WWI Air Combat Was Not Romance, It Was a Meat Grinder Where Pilots Lasted Two Weeks on Average
At the start of WWI, aircraft were dismissed as a joke by the officer class; within four years, the sky became a meat grinder of reconnaissance, bombing, and dogfighting, with new pilots in 1917 averaging only about two weeks of life.
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Britain's first airplane came from a Wild West showman
At the start of the war, senior officers still saw cavalry as the main reconnaissance force and were both snobbish and impatient toward airplanes: airships were viewed as a gentleman's mode of transport, while heavier-than-air machines were dirty, noisy, and required mechanics, dismissed as 'not for our kind.' Britain's first airplane came from American Samuel Cody—he originally came to Britain with a Wild West show, posing as Buffalo Bill's cousin and performing tricks like shooting eggs off his wife's head, before turning to aviation. His large aircraft was nicknamed the 'flying birdcage' because it was big enough to house a canary. Cody later died in a flying accident, which was the norm in early aviation.
— Joshua LevineThe commander-in-chief only cared if it was cold up there, not about intelligence
The Royal Flying Corps' initial mission was to scout German movements over France, but the start was nearly farcical: two pilots got lost; one landed and was nearly captured, then was recognized and taken to dinner by the mayor; the other was so lost that he flew over a large city before realizing it was Brussels. Yet they soon began reporting genuinely useful intelligence. One pilot sketched what he saw on his knee board and reported to Sir John French, but French showed no interest in the intelligence, only asking if it was cold up there and how far he could see. French's skepticism proved entirely wrong, and only then were aircraft taken seriously step by step.
— Joshua LevineAircraft changed war with eyes, not machine guns
The most critical air achievement of WWI was not shooting down but seeing. On September 13, observer Atkinson's report twice noted 'trenches being dug in the fields.' Joshua says this was the beginning of everything—from then on, the Western Front entered trench warfare, and reconnaissance aircraft went from dispensable novelties to truly essential eyes and ears. Later that same day, Sir John French officially commended the flying corps. In other words, aircraft changed war not because of machine guns but because they were the only eyes that could see the whole battlefield.
— Joshua LevineBombing was not designed by generals but tested by pilots
Bombing and air combat were not designed by generals; pilots figured them out themselves. Initially they dropped steel darts, then grenades, and only later strapped on bombs. One pilot cut a hole in the fuselage floor and lined it with tin to form a chute for dropping bombs, but the airflow compressed the tin and jammed the bomb, leaving the detonator exposed beneath the fuselage. He passed a note to Louis Strange saying, 'We're going to die.' The two chose to land and wait for the explosion, but the tall corn in the field pulled the detonator off, and they escaped unharmed. Louis Strange later died peacefully in bed at an old age—that was the daily reality of early flying.
— Joshua LevineA mechanical device made all Allied aircraft obsolete overnight
To fire a machine gun forward through the propeller, the Dutchman Fokker first offered the solution to the Allies, who declined it, so he turned to building aircraft for Germany. His mechanical device allowed bullets to fire only between propeller blades, suddenly enabling German pilots to aim head-on, making all existing Allied aircraft instantly obsolete—'going up meant certain death.' This moment is comparable to how drones on today's Ukrainian front become obsolete within weeks of arrival—WWI air combat itself was an arms race measured in months, even weeks.
— Joshua LevineAverage life two weeks, yet with orderlies and a roller-skating rink
Fighter pilots lived a life of extremes. During the 1917 Battle of Arras, new pilots averaged only about two weeks from arrival at the front to death; many were sent into battle with insufficient training, and 'flying sickness'—a mental breakdown treated with more leniency—appeared. Yet at the same time, they were housed behind the lines with orderlies, could go into town for drinks, had favorite restaurants, and one squadron commander even built a roller-skating rink by pouring concrete himself. Comfort and fear coexisted; that was the daily life of a fighter pilot.
— Joshua LevineToo-famous aces may have actively chosen when to die
Both Richthofen and McCudden wrote down their own air combat rules, such as 'do not follow an enemy down over their lines after shooting them down,' because low altitude made them targets for ground rifles and machine guns. Yet these two top, most symbolic pilots ultimately died by violating their own rules. Joshua does not accept the explanation that 'they thought they were above the rules' and proposes another possibility: because they were so famous, they were kept continuously at the front, subconsciously knew they would die sooner or later, and chose to end it at a time and place they could control, rather than wait for the enemy to choose.
— Joshua LevineIn their own words · checked verbatim
I was so frustrated because I was trying to get him back down to earth, but he wouldn't listen.
Joshua Levine13:41
there were a lot of airmen who felt they had more in common with the airmen on the other side
Joshua Levine15:52
the lack of event was just astonishing
Joshua Levine19:07
He was in an aircraft that could fire directly ahead. This is terrifying. This is, this is you know, it's a game changer.
Joshua Levine29:30
when you suit someone down, do not follow them down.Because you make yourself vulnerable.And he died doing precisely that.
Joshua Levine41:54
Figures
| Heavier-than-air flight first achieved | late 1903 | 3:57 |
| First aerial bomb drop by Italy | 1911 | 8:10 |
| Date of observer Atkinson's report of trench digging | September 13 | 14:51 |
| Average survival time for new pilots at the 1917 Battle of Arras | about two weeks | 37:24 |
Glossary
- Pusher
- An aircraft with the engine behind the pilot, allowing an unobstructed forward-firing machine gun at the nose.
- Tractor
- An aircraft with the engine and propeller at the front, usually better performing, but forward-firing guns must shoot through the propeller.
- Interrupter gear
- A mechanical device that allows a machine gun to fire only between propeller blades; Fokker used it to change air combat.
- Scout
- The early WWI term for a fighter aircraft, tasked with intercepting enemy planes and protecting one's own reconnaissance aircraft.
- Flying circus
- A mobile fighter unit commanded by Richthofen, moving by train between front sectors.
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