The First War in the Air

'What one doesn't realise today is the extraordinarily heavy rate of casualties. The young pilot always went through the stage of hoping that if he was lucky he'd get through his first month ... or two months ... or three months-without being shot down. That was where the danger occurred: raw pilots coming out fresh from England, not knowing what they were doing, hardly knowing their aeroplanes, and being thrust into battle.....' At one period during the 1914-18 war the average life of a pilot flying over the front lines was only three weeks. Tonight's film features the personal reminiscences of two ace pilots who had the luck and skill to survive: Cecil Lewis and Duncan Grinnell-Milne