The non-profit UK-based group known as the Great War Aviation Society publishes its journal, Cross & Cockade International, four times a year. Issues are available in English as printed [Softbound, A4 (8.27” x 11.69”), 80 pages plus centerfold] as well as digital copies (or both). A new magazine, Contact!, is now available in both print and digital download. The Society also provides a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publishes WWI-themed books, such as 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 you are interested, please register early, as the call has a limited attendance capacity. The Great War Aviation Society is also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGreatWarAviationSociety and on X [Twitter]: https://x.com/GWAS1914_1918/status/1591734868114825219

The Summer 2025 journal of Cross & Cockade International, published on June 14, 2025, features a black and white photograph of 5228, a modified FE2b. Several FE2b airframes were modified to carry a Vickers 1-lb quick-firing gun [aka Pom-Pom] to replace the standard Lewis .303 machine gun. This British 37 mm auto cannon originally saw service with the infantry as a light anti-aircraft gun. A descendant of the Maxim machine gun, this version was enlarged and fired a belt-fed 400-gram exploding shell. Note the small search light mounted below the nose. The rear cover depicts another 51 Squadron FE2b that was modified to have an upward-forward firing Lewis machine gun. The small propeller on the nose is for the generator. These aircraft flew with 51 Squadron and is associated with this issue’s second article on Major Harold Wyllie. The pull-out center section continues the series on Rigging Notes. Part 2 addresses the Royal Aircraft Factory BE8, BE 12, and de Havilland Fighting Scout DH2.

Ron Kintner leads off with a history of 80 Squadron that was formed on August 1, 1917, at Montrose Air Station in Scotland. Flying Sopwith Camels, they were ordered to Boisdinghem, France, on January 21, 1918. The article spans forty-two pages and includes forty-five period photographs. This account features a month-by-month operations narrative. Appendices 1 and 2 provide information on all officers, aircrew, and aircraft. Appendices 3 and 4 itemize unit victories and personal victories, supplemented with bibliography and notes. Operations in March 1918 ramped up after a slow February for 80 Squadron. Australian 2Lt Clarence Hocart Flere was downed by Lt. Franz “Locken” Hemer of Jasta 6 [his 3^rd victory of 18] in a Fokker Dr.I on March 10, 1918, and captured as seen on the photographs at the top of Page 56-077. The wreckage of Flere’s Sopwith Camel C6719 can be seen on its side, while the other photograph shows Flere in front of his German captors. Flere was released and ended up serving with the Australian Army in World War II. Flere died at the age of 62 on May 17, 1952, in Boroondara, Australia. The third photograph shows Sopwith Camel C1581 at the factory awaiting wing installation. C1581 was issued to 80 Squadron on February 28, 1918. It was flown in combat on March 8, 2018, when Lt Austin Whittaker Chadwick successfully drove down a German aircraft. Chadwick was later wounded in action on August 25, 1918. Unfortunately, C1581 was wrecked four days later by 2Lt Charles Stanley Lomas Coulson in flying practice.

Peter Brand is up next with Lt Colonel Harold Wyllie. This six-page feature has thirteen black and white photographs along with the additional six photographs on the front and rear covers. Harold Wyllie was born into a family of artists and at the age of 18 was hired by the Graphic in New York as an artist. The advent of WWI in 1914 saw Wyllie joining the Royal Flying Corps as an observer in BE2a and BE2b aircraft, serving with 6 Squadron. Photography was utilized, but so were Wyllie’s artistic skills, providing sketches to supplement the photographs. First-person accounts abound, both from Wyllie’s diaries and combat reports. Wyllie was promoted to Flight C commander of 23 Squadron on May 26, 1915, and began piloting FE2bs. Wyllie reported to the 23 Squadron commander, Major Rudolph Edward Trower Hogg, whose portrait can be seen at the top of Pages 56-119. The bottom of the page shows off a typical FE2b flown by 23 Squadron fitted with a “goal post” mounting of the Lewis machine gun. Wyllie was promoted to command 51 Squadron on July 15, 1917, and was promoted to major in October 1917 and lieutenant colonel in October 1918. He continued flying at least until 1926, as evidenced by his logbook. Wyllie later served in WW2 as a voluntary reservist, where he commanded two training ships for the Royal Navy. After the war, he continued in love of painting, focusing on ‘man-of-war’ sailing ships. Wyllie passed in December 1973, but his art remains on exhibit at the Royal Academy.

