The Balloon Buster Frank Luke of Arizona
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1928. Octavo, original red cloth with embossed plane design on front cover, [iv], 192 pp., frontispiece, seven plates. Near-fine copy. The Balloon Buster is a biography of America's No. 2 fighter ace of the First World War: Frank Luke, Jr.
Frank Luke was a member of the 27th Aero Squadron. In September 1918, he scored 18 confirmed victories over the Western Front against German observation balloons called the 'Drachen'. During his time with the 27th Aero Squadron, Frank Luke teamed up with Lieutenant Joseph Wehner and, within a six-day period during the the Battle of St. Mihiel, they rapidly became one of the most effective 1-2 teams of fighter squadron. The two men would die days apart, Wehner killed in a dogfight as he attacked German observation balloons, while Luke, seriously wounded after crash landing behind enemy lines, was shot dead by German soldiers. Item #2636
Price (AUD): $200.00