Page 164 - Demo

164in the standard Grub Street8style insert %u2013 notably a photograph of a DH 53 Humming Bird which is identified, quite inexplicably, as a (non8existent) %u2018Grebe II monoplane%u2019. On the other hand, the dust jacket is graced with a splendid picture of the original version of No 6 Sqn%u2019s badge. Designed and painted by Cpl Burfield, it featured an albatross, pre8dating the later %u2018bird%u2019 sitting within the figure six and the eventual eagle as approved by the College of Heralds. Who knew?! Compared to the book reviewed above, the saving grace in this case is that it is quite plain to see the fault lines, as the Introduction and Epilogue were clearly contributed by the co8authors and the dozen or so interjections that occur within the narrative are all in parentheses and attributed to %u2018Ed%u2019. Beyond that the other additional information, undoubtedly the work of the estimable Norman Franks, is in the form of brief biographical details relating to the many personalities who passed through Greig%u2019s orbit. Whether these add anything to the subject%u2019s story is a matter of opinion, but they do not disrupt the flow; you can take them or leave them, as they are provided as endnotes to each chapter %u2013 which is the right way to do it. So much for the presentation, what of the content? I loved it. Greig spent three years flying Bristol Fighters with No 6 Sqn in Mesopotamia and a year with No 24 Sqn before becoming a QFI and being retained on the staff of CFS 1924827. After a year at HQ Fighting Area he spent 1928829 in charge of the High Speed Flight Experimental Section during which he just failed to set a world speed record (he beat the previous figure, but by not quite enough to count) and flew an S.5 in the 1929 Schneider Trophy Race and there the tale ends (apart from Norman Franks%u2019 postscript which sketches in the next fifteen years or so). The main narrative appears to be entirely in Greig%u2019s own words, and what entertaining words they are. This was the era of carefree young pilots kept only loosely in check by the decorated combat veterans of WW I and supervised by senior officers who, it seems, could be surprisingly tolerant of crimes and misdemeanours. For No 6 Sqn%u2019s orig?inal badge on the side of a Bristol Fighter in 1921.