Author "Wings" of the book "Over the German Lines". Saunders/Sanders?

[MaureenE]

Does anyone know the author of "Over the German Lines  and other sketches illustrating the life and work of an Artillery Squadron of the R.A.F. in France"  by "Wings" (Captain, RAF) 

I have searched on the Internet and found two references identifying the author as Arthur P M Saunders. 

If this identification is substantially correct, it appears that the correct name is Arthur Penrose Martyn Sanders, who held senior roles in the RAF during the Second World War until he retired in 1956 as  Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Sanders

During the First World War he served with No. 5 Squadron RFC, where he lost one arm due to wounds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Sanders_(RAF_officer) Arthur Sanders (RAF officer) (Wikipedia)

Does anyone have any information?

Maureen

 

[alex revell]

Maureen

Does it give the date he was wounded?. This would enable him being checked in Trevor Henshaw's magnificent book, The Sky Their Battlefield.  

[Max Renault]

Sanders was wounded on 20th May 1917.

I'd be interested to know what the evidence is that he wrote the book. Noffsinger describes 'Wings', whose writings had previous appeared in the popular press, as being active from 1915-1917. 1915 would have been very young indeed for Sanders- but then I am not sure where Noffsinger is getting that from either.

Edited 11 June , 2023 by Max Renault

[Max Renault]

Actually, if Noffsinger either mis-typed or there was a misprint and he actually meant July 1916 rather than 1915, it fits Sanders pretty well.

 

What kind of information are you after? Sanders made a submission to the RAF Staff College in 1926 about his career, though the First World War section is not very detailed.

[MaureenE]

Someone recently provided me with the book file which I uploaded to the Internet Archive (Archive.org)

https://archive.org/details/overgermanlines/page/n9/mode/2up 

It's a book of sketches, not a strict autobiographical account.

To be accurate about the author on the book file, I wondered if anyone had any specific knowledge.

One of the sources giving the author as Arthur P M Saunders was a booksellers list "World War I Aviation", item 70 in https://www.colophonbooks.com/images/WWI-dec-2014.pdf  (archived link https://web.archive.org/web/20230609055934/https://www.colophonbooks.com/images/WWI-dec-2014.pdf  )  

Perhaps a bookseller would have knowledge, but if so you would expect they would have the exact name.  

Maureen

 

Edited 11 June , 2023 by MaureenE

[Max Renault]

Ok yes that fits. The book says he went to Sandhurst in June 1915, was gazetted to 'a certain very famous infantry regiment' but seconded to the RFC and got his wings at the end of June 1916, going to France in July.

Sanders' submission to the Staff College matches this. 'I was gazetted to the Northumberland Fusiliers on 7th April 1916. I did not, however, join my battalion, for, having been seconded for duty with the Royal Flying Corps, I was posted immediately to No. 9 Reserve Squadron at Norwich to learn to fly.'

He goes on to say 'I was posted overseas 17th July 1916.'

Book says he was there until May 1917, which matches his arm wound.

 

So I think it looks very likely that Sanders was the author.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

by Air Chief Marshal Arthur P. M. Sanders

[MaureenE]

Thanks all for the comments.

Sanders it is!

Maureen

[helpjpl]

Sanders Casualty Form - GSW to Arm and Amputation:

https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/21145

JP

Edited 12 June , 2023 by helpjpl

[pierssc]

I'm interested to learn of this as Sanders' time in 5 Squadron almost exactly coincided with that of my grandfather (August 1916-May 1917), so I have researched the period a bit.  Whoever the author, he did an admirable job of blurring names and dates.

The chapter "Moving Camp" may describe the move from Droglandt to Marieux on 2nd October 1916.  The date in the account of "the 13th" matches none of the three moves 5 Squadron made during Sanders' time; however moving from an aerodrome in a quiet sector to the Ancre front where things were going to be hotter, and the dawn start (the moves to La Gorgue and Savy the following year weren't so early) points towards Marieux.  It ties in with my grandfather's rather brief diary entry and logbook.

