Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:


Guest

Recommended Posts

Easy prey for German planes, observation balloons flew a half-mile over the trenches, spying on the enemy and directing Allied fire. Today, a reader will not find a lone page about them in 100 histories of WWI. This book aims to remedy the national amnesia about the US Army’s Balloon Service and its value in that war by focusing on the experiences of a single balloon soldier—my father, Private Austin Walter Johnson.

E.L. Doctorow wrote, “The historian will tell you what happened; the novelist will tell you what it felt like.”

Here, Austin tells what WWI felt like as a member of the Army’s elite Balloon Service. However, Austin never talked about what happened to him in France. His story needed a “voice,” so I have told his story for him.

Austin in the Great War will inform, amuse, shock, and inspire, by turns. Only after ten years of research did details emerge of the horrors that scarred this naïve Nebraska farm boy in mind and soul.
Sixteen original maps and 350 photosdozens never seen beforeillustrate the daring life of America’s “balloonatics.” Only 17 balloon outfits saw battle. This book explores their vital contribution to the war effort, shows how hard these forgotten airmen fought, and describes their fate after the 1918 Armistice.
Austin returned to a strange home and a mind undone by the bloodshed he and a million other men witnessed. In the end a stronger force
the power of loveasserted itself.

The Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum Library has just requested Austin in the Great War. The San Diego Air and Space Museum library now has it on its shelves, and the National WWI Museum and Library in Kansas City has carried it since last summer.

Austin in the Great War 

has received glowing reviews on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Austin-Great-War-Nebraska-Balloon/dp/0999634712#customerReviews

I will be pleased to answer such questions on Great War ballooning as I can, commensurate with what knowledge I’ve acquired and the demands on my time.

Robert Eugene Johnson


Author, Austin in the Great War (2018)

 

Observation Balloon About to Ascend, 1918 e-mail smaller.jpg

Balloon Explosion 1.jpg

Practice Ascension by the Meuse River, 9-10-1918.jpg

Edited by Guest
Add further information of value and interest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...