oak Posted 27 May , 2005 Share Posted 27 May , 2005 Charles Rumney Samson of the RNAS published his memoirs "Fights and Flights" in the 1920s or 1930s. If anyone has access to a copy, I'd be very grateful for his description of his flight over V Beach, Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Regards, Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Roberts Posted 28 May , 2005 Share Posted 28 May , 2005 Sorry, can't help, but this book is at the top of my wish-list. He died in 1931, so it would be published in the 20's Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 28 May , 2005 Share Posted 28 May , 2005 The selected bibliography in Brad King’s ‘Royal Naval Air Service 1902 – 1918’ gives the foll; Samson, Air Commodore C. R., CMG, DSO, AFC, RAF: Fights and Flights. Earnest Benn Ltd.1933 This late publishing date may also account for why, apparently, H. A. Jones did not make use of it when preparing ‘The War in The Air, Vol.II’ which was published 1928 There are a couple of quotes in King’s book which you have probably seen before, But just in case The Turks opened up and “…the sea was literally whipped into a foam by the hail of bullets and small shells.” Re the lighters and River Clyde “I saw one gallant deed, which impressed itself on my memory. A Naval steamboat came in right-up close to the beach in the face of terrible fire and towed-off a cutter which was full of dead and wounded. They did the job as neatly as if they had been taking liberty men off in peacetime.” Back at Tenedos he told others that for 50 yards from the beach the sea was “absolutely red with blood, a horrible sight to see.” I join your hope that someone else can supply more from Samson Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted 28 May , 2005 Share Posted 28 May , 2005 There are currently eight copies listed at www.abebooks.com, most of them reasonably priced - suggest you hurry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 28 May , 2005 Share Posted 28 May , 2005 It was reprinted by the Battery Press Inc in the 1990s, as well as abebooks, you can get it from amazon.com, (the publisher's price is $34.95 plus postage) but not amazon.co.uk. Amazon.com also lists ‘A flight from Cairo to Cape Town and back,’ by Charles Rumney Samson but no copies are available, it doesn’t seem to have been reprinted since the 1930s. I'm guessing that one is serious money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oak Posted 22 June , 2005 Author Share Posted 22 June , 2005 Gentlemen, Please excuse the delay in getting back to you. Many thanks for the information. I'm going to try to get my own copy of Samson's book. Regards, Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now