The story "Driven Down" in "Over the German Lines" matches the experience of 2/Lts Buckton and Barritt of 5 Squadron on 13th April 1917.   A version of the same story also appears in the chapter "Vimy" in "Fly Papers" by "The Whip" (Arthur E Illingworth, also of 5 Squadron) published by R Ward & Sons, 1919, who like Sanders was in the Squadron during Bloody April.  The tale also features in the history of 5 Squadron in AIR27/63.

I tried to identify some of the other protaganists in "Over the German Lines", without much success so far.  "Major Benson" may possibly be Major Henderson, if only on the basis that it sounds to my ear a more likely pseudonym for him than for Majors Cogan or Lewis.  "The Cherub" (A Chapter of Accidents), "Barnes'" Observer, who is severely wounded in the leg by AA fire, but whose pilot is unwounded and uninjured in the subsequent crash, is surprisingly elusive.  In 5 Squadron during the period in question as far as I can see either both crew were lost, or both casualties, and if only one was wounded it was usually the pilot, rather than the Observer.  The only candidate I could identify on a brief look was Lt HWB Rickards, severely wounded in the leg by a bullet from ground fire on November 16 1916.  The identities of the pilot and the aircraft are not identifiable which sounds to me as if it may have landed safely rather than crashed as described in the book.  But then events may have been fictionalised to a greater or lesser extent, and there is little if any characterisation of the people.  It would be interesting to know the dates of publication of the original articles.

 

 

[Max Renault]

I can help you a bit there. 'Waking Up Fritz' appeared in the Daily Mail on 26th January 1917, The Pictures on February 20th and Ticklish Job on May 15th. Can't seem to track down Over the German Lines.

[pierssc]

2 hours ago, Max Renault said:

I can help you a bit there. 'Waking Up Fritz' appeared in the Daily Mail on 26th January 1917, The Pictures on February 20th and Ticklish Job on May 15th. Can't seem to track down Over the German Lines.

Thank you for those. 

[josquin]

Pierssc,

2nd Lt. H.G. Rickards was the 5 Squadron observer wounded on 16 November 1916, not Lt. H.W.B. Rickards who was attached to 5 Squadron on 2 August 1916,

to 57 Squadron on 24 May 1917, and was killed in action during a bombing raid on Ingelmunster on 28 July 1917.  Both men were Observers and both

were with the Royal Field Artillery prior to the R.F.C.  H.G. Rickards was with the London Howitzer Brigade and reverted to the R.F.A. after his brief service

with 5 Squadon.  The London Gazette (6 October 1917) records that he was an Acting Captain with the R.F.A. "whilst employed as 2nd in command of

a battery."  H.G. Rickards' casualty card states that he was wounded in the leg by a bullet from the trenches whilst on artillery patrol.

Josquin

[pierssc]

1 hour ago, josquin said:

Pierssc,

2nd Lt. H.G. Rickards was the 5 Squadron observer wounded on 16 November 1916, not Lt. H.W.B. Rickards who was attached to 5 Squadron on 2 August 1916,

to 57 Squadron on 24 May 1917, and was killed in action during a bombing raid on Ingelmunster on 28 July 1917.  Both men were Observers and both

were with the Royal Field Artillery prior to the R.F.C.  H.G. Rickards was with the London Howitzer Brigade and reverted to the R.F.A. after his brief service

with 5 Squadon.  The London Gazette (6 October 1917) records that he was an Acting Captain with the R.F.A. "whilst employed as 2nd in command of

a battery."  H.G. Rickards' casualty card states that he was wounded in the leg by a bullet from the trenches whilst on artillery patrol.

Josquin

Many thanks for the clarification.  But HWB's casualty form states that he was attached to 5 Sq in August 1916 and was wounded in November 1916, subsequently posted to 57 Squadron in May 1917, and posted missing in July 1917.  It is not unknown for records to become confused, of course.  The card shows several amendments to his initials, including HG, but ending with a pencilled HWB.

https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/20110

 

Edited 15 June , 2023 by pierssc

[josquin]

I would not rely upon the Casualty Form.  It appears to be an amalgam of the records of H.G. & H.W.B. Rickards.  The Casualty Card at RAF Museum

Storyvault states that H.G. Rickards was wounded by groundfire on 16 November 1916 whilst an Observer with 5 Squadron.

