The non-profit UK based group known as the Great War Aviation Society publishes A new magazine, Contact!, is now available in both print and digital download. The first two issues of Contact! Are available for a free digital download on their website. Their journal, Cross & Cockade International, is also published four times a year. Issues are available in English as printed [Softbound, A4 (8.27” x 11.69”), 72 pages [Including Covers] as well as digital copies (or both). The Society also provides a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This Journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front. The Great War Aviation Society also hosts a lecture series available through Zoom. If interested, you will need to register early as the call is limited in attendance. The Great War Aviation Society also is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGreatWarAviationSociety and on

X [Twitter]: https://x.com/GWAS1914_1918/status/1591734868114825219

The Summer 2025 of Contact! features a color illustration by Colin Ashford of RNAS Short 827 at Chukwani Bay, Zanzibar. The cover is related to Anne Samson’s article on Air War In East Africa. There are five pages of Great War advertising, including the inside front and rear covers and the rear cover. I counted 63 color photographs / illustrations and 78 black and white photographs / illustrations. There is also one color profile illustration by David Méchin.

Great War modeling was a standard feature in the Journal that has now moved to Contact!, taking full advantage of color photographs. Joe Moran does an excellent buildup of the 2016 release of Airfix’s BE2c in 1/72-scale. Haris Ali presents a build review of the Copper State 1/32 Nieuport 11 C1 [Bébé] CSM 32-013 kit, part of which can be seen on Page 12. This early variant, N 557, served with Escadrille N.12 with an unknown pilot. This Nieuport was repaired after a crash, and the fuselage linen was replaced and coated with a blue varnish.

Anne Samson presents a six-page article on Air War In East Africa, aligning with the front cover illustration and a general theme of this issue. The South African Air Corps was formed on April 25, 1914, where they were then attached to the RFC. The RNAS operated three squadrons in East Africa and were involved in the location and destruction of the Königsberg. A Voisin is shown at the top of Page 22 that was assembled on December 25, 1916, at Kilwa Kivinje, Tanzania. The photograph at the bottom of the page is labeled as a Short Folder, 920. It is possible that this is actually a Sopwith 807 seaplane that was powered by a 100hp Gnome Monosoupape. The tail number, can be spotted as 920, which would be one of two that arrived in East Africa on February 21, 1915. Both Sopwith 807 920 and 921 played a role in the destruction of the Königsberg.

David Méchin brings Part Two of French Zeppelin Killers for four pages. A Voisin-Cannon [Voisin IV] is depicted on the upper right of Page 44. Here, several can be seen at Camp Retranché de Paris. Some 200 of these pushers were built with a 37mm or 47mm cannon mounted in their nose. The photograph below the Voisin is at the same location with officials inspecting a Maurice Farman MF.11 Shorthorn. Ugo Vicenzi offers up a four-page article on the Jonathan Collection’s reconstruction of the Caproni Ca3R, I-ZANA. Based on original documentation from the Caproni family and measurements of the two remaining Caproni Ca3 airframes on display, this reconstruction was modified slightly for improved safety. It can be seen at the bottom of Page 58 flying alongside a Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II.

Paul Hare continues his series To Take Up Arms with Part 4. Geoffrey de Havilland’s pusher design for Airco, the DH.2, the Royal Aircraft Factory FE8, and the Vickers FB12 are addressed. Four Airco DH.2s are lined up at Beauval Airfield in 1916 at the top of Page 65. The DH.2 became the first British single seat fighter to be an effective counter to the Fokker Scourge of late 1915. Armed with a Lewis 7.7mm machine gun, the first aerial victory of an Airco DH.2 was achieved on April 2, 1916. The picture at the bottom of the page depicts the second prototype of the FE8 with the single Lewis 7.7mm machine gun positioned in the nose of the nacelle. This proved rather awkward for the pilot so the Lewis was moved to the cockpit rim. Designed by a team led by John Kenworthy, it featured an all metal structure for its nacelle. The FE8 was a bit faster than the DH.2, but less maneuverable. The contents of this issue include:

Topics:

• Editor’s Letter
• The Briefing Room
• The Signals Office
• From the Workbench: Airfix BE2c 1:72 Scale by Joe Moran
• Modeling: Copper State’s Nieuport 11 Bébé by Haris Ali [Page 12]
• The Story Behind the Photograph: Simba Takes to the Skies by Anne Sampson
• The Story Behind the Photograph: An Elephant Called Mimi by Andrew Wilcox
• Air War In East Africa by Anne Samson [Page 22]
• Destruction of the Königsberg by Peter Dye
• The Forgotten Men by Graham Mottram
• Searching For Lost British Graves at Mbuyuni Aerodrome by Benjamin Rocke
• Breaking the Race Barrier by Jon Guttman
• French Zeppelin Killers Part Two by David Méchin [Page 44]
• Dogs of War: Pilots and Their Dogs in World War I by Peter Dye
• Researching Royal Flying Corps Kit: Flying Clothing in the Early Days by Mark Hillier
• Caproni Ca3R by Ugo Vincenzi [Page 58]
• The Sunbeam Story by Graham Mottram
• To Take Up Arms Part 4 by Paul Hare [Page 65]
• The Blue Max by Michael Terry

This is my fourth downloaded issue of Contact!, and my second printed copy. The emphasis is on more color than is common in the Cross & Cockade International journal. The articles are also more numerous and shorter than seen in the journal, but no less enjoyable. The overall goal of adding Contact! to the Great War Aviation Society appears to be grabbing some of the younger crowd with a digital product and more color. I certainly hope this works for the younger crowd, but there is material here for all ages. If you are into early / WWI aviation, this magazine is for you!

My thanks to The Great War Aviation Society and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great issue.

Highly recommended!