War among the Clouds
New Brunswick Airmen in the Great War
The Great War of 1914–18 was the first conflict in which aircraft played a significant role. It was dangerous and sometimes exciting, and it created and accelerated rapid technological change in the field of aeronautical engineering. The men who served as pilots, observers, gunners, and mechanics signed up for an unknown endeavour and opened up a new chapter in warfare.
War among the Clouds examines the experience of the more than 250 New Brunswickers who served in the British air services during the First World War. While most who saw active service at the front fought in France and Belgium, many served in Italy, Egypt, Macedonia, and Russia. Still others remained behind in Britain or Canada, training new recruits.
Drawing on diaries and letters of airmen, newspaper reports, and archival images and documents, J. Brent Wilson tells the story of a group of men who were forerunners in their field and laid the foundation for the RCAF.
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“Wilson has a definite talent for skilfully summarizing his subjects’ pre-war lives, wartime service, and post-war existence. Quite rightly, his emphasis is on their wartime experiences, and he has done a masterly job of telling these stories.” — Atlantic Books Today
“By using the men’s own words to tell their stories, the book brings their experiences to life in a way that feels much more personal.” — The Miramichi Reader
“A masterful job of painting a picture of what was happening as the air war took off in 1914, not only from a New Brunswick perspective but a Canadian one.” — The Seaboard Review
J. Brent Wilson worked at the Centre for Conflict Studies and the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick for thirty-five years, where he was director of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Project, editor of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Book Series, and taught military history. He has conducted battlefield tours in France, Belgium, Canada, and the United States with the Canadian Battlefields Foundation, the Canadian Armed Forces, and commercial tour companies. His publications include Hurricane Pilot: The Wartime Letters of Harry L. Gill, DFM, 1940–1943 and A Family of Brothers: Soldiers of the 26th New Brunswick Battalion in the Great War.
