With A Bristol Fighter Squadron
by Walter Noble, with an Introduction by Winston S. Churchill
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
San Diego, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Andrew Melrose, 1920. First edition. Hardcover. This improbably scarce book is the first edition of the memoirs of First World War flying ace Walter Noble. The book is particularly noteworthy for a substantive introduction by Winston S. Churchill, then serving as Secretary of State for War and Air.
This 1920 first edition is not to be confused with the 1977 Cedric Chivers large type edition, which is both substantially larger and considerably less sought and valuable. Condition of this copy is good plus, sound and complete. The navy cloth binding is square and tight, though with overall scuffing and blistering of the cloth to the upper rear cover. The contents are substantially clean, age-toned but with no spotting. An illustrated previous owner bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown and the rear pastedown shows some scarring, as if something adhesive were long ago removed. The binding is fitted with a clear, removable, mylar cover.
Credited with 12 aerial victories, Walter Noble was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1918. The London Gazette noted: 2nd Lt. Walter Noble (formerly Essex Regt.). A skilful and determined observer who has been most successful in destroying enemy machines, very often when in superior strength to his own formation.
Before the war, Noble was a tea planter in India. He returned to England to enlist, initially serving with the Essex Regiment before joining the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. With a Bristol Fighter Squadron, his memoir, features a two-page introduction by then-Secretary of State for War and Air Winston S. Churchill. Churchills introduction, at pages 5-6, is headed WAR OFFICE, WHITEHALL, S.W.1., dated 27th October, 1919, and is signed in facsimile. The author of this book has a good fighting record and is entitled to write with authority the lessons which may be derived from this straightforward and soldierly narrative possess a definite value among the records of the Royal Air Force in the Great War Nothing that has ever happened in the world before has offered to man such an opportunity for individual personal prowess as the air fighting of the Great War. Fiction has never portrayed such extraordinary combats, such hairbreadth escapes, such absolute superiority to risk, such dazzling personal triumphs.
That the busy Secretary of State for War and Air would take the time to contribute an introduction was less surprising than it might seem.
Even before the First World War, Churchill was fully engaged in powered flights possibilities. Being Churchill, of course he trained as a pilot himself. But it was in his official capacities that he truly advocated and advanced the military potential of flight. As first Lord of the Admiralty (1911-1915), he sought out the small band of adventurous officers who were the pioneers of naval aviation and In 1912 he founded the Royal Naval Air Service a precursor of the Royal Flying Corps and, later, the Royal Air Force Because of his efforts, England became the first country to equip a plane with a machine gun, and the first to launch an airborne torpedo. (Manchester, The Last Lion, Vol. I, p.444)
In January 1919, nine months before he wrote the Introduction for this volume, Churchill was appointed Secretary of State for Air. In the First World War's aftermath, Churchill understood and embraced the military potential of air power and used his position - not without resistance - to make military aviation a priority. He sought to build resources and organizational capacity, but also to ensure that the Air Force remained integrated within a unified Defence Ministry.
The vision of air power as integral to an effective future military force was prescient; two decades later, Prime Minister Winston Churchill would famously praise the British pilots ("Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.") who played the vital role in preventing Nazi invasion.
Reference: Cohen B23.1
This 1920 first edition is not to be confused with the 1977 Cedric Chivers large type edition, which is both substantially larger and considerably less sought and valuable. Condition of this copy is good plus, sound and complete. The navy cloth binding is square and tight, though with overall scuffing and blistering of the cloth to the upper rear cover. The contents are substantially clean, age-toned but with no spotting. An illustrated previous owner bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown and the rear pastedown shows some scarring, as if something adhesive were long ago removed. The binding is fitted with a clear, removable, mylar cover.
Credited with 12 aerial victories, Walter Noble was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1918. The London Gazette noted: 2nd Lt. Walter Noble (formerly Essex Regt.). A skilful and determined observer who has been most successful in destroying enemy machines, very often when in superior strength to his own formation.
Before the war, Noble was a tea planter in India. He returned to England to enlist, initially serving with the Essex Regiment before joining the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. With a Bristol Fighter Squadron, his memoir, features a two-page introduction by then-Secretary of State for War and Air Winston S. Churchill. Churchills introduction, at pages 5-6, is headed WAR OFFICE, WHITEHALL, S.W.1., dated 27th October, 1919, and is signed in facsimile. The author of this book has a good fighting record and is entitled to write with authority the lessons which may be derived from this straightforward and soldierly narrative possess a definite value among the records of the Royal Air Force in the Great War Nothing that has ever happened in the world before has offered to man such an opportunity for individual personal prowess as the air fighting of the Great War. Fiction has never portrayed such extraordinary combats, such hairbreadth escapes, such absolute superiority to risk, such dazzling personal triumphs.
That the busy Secretary of State for War and Air would take the time to contribute an introduction was less surprising than it might seem.
Even before the First World War, Churchill was fully engaged in powered flights possibilities. Being Churchill, of course he trained as a pilot himself. But it was in his official capacities that he truly advocated and advanced the military potential of flight. As first Lord of the Admiralty (1911-1915), he sought out the small band of adventurous officers who were the pioneers of naval aviation and In 1912 he founded the Royal Naval Air Service a precursor of the Royal Flying Corps and, later, the Royal Air Force Because of his efforts, England became the first country to equip a plane with a machine gun, and the first to launch an airborne torpedo. (Manchester, The Last Lion, Vol. I, p.444)
In January 1919, nine months before he wrote the Introduction for this volume, Churchill was appointed Secretary of State for Air. In the First World War's aftermath, Churchill understood and embraced the military potential of air power and used his position - not without resistance - to make military aviation a priority. He sought to build resources and organizational capacity, but also to ensure that the Air Force remained integrated within a unified Defence Ministry.
The vision of air power as integral to an effective future military force was prescient; two decades later, Prime Minister Winston Churchill would famously praise the British pilots ("Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.") who played the vital role in preventing Nazi invasion.
Reference: Cohen B23.1
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Details
- Bookseller
- Churchill Book Collector (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 006992
- Title
- With A Bristol Fighter Squadron
- Author
- Walter Noble, with an Introduction by Winston S. Churchill
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Andrew Melrose
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1920
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
Churchill Book Collector
Biblio member since 2010
San Diego, California
About Churchill Book Collector
We buy and sell books by and about Sir Winston Churchill. If you seek a Churchill edition you do not find in our current online inventory, please contact us; we might be able to find it for you. We are always happy to help fellow collectors answer questions about the many editions of Churchill's many works.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Facsimile
- An exact copy of an original work. In books, it refers to a copy or reproduction, as accurate as possible, of an original...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...