Air Service Boys Over the Enemy's Lines; or, The German Spy's Secret

Air Service Boys #2

by Charles Amory Beach

"The adventures of young American pilots during World War I in their air-duels with German pilots and their interception of German homing pigeons used to send messages from German spies in France back to Germany." -- "Another thrilling tale of army aviation. Entrusted with a special mission, the young airmen go over the German lines and learn important secrets. They had previously aided an American girl who had a German guardian, and they fall in with this rascal, who tries to make trouble for them. They are captured and sentenced to be shot. How they manage to escape makes reading no boy will want to miss."

227 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

Charles Amory Beach was a house pseudonym used to publish a number of works for young boys at the beginning of the twentieth century. Works published using this name include: The Air Service Boys Flying for France (1918), The Air Service Boys over the Enemy's Lines (1918), The Air Service Boys in the Big Battle, or, Silencing the Big Guns (1919), The Air Service Boys over the Rhine (1919), The Air Service Boys Flying for Victory (1919) and The Air Service Boys over the Atlantic, or, The Longest Flight on Record (1920).

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Air Service Boys were the heroes of a six-volume series of books for boys that was published 1918-1920. The books were produced by The Stratemeyer Syndicate and were published under the house pseudonym Charles Amory Beach. They're the story of boys fighting in the skies during the First World War, and are quite patriotic in their depiction of allied heroism and Hun barbarism; they were perhaps intended to encourage the readers to enlist when they came of age. They're quite similar to the Army Boys series by Homer Randall that appeared in the same era, except with the newfangled aerial technology. This one is the second book of the series, and appeared in 1918. The books didn't portray warfare as too bloody or violent; the killing was at a distance. This one has more of a spy/intrigue plot than actual combat. The publisher issued this summary: THE AIR SERVICE BOYS OVER THE ENEMY'S LINES; or, The German Spy's Secret -- "The adventures of young American pilots during World War I in their air-duels with German pilots and their interception of German homing pigeons used to send messages from German spies in France back to Germany." -- "Another thrilling tale of army aviation. Entrusted with a special mission, the young airmen go over the German lines and learn important secrets. They had previously aided an American girl who had a German guardian, and they fall in with this rascal, who tries to make trouble for them. They are captured and sentenced to be shot. How they manage to escape makes reading no boy will want to miss." It's not a well-written book, and the dialog feels unrealistic. I much preferred the juvenile adventures to be of the exploratory variety, rather than to be set in war time.

[Crystal Wise Parsons]

Meh. This book was tedious. We read it as part of our homeschooling history lessons as we learned about WWI. Some parts were interesting and it talked quite a bit about pilots and planes which lined up with our science lessons on physics and aeronautics. However, the story feels contrived, the conversations and speech unnatural. More like an amateur or even a student wrote it and not an established author. I'm sure there are more entertaining and educational books out there.

[Auryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting to have an idea of what it was like fighting during WWI from the point-of-view of two Air Service boys. Parts of the plot seemed a little out there, specifically how everything was so neatly tied up at the end, but it is simply a work of fiction and still gave good insight into what was at stake during that time as well as secret spy missions that were conducted.