Did anyone catch Timewatch- "WWI Aces Falling" on BBC2 last night?

[Veltro]

So sad how James McCudden's life was tragically cut short due to nothing more than an engine failure, and that "Mick" Mannock battled against his own internal demons to the end, and now lies in an unnamed grave.

Although The Great War is not really my subject, it was a fascinating and moving account.

[Derwentsider]

Caught it on BBC iPlayer last night.

It was quite telling of the times that 85 Sqn would not accept McCudden because of his `lowly` background.You can only imagine what his family must have thought of that,losing three sons in the RFC during the course of the war.

[Veltro]

Caught it on BBC iPlayer last night.

It was quite telling of the times that 85 Sqn would not accept McCudden because of his `lowly` background.You can only imagine what his family must have thought of that,losing three sons in the RFC during the course of the war.

That McCudden was at the time, the highest scoring ace in the RFC had no sway with them either. Pretty appalling attitude I thought, but then, that was the way of things in those days.

The fact that Mannock took a Webley revolver with him when flying, in order to "shoot himself rather than burn in flames" was very telling. Being burned alive was his worst nightmare, and ironically, that's possibly how he died. It's unknown whether he ever did use his gun on himself.

How many air crew would have been saved if only they'd have been shown the simple respect of being given parachutes instead of being told parachutes "may (or could) encourage acts of cowardice"?

All I know is, they should never be forgotten. Any of them.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Veltro

[Graeme]

I've just watched it on BBC iPlayer and thought it was quite well done.

It was interesting to see that some of the original WW1 footage was used but had been tweaked so that people walked at normal speed rather than double-time as usual with untouched footage. If nothing else, the attitude of 85Sqn in refuisng McCudden as sqn Ldr because of his background shows how much the world has changed.

Graeme

[Rowan Broadbent]

I managed to catch this one as well.

I waited in vain for the "one-eyed ace" referrence to Mick Mannock - top marks to them for avoiding that one. Given the context of a short program on mass-media, I thought it was a pretty good effort.

It has been suggested elsewhere that McCudden's crash was due to an incorrectly assembled carburretor -I can't recall the detail but I believe it had to do with a component (float?) being assembled the wrong way up/round. McCudden was a mechanic with a lot of mechanical knowledge/experience as well as a highly experienced pilot and the engine cutting out on take-off is unlikely to have been due to his mishandling of the controls.

Mick Mannock's exceptional leadership and regard for the well-being of his pilots was perhaps not as well covered as I would have hoped. In all the talk of number of victories scored it is often overlooked that if he had the "out of my way I want the Blue Max" attitude of some of his German contemporaries his individual score could well have been much higher than the figure credited to him. As a fighter pilot and a human being I struggle to find a better example anywhere. A real hero, in every sense.

[atdb27]

A very moving account of 2 young men who regardless of class or background did their 'duty ' for us all.

Thanks to men like these we enjoy our heady lifestyle today.

Adrian