Fighter Aces The History of Aerial
Combat from the Great War to the Dawn of the Jet Age
By 1915, the armies of the Great War are locked in the stalemate of the
trenches. Yet, a new form of combat is already taking shape - the aerial
duel. Almost from the beginning, air-warfare captures the popular
imagination. The new heroes are fighter pilots. The best became known as
Aces.
High above the trenches, the courage and skill of men such as Baron von
Richthofen, Oswald Boelcke, Mick Mannock, Billy Bishop and Herman Goering
would make them legends in their own lifetime. In the Spanish Civil War a
new generation of German Aces wins its spurs. Tactics and machines are
perfected for the coming Blitzkrieg.
In the Battle of Britain, the hastily trained fighter pilots of the RAF
learn their tactics "on the wing" against the Luftwaffe veterans
of Spain. The courage and determination of RAF Aces such as Joseph
Frantichek and Ginger Lacey are all that stand between Britain and
invasion.
In Europe and North Africa, the flying skills and tactical genius of
such men as Werner Moelders, Adolf Galland and Hans Marseilles win the
respect of friend and foe alike. On the Eastern Front Erich Hartman, the
Ace of the Aces wins 352 victories, an achievement never equalled in the
history of aerial combat.
The story of the Air Aces charts the history of aerial combat from the
Great War to the dawn of the jet age, using rare archive footage , much of
which has been unavailable in the West since World War Two.
