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Up and at 'Em
Here is the personal story of Colonel Harold E. Hartney, the renowned commander of the American First Pursuit Group in the First World War.
A Canadian who originally enlisted in Britain's Royal Flying Corps, the author gives us a first-hand account of the men and machines that established military aviation as the greatest weapon of all time.
A Canadian who originally enlisted in Britain's Royal Flying Corps, the author gives us a first-hand account of the men and machines that established military aviation as the greatest weapon of all time.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
About the author
Harold E. Hartney
9 books1 followerHarold Evans Hartney joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in October 1914 and arrived in England the following year. While in England, he visited an aerodrome at Folkestone while training nearby on Dibgate Plains and crossed paths with fellow Canadian Billy Bishop (later to be Canada's top ace of the First World War). That incidental meeting at Folkestone Aerodrome steered Hartney to the Royal Flying Corps. On 21 October 1915, he transferred to the RFC.
By the beginning of the Somme Offensive, Hartney had been assigned to 20 Squadron as a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d pilot. On 1 July 1916, while flying over the developing ground attack, Hartney found himself under fire from a Fokker E.III. Hartney smacked his gunner alert, sideslipped from danger, and racked his Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d into an Immelmann turn. He came out slightly above the German, who was now in a head-on firing pass. Hartney's gunner fired five four-round bursts. Hartney received credit for the victory.
On the way home, Hartney and his gunner got into 11 more skirmishes, clearing three incidental machine gun jams. In one skirmish, they tailed another German and sent him down in a smoking plunge to earth for what was officially another "out of control" win. By the time the FE.2d landed, the gunner had run one gun dry; the other was jammed. The plane was a bullet-riddled wreck, trailing torn fabric. Somehow, the crew was uninjured.
Hartney would not score again until 20 October. He then took leave before returning to the fray as 'A' Flight Commander. On 2 February, flying his ninth assigned aircraft in eight months duty, Hartney destroyed a Halberstadt D.II over Lille. Twelve days later, Hartney was tasked with a photographic reconnaissance mission near Passchendaele. With observer W. T. Jourdan aboard, and escorted by another FE.2, Hartney found himself under attack by seven German Albatros D.III fighter planes. Then, as Hartney later wrote, "...the right rear enemy ship...took a swoop at us. His tracer bullets were playing about us for fully two seconds before Jourdan finally let him have both guns right in the face. The poor brave kid just kept on going, for all the world like a mortally wounded bird plummeting to his death near a river bend below us." This victory was Hartney's fifth, making him an ace.
The FE.2 escort's observer also downed an Albatros, while Jourdan accounted for another; one German fell aflame, the other fell in a slow spinning dive. The escort then broke up under fire from a single Albatros; the British observer was killed in action, and the pilot wounded. Hartney attempted to battle the attacker, only to discover that his own FE.2 suffered from a snapped-off propeller blade and broken flying wires and was incapable of fighting. The Canadian ace had to shut down the engine and dead-stick to a crashlanding in a Belgian field picketed with hop poles. After impact, he found himself lying under the 775 pounds of the FE.2's engine. Australian troops trying to lift it free dropped it back on him.
After recuperation, during which time Hartney became a U.S. citizen in October 1917, he transferred to the U.S. Air Service. He scored his last win for them on 25 June 1918, while in the 27th Pursuit Squadron, although he went on to an unconfirmed triumph over a Gotha while with the 185th Aero Squadron. Hartney commanded both the 27th Pursuit Squadron and its parent organization, the 1st Pursuit Group.
Harold Hartney ended the war as a Lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, leading to some confusion as to his nationality.
By the beginning of the Somme Offensive, Hartney had been assigned to 20 Squadron as a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d pilot. On 1 July 1916, while flying over the developing ground attack, Hartney found himself under fire from a Fokker E.III. Hartney smacked his gunner alert, sideslipped from danger, and racked his Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d into an Immelmann turn. He came out slightly above the German, who was now in a head-on firing pass. Hartney's gunner fired five four-round bursts. Hartney received credit for the victory.
On the way home, Hartney and his gunner got into 11 more skirmishes, clearing three incidental machine gun jams. In one skirmish, they tailed another German and sent him down in a smoking plunge to earth for what was officially another "out of control" win. By the time the FE.2d landed, the gunner had run one gun dry; the other was jammed. The plane was a bullet-riddled wreck, trailing torn fabric. Somehow, the crew was uninjured.
Hartney would not score again until 20 October. He then took leave before returning to the fray as 'A' Flight Commander. On 2 February, flying his ninth assigned aircraft in eight months duty, Hartney destroyed a Halberstadt D.II over Lille. Twelve days later, Hartney was tasked with a photographic reconnaissance mission near Passchendaele. With observer W. T. Jourdan aboard, and escorted by another FE.2, Hartney found himself under attack by seven German Albatros D.III fighter planes. Then, as Hartney later wrote, "...the right rear enemy ship...took a swoop at us. His tracer bullets were playing about us for fully two seconds before Jourdan finally let him have both guns right in the face. The poor brave kid just kept on going, for all the world like a mortally wounded bird plummeting to his death near a river bend below us." This victory was Hartney's fifth, making him an ace.
