Since 1915, Martin Falconer has been flying birds above France in His Majesty’s Royal Flying Corps, but as the days pass he’s beginning to wonder how much longer he can buck the odds. The aerial carnage has gotten especially bad now that the Germans have these new Albatross engines that fly circles around Sopwith Pups, leading to the nineteen year old Falconer seeing so many men and officers drop from the skies during Bloody April that he’s given command of the squadron. The plot of The Professionals follows Martin back and forth from England to France several times as his units are cycled off the front and into more easy duty (homeland flying is mostly chasing Zeppelins and Gothas when they can be spotted), then back to battle where we experience the excitement of aerial action, the growing psychological toll that constant death has on the fliers, and the comradery of the air, with English and German fliers both treating their downed rivals to feats of whiskey before having to turn them over to higher authorities. The Red Baron makes several appearances, both in the air and – well, let’s not ascend into spoiler heights, shall we?
I’ve never failed to enjoy a Hennessey story, especially his air works, and the ones set in WW1 have a particular interest for me because I’m not as familiar with the equipment as WW2 and so spend a lot of time googling airplane models and enjoying this era of experimentation as aerial warfare was beginning to get its legs on. The only fly in the soup is that there is a potential romantic interest named Charley, which is rather confusing given that another Charley featured rather prominently in the Kelly MacGuire stories, a key part in MacGuire’s emotional life and growth. I think I accidentally jumped in to the middle of a series here: Hennessey had so many that’s easy to do. Fortunately all of his books can be read by themselves, though when there’s long relationships (platonic or otherwise) the reader does miss witnessing those mature. This one has a heck of a ending, I will say, very Boys’ Own.
Click to reveal spoiler….
Marty and a compatriot escape a German prisoner, hunker down near a German airfield until they see a vulnerable plane, steal it, and then race to Britain while evading German fighters who are chasing them, British fighters who are “intercepting” them, and the anti-air defenses of both parties.
Reading Freely 
I’ve acquired a ‘few’ of Harris/Hennessy novels now – including this one (which I think is stand-alone). I’ll get around to reading them at some point!
WW1 was a great era for experimentation. Tech progress was FAST under the pressure of trying to win the war and overcome the stalemate of trench warfare. It’s a real shame that we can’t seem to put as much effort into solving problems without the incentive of bombs falling.
I think it was Churchill who said there’s nothing that concentrates a man’s mind as wonderfully as getting shot at.
Very true….! Still a shame though with so many other (non-military) problems in the world that need sorting.
I can imagine what the encounter with the Red Baron in the air was like. Sounds suspenseful and informative, both.
Harvee https://harvee44.blogspot.com/