Wings of War : An Airman's Diary of the Last Year of the War

There will always be war as long as there is life on earth. Individuals will come to blows, quarrels will arise in families. Tribes will have their feuds, nations will fight battles and races will destroy one another.War will be eternal and stronger than any religion.Every war has a purpose. Sometimes this is clear enough for everyone to understand it, but often it is quite obscure. The limits of necessity are blurred, and so no one can grasp the purpose of the war.War has its horrors. Fearful agonies follow in its train. But every war has also its values and beauties. Cowards do not love the battlefield; they tremble, and in their fear they can only see the pettiness. Afterwards they can grumble at the war.There will be many grumblers, because there are many cowards. But many men took their share in the war. The one served his gun, while another soared in the air and fought honourable duels. A third crouched continually in the trenches and was only an insignificant fraction of the mighty struggle.Men learnt to know one another in the fire of murderous battles when everything petty fell away from the individual, leaving the spirit naked, pure and devoid of falsehood. Then there was nothing mean or insignificant left; war stood out in all its exalted greatness.We must all die one day. Every man clings to life. We of the younger generation had our whole lives before us; we had the most to lose. A rare day-to-day account by a young German squadron leader in Jagdstaffel 35 during the grim last year of World War I. Originally published in 1933, Wings of War provides minute descriptions of kills, losses, and the Germans’ step-by-step retreat in the face of increasingly overwhelming Allied forces in the air. Brutally honest and vividly written, Rudolf Stark’s account of the endgame of the Imperial German Army Air Service provides an intimate, front-row glimpse of the death-throes of a once-feared corps. This book also contains reproductions of some of the author’s paintings depicting life on the Western Front. “A work of depth and insight, illustrated with the author’s own photographs and paintings from a cockpit perspective . . . League members are highly encouraged to read this classic of aviation history literature.” —Over the Front “Provides a thoughtful look at the decline of Germany, its military, and its air force in the last half of 1918.” —World War One Illustrated This is a rare day-to-day account by a young German squadron leader in Jagdstaffel 35 during the grim last year of the war. Originally published in 1933, it provides minute descriptions of kills, losses and the Germans' step-by-step retreat in the face of increasingly overwhelming Allied forces in the air. Flying a Scout Machine With Jagdstaffel XXXIV on the Verdun Front The Amiens Offensive May 1918 in the Somme Area Leading Jagdstaffel XXXV On Leave The English Offensive Cambrai Becomes a Battle Area Idle Days in the Vosges Fighting on a Wavering Front Is it the End? The End.