. There is also a family story about him being shot down, and picking up a French and German helmet as he made his way back to Allied lines.

  • @ianmorris4922

    @ianmorris4922

    5 ай бұрын

    ​@@redblack84141918,from about May onwards

  • @ianmorris4922

    @ianmorris4922

    5 ай бұрын

    ​@@wuffothewonderdogNO,they believed a parachute would have a man jumping before he needed to.

  • @cramersclassics
    @cramersclassics9 ай бұрын

    As a pilot since age 16 and a builder of experimental aircraft this video is superb! They were the true pioneers!

  • @oscarharriet7030
    @oscarharriet70303 жыл бұрын

    My maternal grandfather joined the RFC the week before it changed to the RAF. His log book shows his training in 504K and 2 seat Camels, including winding up in a tree due to the “sparking plugs”. His 18th flight was a timed climb to 8000ft and, due to gas damage suffered st Passchendale, his lung collapsed. Armistice saw him in hospital followed by recuperation at a country estate somewhere. Judged fit to fly in Feb’19 his training was completed to A licence (55hrs) and he was demobbed the very next day. Vale Harry Edney.

  • @378jbk

    @378jbk

    2 жыл бұрын

    How did you get your grandfathers logbook? I am doing research on my grandfather who was in the RFC then the RAF.

  • @oscarharriet7030

    @oscarharriet7030

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@378jbk passed down by my mother along with his tunic and a brass device for ‘Brassoing’ buttons without messing up the said tunic. Enjoy the research.

  • @378jbk

    @378jbk

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@oscarharriet7030 Thankyou for your reply Oscar. 👍

  • @tauncfester3022

    @tauncfester3022

    9 ай бұрын

    I'm going to say the "Two Seat Camel" was probably the Sopwith 1 and 1/2 Strutter, if it was indeed a Sopwith biplane

  • @oscarharriet7030

    @oscarharriet7030

    9 ай бұрын

    Also cannot recommend Denis Winter’s books “Death’s Men” and “The First of the Few” highly enough.

  • @neilpiper9889
    @neilpiper98898 ай бұрын

    My paternal grandfather was a reconnaissance photographer in the Royal Flying Corp. He survived and helped teach me photography.

  • @albetrosxcore3028
    @albetrosxcore30283 жыл бұрын

    Just imagine standing in a biplane shooting a bolt action rifle at another guy doing the same thing. That's awesome in a weird kinda way.

  • @paulrummery6905

    @paulrummery6905

    9 ай бұрын

    Some crazy duelling, imagine actually hitting someone..

  • @glynluff2595
    @glynluff25959 ай бұрын

    My Uncle was in the RFC as a turner machining parts. He stated pilots mostly had dihorrea as the Castrol Motor Oil gave them this as the oil system from many engines were total loss. This was a continual process throughout the war.

  • @glynluff2595

    @glynluff2595

    2 ай бұрын

    @standupnow-bo3lr I know I am of the generation who suffered it after WWII.

  • @xvsj-s2x
    @xvsj-s2x3 жыл бұрын

    Brave Pilots and Crazy Fragile Aircrafts 👍

  • @jayc3110
    @jayc31103 жыл бұрын

    That was a wonderful little Snippets into World War 1 and flying. A great script, and beautifully narrated. Thank you, and best wishes.

  • @stephenhosking7384

    @stephenhosking7384

    9 ай бұрын

    Agreed! I note the excellent script and narrating. They brought the subject to life.

  • @joeclay9745
    @joeclay97459 ай бұрын

    my dad was telling me about his uncles friend who was in the rfc. he said he went round to play billiards once and was alarmed to find a plane wind shield with bullet holes in it. apparently the rfc pilot was shot down and he kept it as a souvenir. he was a lucky one because he didn't end up dead from that. always an interesting memory for me now.

  • @allantribe7235
    @allantribe723510 ай бұрын

    I matriculated in 1965 and in 1966 went to work in the Standard Bank, Marshalls Branch, Johannesburg. On 11 November the old man who was called the " messenger" and took cheques, etc to the clearing depot, was sitting on a table swinging his leg. About 11 am he called to me and asked if I knew what the day was. I said it was the anniversary of the end of WW! He then asked if I could guess where he was at that time and day. I did not have a clue, so he told me he had been a fighter pilot who had been shot down, and it was then that they allocated to him the task of flying new planes to squadrons in France. At 11 am he was flying over the front lines and suddenly everything went quiet, and all he heard was the wind in the wires and struts. His surname was Sullivan. In those days it was impolite to ask questions, so I never did. Now I look back and would love to have, but how much would he have discussed, as again, people did not talk.

