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Wind in the Wires
The celebrated memoir of a World War 1 British air ace, Duncan Grinnell-Milne.
221 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 30, 2011
The author was a First World War pilot who successfully escaped from a German POW camp (after 2 years in captivity) and went on to serve in a Royal Air Force fighter squadron on the Western Front, finishing the war with 6 confirmed victories. This is his story, which comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
May 29, 2020
In the late 1960s, Ace Publishing Company published (or republished) memoirs of flying aces of World War I in paperback format. They were assembled and edited by Stanley M. Ulanoff. These memoirs were as good or bad as the effort the ace put into them. Aces like Duncan Grinnell-Milne and Charles Biddle were not the highest scoring of their nations, but served courageously and capably and wrote memoirs that are pleasurable to read.
Grinnell-Milne’s Wind in the Wires (originally published 1933) is downright delightful. As “Mark” above says, Grinnell-Milne doesn’t dwell on his victories. Compare his story to, say, that of Capt. Rene Fonck, the Allied “ace of aces” who would write "I put my bullets into the target as if I placed them there by hand." Fonck was good and would be the first one to tell you so.
Captain Grinnell-Milne’s story has three components: before his being captured in 1915, his captivity, and his return to duty in 1918. Of all, he wrote light-heartedly. The escape attempts—many—by him and his companions read like a comedy of errors (pp.159-162 in the 1968 paperback). He writes well of his comrades and reveals their characters and humanity. The chicanery by which he returned to an active squadron in the closing days of the war is also amusing and seems so typical of the devil-may-care attitude of fighting pilots everywhere. This book, sitting on my shelf for fifty years, proved to be a pleasant surprise.
Grinnell-Milne’s Wind in the Wires (originally published 1933) is downright delightful. As “Mark” above says, Grinnell-Milne doesn’t dwell on his victories. Compare his story to, say, that of Capt. Rene Fonck, the Allied “ace of aces” who would write "I put my bullets into the target as if I placed them there by hand." Fonck was good and would be the first one to tell you so.
Captain Grinnell-Milne’s story has three components: before his being captured in 1915, his captivity, and his return to duty in 1918. Of all, he wrote light-heartedly. The escape attempts—many—by him and his companions read like a comedy of errors (pp.159-162 in the 1968 paperback). He writes well of his comrades and reveals their characters and humanity. The chicanery by which he returned to an active squadron in the closing days of the war is also amusing and seems so typical of the devil-may-care attitude of fighting pilots everywhere. This book, sitting on my shelf for fifty years, proved to be a pleasant surprise.
March 25, 2024
This is the story of the authors experiences with the RFC in France. First commisioned in the Special Reserve of the Rifle Brigade he served as an infantry officer in 1914. He was seconded to the RFC in 1915 and served in France until his capture in December 1915. He spent the next two and a half years a German prisoner until his escape April 1918. He served out the war flying again in France
January 10, 2025
One of those amazing library used book sale finds, bought for the title. I'd never heard of the book or the author but was pleased to find the book a very readable account of being a British pilot in WWI.
August 20, 2017
Unlike most WWI memoirs, Grinnell-Milne does not focus on his aerial victories against the enemy. With the exception of his first, he doesn't write about them at all and we only learn of them as he relates telling his squadron mates. Instead, he writes about his observations and feelings about flying, about those he was flying with, and about the hardships he endured--including being shot down and captured, but not about his actual captivity. It's a pleasant read and you get the feeling that you have, in some way, gotten to know him personally.
It's not, however, a good first read for those who have never read a WWI flying story. There are more famous pilots who regale in great detail their dogfights and victories. There are more skilled pilots who explain flying a "kite" (as those early canvas-and-wood craft were called) in such detail and care, that at the conclusion of their story you feel like you could climb into a "crate" of your own and take off at the unbelievable speed of 80 miles per hours and risk looping-the-loop! But, with perhaps the exception of Eddie Rickenbacker's biography, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more personable author with whom you'll wish it were still possible to share a brandy in front of the fire and review the day's flying.
It's not, however, a good first read for those who have never read a WWI flying story. There are more famous pilots who regale in great detail their dogfights and victories. There are more skilled pilots who explain flying a "kite" (as those early canvas-and-wood craft were called) in such detail and care, that at the conclusion of their story you feel like you could climb into a "crate" of your own and take off at the unbelievable speed of 80 miles per hours and risk looping-the-loop! But, with perhaps the exception of Eddie Rickenbacker's biography, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more personable author with whom you'll wish it were still possible to share a brandy in front of the fire and review the day's flying.
October 12, 2014
Good fun and an insight into the minds of the young men who flew in the early planes. Some funny bits such as freezing his spotter or altering the lists through judicious spillages; some courageous bits such as attacking ground machine gun emplacements; some regretful such as post factum musings on the civilian casualties of his bombing raids.
I enjoyed this very much, but the dangers he faced are perhaps glossed a tad (only in passing does he mention how far he outlived the 6 weeks average) and it is in the details - the officer who would have impeded his plans dying next day, the turn over of personnel in his squadron in a very short period, etc. - that the futility and awfulness of the early air war is shown.
There is a wonderful moment when he records waving to a German during a dog-fight and getting a cheery return as they shot at each other and it is hard to know whether to laugh or cry.
I enjoyed this very much, but the dangers he faced are perhaps glossed a tad (only in passing does he mention how far he outlived the 6 weeks average) and it is in the details - the officer who would have impeded his plans dying next day, the turn over of personnel in his squadron in a very short period, etc. - that the futility and awfulness of the early air war is shown.
There is a wonderful moment when he records waving to a German during a dog-fight and getting a cheery return as they shot at each other and it is hard to know whether to laugh or cry.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews