No Parachute

April 15, 2014
In 1917, Gould Lee (1894-1975) was a 22-year-old pilot in the No. 46 Fighter Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps in France when, he explains in a preamble, the war on the ground was deadlocked and mastery in the skies traded hands over and over. The missives collected here, some edited for length, were first published in 1968 and are part of the correspondence Gould Lee sent to his young wife, Gwyneth Ann Lee (material written later describes the couple's time at home). During the war many details such as place names had to be omitted from letters so as to escape the censor; these facts have now been added. Footnotes provide context and define the many slang terms used. As well as feeling terror for the pilot, readers will empathize with Gwyneth Ann as the original reader of letters that include breathless accounts of many near misses. Appendixes describe "The Failure in High Command," "[General] Trenchard's Strategy of the Offensive," and, most important, the controversies behind the book's title, which refers to the lack of parachutes on British fighting planes at the time. VERDICT Aviation enthusiasts and historians will be transfixed by Gould Lee's accounts of life both in the skies and on the ground.--HV

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