  • @raymondtonns2521

    @raymondtonns2521

    9 ай бұрын

    a interesting vignette, most of the men never spoke of the war

  • @richardbradley3684
    @richardbradley36849 ай бұрын

    A wonderful video, providing a level of detail I would not expect to find outside of a book. Compelling, knowledgeable narrative, read in a competent, compassionate and thankfully unsensational voice.

  • @andrewemery4272
    @andrewemery42727 ай бұрын

    As a Commercial Pilot with a love for the Be2, I was stunned by the excellence if this video. Intelligently written, it was a joy to listen to.

  • @therealdarkwhale7977
    @therealdarkwhale79773 жыл бұрын

    Awesome video! I love this channel and it’s visuals.

  • @jameswebb4593
    @jameswebb459310 ай бұрын

    The best account of WW1 RFC pilot is in the novel Winged Victory , by Victor Maslin Yeates . Virtually a autobiography , Yeates was a Camel pilot with five victories . He was disabled by Flying Sickness D , TB caused through the Castor Oil that Rotary engines threw back as a fine mist into the pilots faces . Most likely younger WW1 flying enthusiasts are more absorbed by the Dog Fights that rarely happened . What scared Yeates , and his fictional character Cundell was ground attack. During the 2nd Battle of Cambrai in Nov-Dec 1917 , the RFC lost 400 aircraft in the ground attack role. Ironically that use of aircraft was similarly a prelude to an early death in WW2 , Korea and Vietnam. Just as the Americans designed their Warthog A-10 Thunderbolt as an armored ground attacker , so the British did in 1918 .with the Sopwith Salamander.

  • @tauncfester3022

    @tauncfester3022

    9 ай бұрын

    R.Mason's "The Escadrille Lafayette" is also worth searching out as it chronicles the first Americans' volunteer group flying in the French Chase` Squadrons.

  • @anthonyeaton5153

    @anthonyeaton5153

    9 ай бұрын

    Now go and read a proper book about the war in air that is. fact, novels only entertain.

  • @tauncfester3022

    @tauncfester3022

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@@anthonyeaton5153So, what part of R. Mason's father serving in the Escadrille Lafayette are you not understanding? And of all of Mason's stories I confirmed, along with the airfields they served at, which were also cross referenced within Rene Martel's extremely accurate book Bombing and Observations Squads of France in the Great War. Martel goes into great detail about the Farman Mf11 squadron that was co-occupying the Belfort and Luxieul airfields in Alsace with the Lafayette squadron: Happe's Esc. F.29 during 1915~1916.

  • @FelixstoweFoamForge

    @FelixstoweFoamForge

    23 күн бұрын

    Winged Victory is a fantastic book. My copy gets re-read about once per year.

  • @greggwilliamson
    @greggwilliamson Жыл бұрын

    I'm a pilot of a Challenger Ultralight in the FAR-103 class. A LOT like those early planes. I didn't fly near any Interstate Highways at first because the cars were zooming past under me. I was shamed. lol I live near (our near, 4 hour flight) the Wright Brothers Memorial and am PROUD to say I have my "First Flight Airport" stamp!! A small civil airport beside the Wright's "runway".

  • @Optimistprime.
    @Optimistprime.10 ай бұрын

    This was great! Thank you very much for this!

  • @terraflow__bryanburdo4547
    @terraflow__bryanburdo45476 ай бұрын

    Absolutely fantastic production👍

  • @NathanDudani
    @NathanDudani3 жыл бұрын

    Amazing work, great video!

  • @ronnenni7246
    @ronnenni72463 жыл бұрын

    Well narrated, and accurate historical story telling Bravo! And I'm thankyou!

  • @conorolaf1762
    @conorolaf1762 Жыл бұрын

    Very well done. An exceptional narrative.

  • @johnjephcote7636
    @johnjephcote76369 ай бұрын

    So many were lost merely in training. There was one innocent-looking little coombe on the southern edge of Salisbury Plain that had its own local winds and it claimed a disproportionate number of trainee airmens' lives.

