Between the Covers

Hardcover. Oblong quarto. Measuring 9½" x 8". Blue cloth over stiff paper boards. Contains 120 sepia-toned or black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring between 1" x 1" and 3" x 5" with captions. Near fine album with fine photographs.

George Alexander Lingham was born in a suburb of Melbourne, though he moved to London at an early age. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and was appointed temporary Second Lieutenant on April 20, 1917. The next year, he joined the 43rd Squadron as a Sopwitch Camel pilot and distinguished himself with six confirmed kills between March and June 1918. He was one of 10 aces to fly for 43rd Squadron at this time. Morale in the squadron was unsurprisingly high and the men were regarded as “a highly efficient team, one in which personal glory was less important than the continuance of the Squadron’s high reputation and good name.”

This album documents those months of active service, when the 43rd Squadron was primarily engaged in ground attacks on the Western Front. The images depict life at the air fields with pilots in various stages of readiness, from relaxing in the sunshine to combat. There are shots of the interior and dashboard of the Camel, as well as in flight. Crucially, all of the images are captioned and in most instances the people photographed are named. On the penultimate leaf of the album is a telegram requesting Lingham’s attendance at Buckingham Palace on the 24th of July 1919, and asking that he confirm receipt to the Lord Chamberlain.

Lingham was close with both John Lightfoot “Tripe” Trollope, who is credited with 18 aerial victories, and Hector Cyril “Daisy” Daniel, who shot down nine enemy aircraft. Writing in his history of the 43rd Squadron, Jimmy Beedle notes that Lingham “was another to fly with 43 for almost an entire year of 1918, who made up with Daniel what [flying ace Henry Winslow] Woollett swore was the finest pair of pilots that any Flight Commander was ever fortunate enough to find on either side of him.” Both Trollope and Daniel appear in several group shots and the final photographs in the album are single portraits of each man.

A terrific album of images from one of England's most distinguished air squadrons. (Beedle, *The Fighting Cocks*).

Item #440275