Paul Hare’s contribution is First To Fly…First To Fall: FE2a 4227, following a single aircraft. This four-page article includes nine black and white photographs. Henry Folland led the design team for the two-seat fighter, FE2a, at the Royal Aircraft Factory. The first example, 4227, was completed on January 22, 1915, and achieved its first flight on January 26, 1915. Originally powered by a 100 hp engine designed and manufactured by Gustavus Green, it was later fitted with a 120 hp Beardmore [a license-built Austro-Daimler engine]. 4227 was presented to the RFC on May 14, 1915, and saw its first combat on June 20, 1915. Her last mission was September 5, 1915, where she was brought down by anti-aircraft fire as seen on Page 56-126. The bottom photograph shows German soldiers struggling to pull the engine out of the mud, but it appears more Germans are watching the process than actually tugging on the rope. The pilot, William Campbell Adamson, was found dead at the crash site, and his observer, Ernst Clarence Richmond Gale Braddyll, died before the Germans could take him to the hospital.

The sixth part of Andrei Alexandrov’s history [edited by Harry Woodman] of the The Imperial Russian Naval Air Service spans ten pages and includes ten black and white photographs and drawings. Discussion of munitions continues with coverage of rockets, guns, and bombs. Two different Oranovsky missiles [fragmentation bombs] are shown in the photograph on pages 56-128. The two smaller bombs weighed 10 Russian pounds [4 Kg], while the larger bomb is a High Explosive 32 Kg, possibly painted dark green. The Army Aviation aircraft is a Henry Farman F.XXII powered by a 80 hp Gnome Lambda rotary engine. Already under-powered, adding a bomb load didn’t aid performance. Farman F.XXIIs were manufactured at the Farman factory in Boulogne-Billancourt and at the Russian factories: Duks, Lebedev, and Shchetinin. Notable is the German Mauser C96 pistol that is pointed awkwardly. Hopefully, the gentleman was properly instructed in some of the basics of gun safety after this picture was taken.

Alex Revell’s entry is SE5 – Armament and Cockpit Canopies. This three-page article with seven black and white photographs. Revell provides a brief discussion on the SE5 pilot’s disdain for the Vickers machine gun that fired through the propeller arc and their preference for the over-the-wing Lewis gun due to their distrust of the RAF interrupter gear. Similarly, pilots were not enchanted with the installation of canopies and often uninstalled them as soon as they reached a combat zone. Thirteen black and white photographs populate From The Albums for two pages. These pictures are from Lt. Cecil Knight album, who flew as an observer for 21 Squadron. The Bookshelf section is a review of WWI aviation-specific books and magazines, with this issue totaling twelve.

Topics:

• Editorial by Mick Davis
• Obituaries: William (Bill) Vandersteen 1931 – 2025
• 80 Squadron RFC / RAF 1917 - 1919 by Ron Kintner [Page 56.077]
• Lt Colonel Harold Wyllie by Peter Brand [Page 56.119]
• First To Fly…First To Fall: FE2a 4227 by Paul Hare [Page 56.126]
• The Imperial Russian Naval Air Service Part 6 by Andrei Alexandrov / Edited by Harry Woodman [Page 56.128]
• SE5 – Armament and Cockpit Canopies by Alex Revell
• From The Albums: Lt Cecil Knight
• Bookshelf – Edited by Paul R. Hare

This is another great issue from The Great War Aviation Society, and I am always impressed with the quality of the articles, both from a research perspective, and readability. Both Ron Kintner’s and Peter Brand’s articles included first-person accounts, which I especially enjoy. 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 waiting for the next issue.

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

Highly recommended!

Frank Landrus, IPMS# 35035