  • @PaisleyPatchouli
    @PaisleyPatchouli9 ай бұрын

    Very evocative, especially in the first part. Thanks for this mostly excellent doc on WWI aviation.

  • @jamesewanchook2276
    @jamesewanchook22762 жыл бұрын

    You're making history come alive, thanks from Vancouver B.C.!

  • @hughooooo
    @hughooooo3 жыл бұрын

    Amazing video, please keep the WW1 videos coming!!

  • @duncannapier318
    @duncannapier3189 ай бұрын

    Remarkable video. Thanks for making it and thanks for sharing👍🇿🇦

  • @markiesmith4537
    @markiesmith45373 жыл бұрын

    Sorry Lieutenant is pronounced "Leff-tenant" in the UK - you used the Yankee pronunciations of "Loo-tenant"... otherwise good video!

  • @kkiwi54

    @kkiwi54

    3 жыл бұрын

    And it's aeroplane, not airplane ;)

  • @ekim000
    @ekim0009 ай бұрын

    Very happy to have found this channel.

  • @Sophia-io8qg
    @Sophia-io8qg3 жыл бұрын

    My grandfather Jock had may stories of his time in the Royal Flying Corps. I have one picture of him in flight gear stand in front of a sopwith camel, could be a pup. He had quite an aviation career over the span of his lifetime.

  • @slehar

    @slehar

    2 жыл бұрын

    Send us the pic! Preserve the history! Give us more details! Don't let the history die!

  • @WarblesOnALot

    @WarblesOnALot

    Жыл бұрын

    G'day, If there's a Dihedral-Angle on the top Wing it's a Pup, if the top Wing is "Flat" from tip to tip then it's a Camel. All Pups had 1 Vickers Gun, unless it was removed. Some Pups lost their Guns, acquired Rear Seats, and were sold post WW-1 as "Doves"... Camels generally had 2 Vickers Guns, fixed firing forward, but Naval Camels only had the Left Vickers, supplemented by a Lewis Gun on the Right side of the Upper Centre-Section - on a Sliding Quadrant Mount like that of an SE-5a... And Late-War Nightfighting Camels had the Fueltank mounted where the Cockpit should be, the Cockpit shifted back to where the Fueltank should have been (thus affording a better view ahead and above, as well as making Pitch Trim less Fuel-load dependant) and both Vickers Guns removed in favour of a pair of Lewis Guns on Quadrant Mountings behind the top Wing - set up generally to fire ahead and upwards at 45° ; for what the Nachtjagdwaffe liked to secretly call the "Schragemusik-Effect" - ie Slanted Music, which what the German Language translates "Jazz Music" into...; and the Moonlit Lancaster Hunters thought they'd invented something new - while the Lancaster-Jockeys had never been told how Captain D'Urban Armstrong used to shoot down Gothas, at night, while flying a Camel modified to his ideas..., so RAF Bomber Command only ever danced Funeral Jigs, when the Schragemusik's Drumbeat Cannonade began to thump up through their Wing, from below, hammering into the Fueltanks between the Engines. Jazz Music, The Camel's Gift to WW-2... As it turns out. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

  • @derycktrahair8108
    @derycktrahair81083 жыл бұрын

    A great video. Years ago I met an elderly man who flew in WW1. He was as deaf as a post. He said the exhaust pipes were close to the cock pit. We may think that flying was romantic but it must have been tough job. Thanks again for your posts.

  • @andrewcarter7503
    @andrewcarter75034 ай бұрын

    The best novel I've read about WWI fighter pilots was "Goshawk Squadron" by Derek Robinson.

  • @alfabethev2.074
    @alfabethev2.074 Жыл бұрын

    Fantastic story ! Tnx alot!

  • @scottlewisparsons9551
    @scottlewisparsons95519 ай бұрын

    Thank you for an interesting video. Growing up in New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s I became friends with a family friend who had been an observer in the RFC. When I got older I tried to get him to take a joy flight. He always said no. One day he said yes. He would come for a flight next Saturday and could I arrange it. I replied that I was going home from my holiday on Friday. He replied “that’s unfortunate”.

  • @janetcw9808
    @janetcw98083 жыл бұрын

    Your presentation makes it real. Very well done, thank you.

  • @kevin-parratt-artist
    @kevin-parratt-artist9 ай бұрын

    Well done. Thank you.

