Price on the CCI website shows 30 Pds. Equivavent US currency is $42.53 plus shipping.

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide 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 Spring 2021 journal of Cross & Cockade International features a nice, sharp, colorized photograph of a 27 TDS Bristol Fighter at Crail. The inside and outside rear cover continues with six additional black and white pics of Bristol Fighters. The center section, The Gazetteer, consists of eleven black and white photos, and fifteen black and white maps. Also included is a separate folded color 1/100,000 map consisting of eight pages when folded up. This color map represents the flying sites in Soissons while Valencinnes is on the reverse side. I will note that on my copy the eight pages are referred to as Part 4: ALQ to AUL (a carryover from the last issue), when it should be referred to as Part 5: AUT to BER.

The late Stewart K. Taylor kicks off this issue with a 15-page biography of Canadian Flight Sub Lieutenant Gerald Ewart ‘Gerry’ Nash of B Flight, 10 Squadron, RNAS. Copies of Nash’s training logbook and his first combat report are presented as part of his flight training and eventual operational service. This article really provides an interesting view into the Black Flight and Raymond Collishaw. All of B Flight, 10 Squadron black triplanes wore names with Nash flying “Black Sheep”. Nash later became a German POW when battling a red Jasta 11 Albatros, possibly flown by Ltn Karl Allemroder, when two other Albatros’ joined the battle. Trying to evade the three fighters, Nash side slipped into the ground. Trying to play a novice pilot during interrogation, Manfred von Richthofen was not fooled, and noted that a novice would not have flown as well as Nash had. Upon repatriation after the Armistice, Nash returned home to Canada and opened a Ford dealership.

Juraj Cervenka follows with a six page article on Karl Nemenyi, a Jewish Austro-Hungarian who flew with Flik 49. A former artilleryman, Karl Nemenyi flew as an observer and artillery fire guide, flying at least 22 combat missions. Karl Nemenyi survived WWI, along with WWII, and moved to Sao Paulo with his wife and two daughters. Venice’s Eyes, by Pietro Landro, describes the Italian Regia Marina and their use of balloons, airships, and seaplanes during WWI in observation and reconnaissance operations. This article covers eight pages and includes black and white photographs.

Rod Henderson follows with a brief biograph of Major Donald Roderick MacLaren covering three pages and featuring six black and white photographs. Next up is Part 1 of a dissertation from David Spruce of the University of Wolverhampton’s War Studies Department. The author addresses the Development of British Air Power on the Western Front to the end of 1915 for nine pages that includes two pages of End Notes. Mike Kelsey delivers an interesting article on An Armstrong Whitworth in Bulgarian Service, a tale of an AW FK3, serial 6219. This aircraft fell intact into the hands of the Bulgarian military. 6219 was one of the few aircraft to be used against its former owners, primarily due to the paucity of aircraft available to Bulgaria. Mike Kelsey uses memoirs from three Bulgarian airmen to assemble this story. What is fun, is trying to wrangle the truth from the three different sources, however, each source does provide input into the total picture.

Logbook is an occasional feature often compiled by Mick Davis, but this time Trevor Henshaw provides the compilation. The topic is from the RAF Staff College that was established in 1922. Each student was required to prepare a document that came to be known as Student Accounts of War Experience, with some 180 of these accounts surviving today. The problem was that they were indexed by the student that prepared them, not by topic. Trevor Henshaw and Mike O’Connor spent a lot of time researching and prepared an index of these documents that now enables researchers to easily find a given topic and where it is.

Joe Moran highlights market news and Bob Gladding provides a build review of the Toko 1-72 Siemens Schuckert D.IV (this kit has been released by Roden and Eastern Express). Joe Moran follows with a build review of the MAC 1/72 Phoenix D.IIa. The Bookshelf section is a review of WWI aviation specific books and magazines with this issue totaling eighteen.

Topics:

• Editorial by Mick Davis
• Black Sheep: Flight Sub Lieutenant Gerald Ewart ‘Gerry’ Nash B Flight 10 Squadron RNAS by Stewart K. Taylor [Page 52.012]
• Leutnant in der Reserve Karl Nemenyi and Flik 49 by Juraj Cervenka [Page 52.022]
• Venice’s Eyes by Pietro Landro
• Major Donald Roderick MacLaren DSO MC DFC CdG LdeH by Rod Henderson [Page 52.034]
• The Development of British Air Power on the Western Front to the end of 1915 Part 1 by David Spruce
• The Gazetteer of British Flying Sites in France, Belgium, and Germany 1914 – 1920 Part 5 by Peter Dye, Roger Austin, and Mick Davis [Centerfold Map]
• An Armstrong Whitworth in Bulgarian Service – by Mike Kelsey [Page 52.054]
• Log Book: RAF Staff College-Student Accounts of War Experiences compiled by Trevor Henshaw
• Modeling: New Releases and Kit Reviews compiled by Joe Moran
• Bookshelf – Edited by Paul R. Hare

This is another excellent issue from Cross & Cockade and I continue to be impressed with the quality of the articles, both from a research perspective and readability. The period pictures, maps, and drawings in this journal come off looking great thanks to their printing on the journal's glossy paper. If you are into early / WWI aviation; this journal is an incredible source of information that will have you on the edge of your seat for the next issue. My thanks to Cross & Cockade International and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great issue.

Highly recommended!