Wind in the Wires - Hardcover

Duncan Grinnell-Milne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1909808016 ISBN 13: 9781909808010

Publisher: Grub Street, 2014

Synopsis

A classic memoir of WWI flying Wind in the Wires, first published in 1933, paints a vivid picture of early war training and combat, from the already outmoded Maurice Farman Longhorn, to the relatively sophisticated Bristol B.E.2. After training at Shoreham as an eighteen-year-old Grinnell-Milne was posted in 1915 to 16 Squadron near Merville. His time was not happy, discipline and morale were poor. In May 1915 he was shot down and spent two years as a prisoner of war, finally escaping and returning to England. Officially banned from further fighting, he managed to return to the front to fly with the famed 56 Squadron, in an S.E.5a. The author's eye for detail, sense of humour, and his truly hair-raising experiences make this a charming and riveting read to rank with the greats of Cecil Lewis, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Arthur Gould Lee.

About this title

Review:

The final pages, written in 1919 while he was the unit s last wartime CO, and still just twenty-three years old, supervising the dispersal of comrades and disbandment of the squadron, remains one of the most emotional endings of any flying book I have ever read. Without doubt one of the most prized items on my bookshelf. --Steve Slater, Aeroplane

Grub Street is a publisher to be congratulated for reprinting important books, following on from No Parachute with this 1937 classic. Grinnell-Milne trained at Shoreham and Gosport and served with 16 Squadron on BE2cs before being made a POW. He escaped and pestered his way back to operational flying in France, on SE5as with 56 Squadron. He relates his wartime life and adventures in a very easy style but the text is full of insights to the life of a pilot, prisoner and escapee, with some humour thrown in. His account of surrendering after setting his BE2c alight is one exmaple of the latter. The text is well presented. You don't get much for £16 these days and it would be money well spent if you don't already have this gem in your collection. --Cross & Cockade International

This book makes fascinating reading and is highly recommended. --Aeroplane Monthly

This is a well-written book that evokes the conditions that military flying had to cope with. --Air-Britain Aeromilitaria

Book reviewing is a joy more so when one comes along that the reviewer would like to add to his list of 12 titles should they ever be cast away on a Desert Island with books to replace records records then Wind in the Wires is certainly one I would take with me. The book is the personal account of a WW1 airman first published in 1933 and now republished by Grub Street, written by a pilot who's storyline takes a similar line to Cecil Lewis's Sagittarius Rising. The reader experiences the saga of early flying traingin right through to mortal combat with an enemy when, in the early days of the Great War and Air Fighting, an air of chivalry still existed between knights of the air. The sotry is also spiced with a great deal of humour including the random nicknames given to senior Royal Flying Corps Officers bu junior pilots and the total indifference by thier piers until the young have proved themselves in combat. Indeed a lot of that very same scenario still existed between pilots during the early part of WWII and the Battle of Britain. Indeed the author even saw service with the RAF during the years of WWII but was invalided out. Unlike many of the books I review this one has seen me glance its pages for several more times such is its magnetic contents and drawing me like a moth to light. --Armourer

Wind in the Wires - first published in the thirties and now available as a new edition by Grub Street - is the memoir of Duncan Grinnell-Milne, a WWI airman. Joining the flying corps in 1915, he flew with 16 squadron near Merville, before force-landing behind enemy lines and being taken as a prisoner of war. After returning to England he rejoined the conflict and flew SE5s. Grinell-Milne's style of writing is almosy poetic at times and perfectly captures the emotions of his tale; the nerve-wracking first solo, the adrenalin rush of chasing enemy fighters, the depression of imprisonment, and sadness at the breaking up of the unit, sending his beloved aircraft away to be destroyed. Observations on his youthful attitude and inexperience from an older perspective provide contrast and poignancy. This account has none of the dry monotomy that some war memoirs can slip into; its sense of pace and inimatable style keep the reader entranced. Wind in the Wires is by far one of the best books I've had the pleasure to read. --Pilot Magazine

Another all-time classic of WWI aviation literature first published in 1937 now available once again thanks to the ever-prolific Grub Street.-- Windsock Magazine.

An attractive reissue, this is a tome every Great War aviation enthusiast should have on the bookshelf. --Windsock Magazine

Reprinted, this book tells a particularly daring story, even by the standards of the Great War: shot down and taken prisoner, Grinnell-Milne escaped and returned to combat. His memoir captures the ethos and comraderie of the air service which persists today. Grinnell-Milne reflects upon good leadership, morale and confronting adversity, as well as the perils of combat, before offering a wonderfully poignant view of the aftermath of war. He does so with honesty, humility and humour. --The Times

About the Author:

Captain Duncan William Grinnell-Milne, M.C., D.F.C. & Bar (1896-1973) ended the war as a flying ace with six confirmed victories. In 1919 he was assigned to 214 Squadron in Egypt thence to 14 Squadron, then becoming assistant air attaché in Paris. When he left the RAF in 1926, he had flown sixty different aircraft, amassing over 2,000 hours flying time. In WWII he returned to service, flying missions over Libya, but was invalided out and joined the BBC.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grub Street
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1909808016
• ISBN 13: 9781909808010
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256