  • @mikedench1110
    @mikedench11103 жыл бұрын

    Very good way of making the subject come to life. It reminded me a bit of one of the early Biggles books. The description plus the pictures really made me feel as if I had been there. Thanks.

  • @Jay-O_Carlow
    @Jay-O_Carlow3 жыл бұрын

    FUCKIN LOVE THIS CHANNEL.......ONE of the best War channels if not top 5

  • @tauncfester3022
    @tauncfester30229 ай бұрын

    Just to add a historic note: The BEF's early issue BE-2's weren't quite the same aircraft that were made from 1916 onwards, as the BE-2a was considerably less maneuverable with wing warping and had a weaker Renault 8C engine. The BE-2C through F were powered by the improved RAF A.1 aircooled V8 at about 90 hp vs. the Renault 8C @ about 60~70 hp. Still that didn't make the later BE-2's any more capable during Bloody April or even afterwards. And the 'arryTate's ( RE-8...) was, despite it's forward firing Vickers and Scarff ring rear observer's "turret", was a meager improvement over the nearly defenseless BE-2's.

  • @jamesmarshall9598
    @jamesmarshall95983 жыл бұрын

    Your words are well researched and highly informative in your mission to inform us and honor their courage. Many Thanx!

  • @slehar
    @slehar2 жыл бұрын

    Wow! Subscribed!

  • @gordonemery6949
    @gordonemery694910 ай бұрын

    Fusilidge,that's a new one to me !

  • @jpm8782
    @jpm87823 жыл бұрын

    Very good !

  • @bonnerscott5374
    @bonnerscott53743 жыл бұрын

    Best channel ever.

  • @fetus2280
    @fetus22803 жыл бұрын

    Well Done Sir.

  • @JW-zx5dr
    @JW-zx5dr2 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting!

  • @mpccenturion
    @mpccenturion4 ай бұрын

    1917-- GF - had spent years in the trenches and the RCAF was training. 21 students started - 20 funerals - 1 Night Fighter. That is how brutal it was at the end of the war.

  • @karlfey
    @karlfey6 ай бұрын

    A very riveting account. Great presentation. My grandfather served in the Royal Flying Corps, flew an S.E.5. Not sure how he survived the war considering the life expectancy of a pilot was only a few weeks.

  • @NKP1155
    @NKP11559 ай бұрын

    There was an amusement park ride at Euclid Beach in Cleveland, Ohio designed by a WWi fighter pilot. You can find videos of the "Flying Turns" on KZread. It was the scariest to get on for the first time, but you could not wait to get on it once the ride ended.

  • @sarcasmo57
    @sarcasmo579 ай бұрын

    Sounds like a blast.

  • @8-bitsteve500
    @8-bitsteve5003 жыл бұрын

    So very brave indeed. Several of my all time heroes are WW1 pilots, Edward 'Mick' Mannock, Albert Ball and James McCudden.

  • @carmium

    @carmium

    3 жыл бұрын

    My grandfather instructed Albert Ball in the use of the aerial machine gun!

  • @8-bitsteve500

    @8-bitsteve500

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@carmium if that's true then wow, amazing!

  • @carmium

    @carmium

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@8-bitsteve500 Of course it's true; I've found records on-line to prove it. It was after his stint as a gunner/observer in R.E. 8s. He took teaching Ball as a matter of pride!

  • @wingsurfcamp8240
    @wingsurfcamp82402 ай бұрын

    Many early aircraft motors were lubricated with castor oil, and the fumes often gave pilots the shitz. Later they switched to hempseed oil which has a higher temperature resistance, without the laxative effect.

  • @ronniestrange8023
    @ronniestrange80233 жыл бұрын

    My great uncle Louis strange flew in both wars, a very brave man, lucky to survive!

  • @ericohara2582

    @ericohara2582

    9 ай бұрын

    One of my heroes, I live near his grave and like to visit this most peaceful of places. Great respects to your great uncle..

  • @peterrussell663

    @peterrussell663

    9 ай бұрын

    Louis Strange’s career makes Biggles look like a beginner! The book ‘Flying Rebel’ by my late friend Gp Capt Peter Hearn is a ‘must’ for followers of WW1 and WW2 aviation. I met one of Louis Strange’s WW2 colleagues and he verified that all the stories about him, seemingly so impossible, were true.