The FE.2 escort's observer also downed an Albatros, while Jourdan accounted for another; one German fell aflame, the other fell in a slow spinning dive. The escort then broke up under fire from a single Albatros; the British observer was killed in action, and the pilot wounded. Hartney attempted to battle the attacker, only to discover that his own FE.2 suffered from a snapped-off propeller blade and broken flying wires and was incapable of fighting. The Canadian ace had to shut down the engine and dead-stick to a crashlanding in a Belgian field picketed with hop poles. After impact, he found himself lying under the 775 pounds of the FE.2's engine. Australian troops trying to lift it free dropped it back on him.
After recuperation, during which time Hartney became a U.S. citizen in October 1917, he transferred to the U.S. Air Service. He scored his last win for them on 25 June 1918, while in the 27th Pursuit Squadron, although he went on to an unconfirmed triumph over a Gotha while with the 185th Aero Squadron. Hartney commanded both the 27th Pursuit Squadron and its parent organization, the 1st Pursuit Group.
Harold Hartney ended the war as a Lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, leading to some confusion as to his nationality.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 8, 2012
This was a very honest and colorful account of Hartney's experiences flying with Britain's Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the United States Army Air Service (USAS) during the First World War. (Hartney was discharged from the U.S. Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, after having commanded the First Pursuit Group in France.)
This book was originally published in early 1940, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War. From time to time, Hartney prognosticates on what he anticipates the future may bring in terms of the use of air power at that time. He also sheds light on his family and continued involvement in aviation since 1918. This gives the reader more of a fuller sense of the man, who, born Canadian, later became a U.S. citizen.
This book was originally published in early 1940, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War. From time to time, Hartney prognosticates on what he anticipates the future may bring in terms of the use of air power at that time. He also sheds light on his family and continued involvement in aviation since 1918. This gives the reader more of a fuller sense of the man, who, born Canadian, later became a U.S. citizen.
April 15, 2021
In the late sixties and early seventies, Stanley M. Ulanoff edited, and Ace Books republished a number of books authored by flying aces of World War I. Many of these books were written shortly after the war; others weren’t completed because the authors (Richtofen and McCudden for example) were killed before the Armistice. These are interesting reads because of the varying talents and possible motives applied to the task.
By contrast, Up & At ‘Em was published in 1940, twenty-two years after the war, and with another war just underway. This was an interesting, informative, and pleasurable read. In it, author Lieutenant Colonel Harold E. Hartney looks at his career and the progress of aerial warfare from the mature advantage of twenty-two years. He was a fighter pilot, then a squadron commander, and finally commanding officer, 1st Pursuit Group, in charge of five squadrons with such heroes as Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke. After the war, he became a lawyer, journalist, and businessman, and seems to have kept up with the careers of his former subordinates.
His pride in his units’ and pilots’ achievements during the war is obvious, but he does not brag upon his own, but on theirs. His occasional frustration at bureaucracy (what commander isn’t?) and the mistakes caused by it comes through and other pilots will sympathize. Of surprise to this reader is that he and his mates greatly preferred the Nieuport 28, of shedding its wings infamy, to the Spad whose guns were subject of frequent jamming. He finishes his narrative with chapters on Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke, America’s leading two aces and both winners of the Medal of Honor, Luke’s posthumously. The last chapter, “American Aviation in the Coming War,” gave his views on the future, on the eve of America’s entry into WWII.
By contrast, Up & At ‘Em was published in 1940, twenty-two years after the war, and with another war just underway. This was an interesting, informative, and pleasurable read. In it, author Lieutenant Colonel Harold E. Hartney looks at his career and the progress of aerial warfare from the mature advantage of twenty-two years. He was a fighter pilot, then a squadron commander, and finally commanding officer, 1st Pursuit Group, in charge of five squadrons with such heroes as Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke. After the war, he became a lawyer, journalist, and businessman, and seems to have kept up with the careers of his former subordinates.
His pride in his units’ and pilots’ achievements during the war is obvious, but he does not brag upon his own, but on theirs. His occasional frustration at bureaucracy (what commander isn’t?) and the mistakes caused by it comes through and other pilots will sympathize. Of surprise to this reader is that he and his mates greatly preferred the Nieuport 28, of shedding its wings infamy, to the Spad whose guns were subject of frequent jamming. He finishes his narrative with chapters on Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke, America’s leading two aces and both winners of the Medal of Honor, Luke’s posthumously. The last chapter, “American Aviation in the Coming War,” gave his views on the future, on the eve of America’s entry into WWII.
July 16, 2014
Few enough of us have even a modicum of knowledge about WWI anymore. It's been a century, now, and even today's centenarians were young children when that war ended. During WWI Hartney worked his way up the ranks to command the First Pursuit Squadron, along the way becoming an Ace (five confirmed kills needed, seven-plus earned). This book will fill a part of the knowledge gap with his exposition on the early years of combat aviation. This isn't a thriller, it's a historical memoir and a quite good one. It's not all heroism and glory; he skewers clueless commanders who issue impossible orders. For most readers WWI aviation comprises Rickenbacker, von Richthofen and Brown; Hartney expands that short list with his own achievements and with his stories of a number of other aviators in the vanguard of aerial warfare. I won't recommend this for a general audience. It isn't technical or esoteric but an interest in and some knowledge of the early twentieth century is beneficial.
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July 25, 2014(Read during High School)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews