The following publications surround the exploits and development of Canadian air men in the first war.
Collishaw's career spanned both the 1st and 2nd wars and he held high positions in the service both with Britain and Canada.

1) The Black Flight, The memoir of Raymond Collishaw with Ronald Dodds, CEF Books
2) William Barker VC, by Wayne Ralph, Publisher Wiley Wikipedia on Barker
3) Dancing in the Sky (The Royal Flying Corps in Canada, by C.W. Hunt, publisher Dundurn

Best Regards;

Ah, thanks for the titles, Robert - they were new to me.
Which book is the best in your opinion, in the way that it reads truthful
and with respect for the opponents, and without exaggeration or bragging?
(The film "Flyboys" was unbearable for me.)

Hi Olham;

Based on your questions, I would recommend "The Black Flight". It is very truthful and Collishaw seems rather humble based on his diary notations. I suspect he was not a boastful man. Certainly seems to have a lot of integrity.

My next choice would be "William Barker VC". Primarily because he was Canadian and the book spends considerable time on his campaigns in fronts other than the "Western" front. There is much time spent on conditions at the front which informs you more about the environment rather than focusing solely on the aerial exploits. It's a very good read and a must for anyone interested in Canada's contribution to the war effort.

Hope that helps some. If you have trouble finding these books, let me know and if I can help, I will.

Best Regards;

They sound both interesting. I just checked Barker and saw, that he flew in Italy
most of the time (oh, the food & wine - lucky man!); he was the most successful
Camel pilot it seems. Never read about the Italian front yet, so this may be the
one I get first.
But then Collishaw flew from late 1916 to the end of the war, and always in the
thick of it. Makes it a hard choice!

Damn - found the book on William Barker second hand for acceptable prices,
but only in America or the UK. And none of the services accepted PayPal.

Hi Olham;

I don't want to give away anything about the books and ruin your read, but it is interesting to discover Barker's fortuitous insight towards World War II on page 254 of that book in which he wrote a column in the London Sunday Express (1922) entitled "Shall We Abandon the Air?" in response to a letter from Mr. John Galsworthy(highly succesful author) to the Press, advocating the complete civil and military abandoning of the air!

With Regards to Collishaw, his career spanned two world wars and therefore give an insight into how he carried his WWI experiences and practices forward with him into WWII. His book was first published in 1973 under "Air Command".

Regards;

Another Fantastic Read:

No Man's Land by Joseph V. Misrahi
Published Challange Books

A soup to nuts, no holes barred account of The Great War. Definitely worth a read IMO.

This is a good read if you can find it

Mick: Story of Major Edward Mannock, VC, DSO, MC, RFC, RAF.

Will check out The Black Flight myself I've read snips here and there about it but never an actual book. I just finished reading JFM's book which is well worth checking out

Manfred Von Richthofen The Aircraft,Myths and Accomplishments of 'The Red Baron'

Found it in a local book shop. Price on book was Can $.75. Just finished the Knight of the Air book about Mannock and it was interesting how Richthofen and the German Air Service was belittled in comparison to the French and British Air Service. The book really slams Richthofen and questions his count of 80 victories and his courage.

It seemed to me that Peter Kilduff's book about MvR was very well researched,
and there were indeed victories among von Richthofen's list of 80, which might be
doubtful, but not many (3 or 4 if I remember right).
The German pilots were not observed about the question, wether they might crack up
at some point - this question wasn't raised, and unlike their British opponents they
had to fly on throughout the war, or they fell.
So if you question the courage of MvR, you should try to imagine that.
The incredible strain of flying often 3 sorties per day; and having numerous fights,
in which you could also get shot down.
I guess it needed quite a lot of courage to climb into these crates again and again.
Not only by the outstanding aces - by all these flyers.
It wasn't a sportif event for them though; it wasn't about courage or not.
They were soldiers. They tried to accomplish military tasks.