  • @choppergirl
    @choppergirl9 ай бұрын

    Wow, this is way better than any movie or video game could portray it. The video footage doesn't match the commentary, but it doesn't matter one jot. I know what a Taube looks like. I particularly liked the very early start of the war time period, and the fact you never hear or see the bullets being fired, you just later notice bullet holes in the wings... if ever. More than likely probably not until you land do you find most of them. Video games get this so wrong with bright tracer rounds.

  • @logya
    @logya3 жыл бұрын

    Nice vid , you've told the story well . Peace from France ; )

  • @tauncfester3022
    @tauncfester30229 ай бұрын

    Also: The Wright Flyer as a trainer is not accurate, it would have been Bristol Aero's Boxkite copy of the Farman IV, or a number of other derivative copies of the early Maurice Farman Longhorn or the Henry Farman 20. There were some numbers of British designed monoplanes and the early Royal Air Factory's Bleriot Experimental series, remember that the Royal Air Factory was based in Farnborough

  • @cratecruncher4974
    @cratecruncher4974Ай бұрын

    Weird looking Taube, haha. These B.E.2s and R.E.8s got a lot of German pilots Pour Le Merit medals. They were awarding so many they had to up the requirements.

  • @betweenprojects
    @betweenprojects9 ай бұрын

    Propellers made of wood. My grandpa, WW1 pilot vet, had the centre of one turned into a clock. Always wore two wrist watches too, a habit fron those days.

  • @tauncfester3022
    @tauncfester30229 ай бұрын

    Someone will have to explain how an aircraft with exhaust stacks carrying the exhaust above the upper wing "fills the cockpit with smoke..." and a propeller that turns counter clockwise when viewed from the cockpit would induce a left hand turn from torque? The reason for the torque turn to the right of the BE-2 is because the propeller shaft is geared at a 1:2 reduction as it is geared off of the camshaft drive for these engines, and the rather steep pitched, 4 blade propeller has to spin at about 700 to 900 RPM because you really can't expect the Renault and RAF V8 to make much RPM.

  • @stanleybest8833
    @stanleybest88336 ай бұрын

    Both British and French took engines seriously. 60 ponies? That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Many British planes were extra efficient and friendly to fly. Even some Nieuports were 60 HP.

  • @user-qd1km1el2u
    @user-qd1km1el2u6 ай бұрын

    What is the other aircraft in the picture along with the BE-2 ar about 8:48?

  • @CloneCaptainMaxCC-
    @CloneCaptainMaxCC-3 жыл бұрын

    Ooh... A Great War video. Hope it’s good!

  • @michaelgibson4705
    @michaelgibson47059 ай бұрын

    Anyone interested in WW1 aviation should take a look at “Cavalry of the Clouds “on YT interviews with the pilots in their later years.Accounts from people who were there and survived

  • @piotrtrypus

    @piotrtrypus

    9 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this recommendation. I'm watching it right now and it's absolutely superb documentary. Btw. This one is also very well done.

  • @fishsquishguy1833
    @fishsquishguy1833 Жыл бұрын

    Question for anyone: About 30 years ago I read a short story about a British WWI pilot. I think the title was “Good Morning…” Can’t remember the title but it was about a mission on a cold morning and mentioned something about jumping or burning as the only option if your aircraft caught fire. Any help appreciated, Thanks!

  • @raymondtonns2521

    @raymondtonns2521

    9 ай бұрын

    you would find interesting Peter Tunstall's biography The Last Escaper

  • @Firebrand55
    @Firebrand553 жыл бұрын

    This is very good and very factual....great images. Most RFC airman died in training accidents during the War.

  • @janetcw9808
    @janetcw98083 жыл бұрын

    My Grandmother used to make the wings (sewn). 👍🏼

  • @leadsolo2751
    @leadsolo27514 ай бұрын

    So Real, lived this, yet felt that pain as much as U intended it to feel ❤😢😅

  • @sherirobinson5112
    @sherirobinson51123 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely amazing...

  • @brettatton
    @brettatton9 ай бұрын

    The Folker Triplane is later in the war. Lots of visual anachronisms in this video. The heavily shelled towns for instance...again from months or years later than the time of the sortie being described.

