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In lugnet.adventurers, Robbie Anderson writes:
> Would a general/pilot in WW1 or around the times the Adventurers setting have
> shoulder pad-thingys on them, like Capitan Redbeard in the Pirates? I have
> created so far a German general/pilot, but I'm not sure if a pilot of WW1
> would have those things shoulders. If anyone has an answer, please E-mail
> me at: B50twice@aol.com.
Well, I'm going to answer here, because others might like
to know the answer too! The short answer is yes and no.
Yeah, not helpful, but it's true.
The shoulder-thingies (called epaulettes or "shoulderboards")
were never used by flight crews. Baron von Barron wears them
because, well, he's a Baron. The epaulettes are fairly dressy,
and they fell out of favour (IIRC) after the Franco-Prussian
War for field soldiers. In dress uniforms they remained common
and can even be seen today in some of Europe's military cere-
mony (and South America's--man, do they ever love epaulettes!).
But a pilot--even a noble one, like Baron von Richtofen--would
not likely fly with epaulettes under any circumstances. The
dress would be closer to what Harry Cane wears, because the
cockpits were open, cold, and wet (at least on the European
fronts--Arabia is another matter).
The issue of uniforms at all for WWI pilots is also thorny;
it took a little while for real uniform standards to be created.
As many air auxiliaries were simply extensions of the armies
below at first (even the naval squadrons--a real mess, to be
sure), they often looked much the same, except with less
mud, more black soot, and a significantly longer service life.
(Incidentally, if you go to your local library, you can probably
find pictoral books on WWI German uniforms--I know they
exist in spades for WWII, but I'd be surprised if they don't exist
for the First World War.)
best,
Lindsay.nl
(a bona fide historian, no less)
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> The issue of uniforms at all for WWI pilots is also thorny;
> it took a little while for real uniform standards to be created.
> As many air auxiliaries were simply extensions of the armies
> below at first (even the naval squadrons--a real mess, to be
> sure), they often looked much the same, except with less
> mud, more black soot, and a significantly longer service life.
Nope. The average pilots service life was _less_ than the average grunt. 2nd
Lt (ground) had lowest life expectancy, I believe around 17 DAYS. But, pilots
often died in the first 5 MIN of combat. The good pilots lasted much
longer...but, they would separate the wheat from the chaff very fast.
(its just that pilots were not likely to see as much combat as a ground
pounder...moral of the story, go navy, because you stood a far better chance
of surviving!)
James
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In lugnet.adventurers, James Powell writes:
>
> > The issue of uniforms at all for WWI pilots is also thorny;
> > it took a little while for real uniform standards to be created.
> > As many air auxiliaries were simply extensions of the armies
> > below at first (even the naval squadrons--a real mess, to be
> > sure), they often looked much the same, except with less
> > mud, more black soot, and a significantly longer service life.
>
> Nope. The average pilots service life was _less_ than the average grunt. 2nd
> Lt (ground) had lowest life expectancy, I believe around 17 DAYS. But, pilots
> often died in the first 5 MIN of combat. The good pilots lasted much
> longer...but, they would separate the wheat from the chaff very fast.
>
> (its just that pilots were not likely to see as much combat as a ground
> pounder...moral of the story, go navy, because you stood a far better chance
> of surviving!)
I was actually including the non-combat service life with it,
so in fact you may be agreeing with me here. ;) It also does
shift from year to year, month to month, as aerial combat is
refined and made more lethal and exhaustion sets in on the
ground.
On the other hand, a pilot was more likely to be killed
in a *non*-combat situation than a grunt...*crunch*
best
LFB
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> On the other hand, a pilot was more likely to be killed
> in a *non*-combat situation than a grunt...*crunch*
>
> best
>
> LFB
Well, that's what you get when you send someone into the air with a machine
that is of dubious quality at best, and with less than 10 hrs of flying time!
(boy, lives were cheap then!)
James
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