Event Topic: World

The story of air power during the Great War East Africa campaign is barely known. GWAS, through Cross & Cockade International has published a number of excellent histories covering specific aspects, but there is no single volume that brings all the stories, all the war diaries, and many of the personal collections together. Member Rick Newton, with a personal interest in air power’s role in small wars, has done the research and written that comprehensive volume with the goal of educating future airmen on the challenges of delivering air power in primitive, harsh, and extremely distant environments.

Rick Newton is currently serving as an irregular warfare and air power planner for the US military in Stuttgart, Germany. He volunteers his time to also serve as the Irregular Warfare Initiative’s Director of the Air & Space Power project. He is a 1977 graduate of the USAF Academy and holds a PhD from King’s College London. His thesis was the basis for his first book, The Royal Air Force and Tribal Control: Airpower and Irregular Warfare Between the World Wars.

At least 18 Gallantry Awards were made for Air Service during the Great War. Why were they awarded? What did the flying corps do in sub-Saharan Africa?

Dr Anne Samson will provide the answers to these and other questions about the air war over Africa during this event. Dr Samson is an independent historian specialising in the Great War in Africa. She has written and given talks on a wide range of topics related to the theatre and co-ordinates the Great War in Africa Association (https://gweaa.com)

Air power at Gallipoli. Dozens of books have been written about the fiasco of the landings at Gallipoli. Very little has been written about the hundreds of aircraft committed by the RNAS to supporting the campaign. This talk attempts to redress that imbalance.

Graham Mottram is a long-time member of GWAS and currently holds the position of trustee and Sales Manager. Graham was previously Director of the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton and Director of Collections and Research at the National Museum of the Royal Navy.