  • @streetphone4619
    @streetphone46198 ай бұрын

    Your assignment, after this brief history lesson, is to buy a VR headset and buy Warplanes WW1 Fighters. Fly high, out of the range of the enemy's guns, and swoop down to pick them off one at a time. Use your excess speed and, in the beginning, rather sorry excuse for an engine, to swoop back upward from where you'll choose your next target. Rinse and repeat until the last enemy goes KABOOM! Back at base, your first upgrade should be climbing ability and then turn rate. Altitude advantage is EVERYTHING. Altitude is LIFE.

  • @josephwear9572
    @josephwear95723 жыл бұрын

    Do a follow up for an raf pilot in ww2.

  • @gordonjamieson861
    @gordonjamieson8619 ай бұрын

    wonderfull

  • @stephenhobbs1052
    @stephenhobbs10523 жыл бұрын

    Life was quite short as a British WW1 pilot.

  • @robedmunds7163
    @robedmunds71639 ай бұрын

    Really interesting pity about the triplane and helicopter bits

  • @user-so2by4pm6b
    @user-so2by4pm6b23 күн бұрын

    pilots were not allowed to wear parachutes. They wanted the pilot to land the plane rather than parachute.

  • @idleonlooker1078
    @idleonlooker10783 жыл бұрын

    ....and then you get paired up for your next mission with an Observer by the name of Baldrick - who has brought 500 rounds with him!! "Cheese and tomato for you, and .....!!" 🤦‍♂️

  • @youdoyouplayer8529
    @youdoyouplayer8529 Жыл бұрын

    Wild, I had no idea I was a ww1 pilot…

  • @ilikefreespeech3565
    @ilikefreespeech35653 жыл бұрын

    Of all the wars to be a pilot

  • @redblack8414
    @redblack84149 ай бұрын

    First time that men fought in the sky.🛩

  • @madzen112
    @madzen112 Жыл бұрын

    Better, but deadlier than the trench

  • @flobeeonekinobee2353
    @flobeeonekinobee23539 ай бұрын

    The twenty minuters

  • @raymondtonns2521
    @raymondtonns25219 ай бұрын

    let us not forget that these were WOODEN frames and Fabric covered early on!

  • @WoBlink1961
    @WoBlink19619 ай бұрын

    Fewsalidge....???? Oh, Please!!! Lootenant......???? Aaaaaaaaaaaaargggghhhh!!!!

  • @vaughanpower4538
    @vaughanpower45388 ай бұрын

    My grandfather rode a camel.

  • @XVRMEDIA
    @XVRMEDIA2 жыл бұрын

    Life back then was so boring that flying in an aircraft would have been worth risking it.

  • @1313angus
    @1313angus10 ай бұрын

    Most of the aircraft in the flying scenes are not what is being talked about. A film made by people who don't know very much about Early aviation.

  • @freddiecunningham2860
    @freddiecunningham2860 Жыл бұрын

    Why ppl back then walk fast like in those vintage films?

  • @Thomasnmi

    @Thomasnmi

    Жыл бұрын

    Film playback speed

  • @dougallee7066
    @dougallee70669 ай бұрын

    Leff-tenant!

  • @christopherburnham1612
    @christopherburnham16123 жыл бұрын

    They used castor oil as a lubricant, the most common medical complaint for all WW1 pilots was loose bowels,😁😊😀

  • @puschelhornchen9484
    @puschelhornchen94843 жыл бұрын

    "At the end of the century you were born with a silver spoon up your ar... "

  • @tonyhaynes9080
    @tonyhaynes90803 жыл бұрын

    To sum it up in one word, short!

  • @06colkurtz
    @06colkurtz3 жыл бұрын

    Like your video. But Artillery is very technical and requires considerable skill in mathematics.

  • @peaceraybob
    @peaceraybob11 ай бұрын

    Observers weren't trained. The feeling among the cavalry-dominated cretins largely in charge of the early RFC was that a man didn't need to be taught how to just look at things. Which brings us neatly onto the greatest problem with the RFC - really not fixed with the RAF until the 1930s - that being the aggressive amateurishness of the highest ranks. Only created from scratch in April 1912, there simply were no senior Army officers with any flying experience. Thus, the RFC found itself commanded largely by cavalry officers, the ability to ride being seen as an important skill for flyers to have - and, of course, a good means of ensuring that only the 'right sort' get to become aviators. What this video doesn't say is the importance of Flying Sgts in the war to come. Public schools were indeed the primary feeders for the RFC/RAF, but these boys had had their minds poisoned by jingoistic nonsense to a degree that made recognizing reality difficult, and typically resulted in their dying almost as fast as they reached the Front. Of course, arriving at a Squadron with single-digit flying hours probably didn't help either. However, there was another source of pilots available - the Sergents who were serving as Observers and mechanics, getting a few hours of instruction here and there, and who were far more mature and pragmatic than the literally childish products of Engilsh public schools.