[pierssc]

Well, I suppose it's a question of which set contains the error.  I know 5 Squadron went in for duplication or near duplication of names to an extraordinary extent, but two Observers from the artillery called Rickards with an initial H at the same end of 1916 seems excessive!

My grandfather (who coincidentally also joined 5 Squadron on 2 August 1916) makes two references to "Rickards" in his diary, one in September 1916, and the other on 16th November, in which he mentions that "Rickards got a nice “blighty” wound in the leg – machine gun bullet from the ground so we expect he will go to England tomorrow: he had the bullet taken out at one of the operation stations here."  Neither entry suggests that there were two Rickards.

I also mention that Hew Wardrop Brooke Rickards was the pilot of the 57 Squadron DH4 that went missing in 1917.  If he went to 5 Squadron as an Observer in August 1916, he must have undergone pilot training at some point between then and going to 57 Squadron in May 1917.  A wounding in November 1916 and return to blighty would have provided the obvious opportunity.

As you will see I tend to think that H.G. is a mistake for H.W.B. - the information for one tends to either complement or fill in gaps for the other.  Either way, someone in 5 Squadron called Rickards was wounded by a bullet in the leg on 16 November 1916.

 

 

[topgun1918]

H W B Rickards' AIR 76 file (AIR-76-426-55) contains the statement:

"It would appear that this officer has been confused with or wrongly described as H G Rickards.  Owing to the lapse of time and the fact that this officer has been killed it has been found impossible to definitely establish this fact.

The Gazette notices of H G Rickards are shown for reference on opposite sheet.

No postings for H G Rickards can be traced."

This same record shows H W B Rickards as attached No 5 Squadron on 2 August 1916, graded a qualified observer on 1 September, appointed a Flying Officer (Observer) on 12 November, wounded on 16 November 1916 and invalided to England on 21 November.  The record shows him appointed to No 57 Squadron on 24 May 1917 and missing on 28 July.

The relevant Gazette entries for both Rickards are:

ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY. - 4th London. Brigade.—2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) H. G. Rickards is seconded for duty with the R.F.C. 12th Nov. 1916.

Flying Officers (Observers).— 12th Nov. 1916. - 2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) H. G. Rickards, Lond. (Howitzer) Brig., R.F.A., T.F.

Flying Officers (Observers).—2nd Lt. H. W. B. Rickards, R.A., and to be secd. 12th Nov. 1916.  The notification in the Gazette of 28th Nov. 1916 regarding 2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) H. G. Rickards, Lond. (Howitzer) Brig., R.F.A., T.F., is cancelled.

Given that the casualty on 16 November is recorded as a 2nd-Lieut, it looks doubtful that Capt H G Rickards was ever with No 5 Squadron

Graeme

 

 

[pierssc]

Thanks for that Graeme.  

[josquin]

I differ from Graeme's assessment in the preceding post.  The RFC Casualty Book, AIR 1/967, p. 121,844, states the following:

"Rickards, 2Lt H.G.--5 Sq, 16.11.16, Wounded in leg by bullet from trenches on arty patrol, 2Lt H.G. Rickards Wounded (Obs.)"

This clearly states H.G. Rickards rather than H.W.B.  Given that H.G. Rickards was appointed a Flying Officer (Observer) dated

12 November 1916 and was wounded four days later, it is likely that he was attached to 5 Squadron as an Observer a few days

prior to his wounding and his posting was never finalized, particularly since the Gazette documents his subsequent service

with the R.F.A.  As Graeme stated, it is likely that no definitive conclusions can be documented to resolve this matter, but

I suggest that the AIR 1 Casualty Book entry makes a strong case for H.G. Rickards.