The Wings of the Wind

 

The plot for my third novel concerns the Royal Naval Air Service and its Armoured Car Division. Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, was a great proponent of new technology and quickly latched onto the benefits of naval aviation. Whilst the War Office was buying most of its aircraft from a single source, the Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough, the RN had the freedom to buy from private contractors considered the best in their class. As a result, several types of Sopwith fighter aircraft could be commissioned quickly and the RNAS was called in to protect the RFC’s reconnaissance aeroplanes. Similarly, the RN had the independence to develop mobile machine gun platforms and armoured fighting vehicles in place of cavalry.

 

Paul Miller is the third son of Captain William Miller VC, a director of the Navy’s Intelligence Department. Forever in debt, a rogue and a prankster, Paul’s irresponsibility frequently clashes with his father’s high moral standards. After meeting Wing Commander Charles Samson, the Royal Navy’s pioneer aviator, Paul joins the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). When war breaks out, he is one of Samson’s hastily formed RNAS Armoured Car Squadron in France and Belgium, mounting daring attacks on the German cavalry - but not before an irresponsible action that will later cause a huge rift with his father.

 

Meanwhile, William establishes a signals intelligence organisation capable of winning the war for Britain unaware that Paul has brought an enemy to his door and threatening his career. By a twist of fate, Paul is sent on a daring top-secret flying mission – the aftermath of which continues a chain of events that begins to tear apart the Miller family.

 

‘With plenty of action on land and in the air, this highly readable novel highlights some key events of the Royal Naval Air Service.’ — Rear Admiral Iain Henderson, CB, CBE, DL, former Flag Officer Naval Aviation and Air Officer Commanding 3 Group RAF