So what was it like to fly these aircraft in battle.  Listen to my grandfather (the other one) talk about his experiences flying over the front during WW1.  He was 19 years old.  This is all I have of an interview he did in the 70's.  It's possible the remaining parts of the original recording still exist somewhere.  This is really fascinating and I want to share it with you on this forum.  You have to select play in music player for google drive.

 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-O_ZzJjacwLclllX0pmWm1ISnM/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

 

 

Thanks Tom,

 

... though I can't play it at the mo' because I'm at work. I'd love to hear the interview so I'll have to find a mate with a connection to the outside world later.

 

I was rather young when my grandfather died, and the only real conversation I had with him about his past concerned his single experience of flying-- being taken for a joy-ride in a Camel over Basingstoke one weekend in the summer of 1917 by a mate in the RFC.

 

I'm feeling old today; there aren't many left from whom we can hear such first-hand experiences.

 

D