DOGFIGHTS AND DARING DEEDS
HEROES OF THE AIR
DOGFIGHTS and daring deeds are associated with the magnificent men and their newfangled flying machines who comprised the Australian Flying Corps in World War I, but tragically many of their young lives were cut short.
A total of 410 pilots and 153 observers flew operations with the AFC – forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF) – during the Great War, of whom 110 died from combatrelated causes.
Around a third of all pilots didn’t even make it to the frontline, mostly dying during training in England.
The combined casualty rate of 44 per cent for the ‘ warriors of the skies’ was almost equal to the casualty rate of around 50 per cent suffered by Australian infantry battalions who fought in trenches.
Powered flight in Australia had been in operation less than five years when World War I began in Europe in August 1914.
Before war broke out Australia, only had a fleet of five rickety aircraft and two qualified flying instructors at a single military aviation base, the Central Flying School southwest of Melbourne.
Early combat planes, including the British- built Sopwith Camel and Bristol Scout and the French- made Caudron, Bleriot and Farman were flimsy and highly flammable, effectively made from hardened linen with light timber frames.
Previous experience was not a requirement for flying planes.
Light horsemen were often chosen to become pilots as they were considered to be physically superior, with quicker reflexes and more reliable characters than other men.