The last of the first and the first of the future

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Today is the 90 years on from the Battle of the Somme.

I found this on the MOD website:

The last of the first and the first of the future - The Air War over the Somme (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/TheLastOfTheFirstAndTheFirstOfTheFutureTheAirWarOverTheSomme .htm)

A tragedy we must never forget.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old :
Age shall not wither them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

[cazatou]

Odd that they did not mention Major Rees OC 32 Sqn RFC who won the VC on the opening day of the battle.

[RayDarr]

Sorry to be an Anorak, but the SE5 was a 1917 scout, not a 1916 recce aircraft. First flown on the Western Front by 56 Sqn. The Sopwith Triplane or"Tripehound" replaced the Sopwith Pup which would have been the correct aircraft to bring over to France for a 1916 flypast.
A great book telling of the 1916 Somme air battles (and on to the end of WW1) is Sagitarius Rising by Cecil Lewis. He flew during the Somme on "Contact Patrol ( an early form of CAS) in Morane "Parasols" of 3 Sqn. Later he was a Flight Commander on 56 Sqn (20 years old and a Captain RFC!!!)

[A2QFI]

I too recommend this book. If I recall correctly Lewis survived 2 years on the Western Front, at a time when a man was lucky to last a month. After the war he did a lot of test flying; in a later life he wrote the script for the first film version of "Pygmalion", later redone as My Fair Lady, and then became a governor of the BBC. A mixed and fruitful career!