Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps

•‘Britain’s Red Baron’ THE DAILY MAIL. •A gripping memoir by one of the highest scoring British fighter aces of the First World War, James McCudden, VC. •Hugely detailed day-to-day account and covers five years in the Royal Flying Corps 1913-18. •For the first time this 2019 edition decodes the real squadron names and place names redacted by the wartime censor (the book was published in 1918). Also includes a list of his 57 enemy kills based on post-war research and a selection of his combat reports. FLYING FURY is the electrifying memoir by Britain’s deadliest fighter pilot of the First World War, James McCudden. Between July 1916 and July 1918 McCudden shot 57 enemy aircraft out of the sky through a combination of natural ability, raw courage and an almost scientific approach to air combat. His story is all the more astonishing as he was posted to France in 1914 as an aircraft mechanic. His first hand account, completed just days before his tragic death in July 1918, details his numerous dogfights over the Western Front, wrestling with the controls of his S.E.5a fighter, hurtling into steep dives, his engine screaming as his machine-guns tore into his next enemy kill. McCudden was a true professional, his technical ability and mechanical expertise allowed him to tune his own aircraft’s engine, he took great care of his machine-guns and he finely honed his trademark technique of stalking enemy aircraft before striking with deadly efficiency. By the time of his death, just a few months before the Armistice, he was the most decorated airman in the Royal Flying Corps, including the most coveted award for gallantry of all, the Victoria Cross. ABOUT THE AUTHOR James McCudden was born on 28 March 1895 in Gillingham, Kent. His interest in aviation was sparked by trips with his brothers to the local Leysdown aerodrome near his family home, where pioneer aviators flew their early flying machines. James was one of four McCudden brothers who flew with the RFC, only one, the youngest, Maurice, survived the First World War. William died in May 1915 and John Anthony, also an ace, was killed in action on 18 March 1918. A few days after the final entry in his memoir James was killed in a flying accident on 9 July 1918 and is buried at the British war cemetery at Beauvoir-Wavans in France, he was 23. PRAISE FOR FLYING FURY: ‘Engrossing’ ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS; ‘A most graphic account’ THE SPHERE; ‘A superman of the air’ THE NEWS OF THE WORLD; ‘A thrilling account of the air war, and a percipient insight into the daily life of a pilot… highly recommended’ CROSS & COCKADE INTERNATIONAL; ‘A classic and still a great read’ AIR & SPACE POWER JOURNAL