Winged Defense The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power - Economic and Military.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1925. Octavo, original green cloth, frontispiece, xxiv, 262 pp., 22 photo plates. The head of the spine is a little snagged and torn, but a very good copy. William Mitchell was an innovative and highly outspoken pioneer US military aviator. His father was a US Senator and his grandfather was a distinguished officer in the US Civil War. As a young military officer he served and fought wars in the Philippines and insurrections along the Mexican border. He introduced radio and automobile equipment into the US Army as early as 1914. In June 1916, he took private flying lessons at the Curtiss Flying School because he was proscribed by law from military aviator training by age and rank.
As the youngest member of the US War Department General Staff, he became an advocate of an independent air force. During the first world war he became Chief of the Air Service. After the war he began disturbing many people by his theories regarding the coming air age, many which were proved in 1921 with sinking of the ex-German battleship Ostfriesland off the Virginia Capes by the use of aircraft. For his outspoken criticism of military policy, he was court-martialled in 1925 for speaking against the Army for investing in battleships instead of aircraft carriers. Following this famous event, he resigned in 1926, to continue writing and speaking out on aviation matters, until his death in 1936. All of his writings are important as a predictor of the successful use of airpower in World War II.
This book is scarce due to its concurrent publication during his court-martial. Item #2492
Price (AUD): $600.00