  • @MrHoward222

    @MrHoward222

    9 ай бұрын

    That’s a little harsh methinks! Mind you, I am a former public schoolboy…

  • @stupitdog9686
    @stupitdog96869 ай бұрын

    Somewhat nit picking .... but it is "Fuse - a - large" ... not "Fuse - a - lige" . Thanks.

  • @Eddewardeke
    @Eddewardeke9 ай бұрын

    Nice movie, and a lot of bulls**t. BE2 against Fokker triplanes? A Sopwith Triplane? A pilot with a micro in front of his mouth?

  • @mrrolandlawrence
    @mrrolandlawrence2 жыл бұрын

    6:00 not to mention the weight limit... and a bucket load of amphetamines to help get that weight limit if slightly over....

  • @SteveBrownRocks2023
    @SteveBrownRocks2023 Жыл бұрын

    Just think; it took humans 10,000+ yrs to develop the 1st airplane made of wood, wire, & fabric, & barely being able to get off the ground to…..What we have today, fantastic aircraft that can fly faster than sound, be invisible, carry weapons of all kinds (themselves being marvels of technology), all in about 110 yrs. How can this be? Did humans invent all the high technology it took to create these things? What do you think? 👽👈🏼? …..🤔

  • @kneedeepinbluebells5538
    @kneedeepinbluebells55382 жыл бұрын

    " ... and your off to face the German onslaught ... " Okay, Actually - It Was The YOUR Country That Declared War On The German's ... But WHATEVER

  • @robertcottam8824

    @robertcottam8824

    9 ай бұрын

    Well, as a guarantor of Belgian neutrality (Treaty of London, 1839) Britain had no option except to go to war. That’s how treaties work. Once Germany had invaded Belgium and refused to leave, the British reaction was inevitable. So yes, there was a ‘German onslaught’. NB: Portugal REQUESTED special dispensation, from its obligations to Britain so as not to provoke Franco. However, it still allowed Britain to use its overseas bases - notably The Azores. Portugal and England have honoured the treaty every, single time it’s been invoked (including, most recently, The Falklands War). So treaties, when signed by reputable governments, are honoured. It’s the very thing (reputation) which the UK government is in danger of losing under the current (Brexit) government… Best wishes.

  • @philipwelsh1862
    @philipwelsh186226 күн бұрын

    But surely the yanks won all the wars Most of the big feature films say so this can’t be true CAN IT .? The English didn’t come into the wars till it was all nearly over or have I got it wrong way round ?

  • @kumasenlac5504
    @kumasenlac55046 ай бұрын

    Short

  • @kevelliott
    @kevelliott3 жыл бұрын

    You obviously put a lot of hard work into this, and there is a lot of factually correct stuff. But in the first place your mispronunciation of 'lieutenant' (LEFTenant) and 'fuselage' (fuseLARGE) betray a lack of engagement with the subject and undermine your authority. Plus, there were a lot of RE8s substituting for BE2s. I know there can't be a pile of BE2c video material, but it's not good enough simply to pass one off as the other. There is still plenty of resource material with WW1 pilots speaking of their experiences (the 1960s BBC series 'The Great War' is a start), not to mention written personal accounts. You have the basis for a good channel here, but you need to get deeper into the time. Get to know the lexicon and idioms.

  • @tonyleadley3494

    @tonyleadley3494

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes it's a shame the narrator didn't attend public school like the first world war pilots did. A lot of grametical errors.

  • @kevelliott

    @kevelliott

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@tonyleadley3494 It's nothing to do with which schools anybody went to. I didn't go to public school but i know this stuff.

  • @tonyleadley3494

    @tonyleadley3494

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@kevelliott I did the first world war for o level history at public school. I have a room full of first world war books. Learn your history the Royal Flying Corps is public school England.

  • @raymondkurtyka754

    @raymondkurtyka754

    2 жыл бұрын

    Oh I suppose you're perfict