In the Blue: Memoir of a DH2 Fighter Pilot 1915-17

The only memoir written by an Airco DH2 fighter aceA first-hand account covering the Western Front May 1915-March 1917 and nine enemy killsThis Spitfire Publishers ebook and paperback edition is the first republication of this extremely rare memoir in over a centuryFrance, the Western Front, winter 1915/1916; the skies are ruled by the German Air Force, the infamous ‘Fokker scourge’ has left British pilots outgunned and outmanoeuvred. Into this chaos steps Seldon Long, a young Royal Flying Corps officer, chosen for the RFC’s first single-seater fighter squadron, No. 24, commanded by the legendary Lanoe Hawker. They are equipped with the new Airco DH2, the RFC’s first effectively armed, single-seater British fighter. Seldon and his fellow 24 Squadron pilots, now have an aircraft that can challenge the German Air Force. Between May 1916 and March 1917, Seldon shot down nine enemy aircraft, his memoir capturing the raw terror and exhilaration of aerial combat. Seldon’s ultra-rare memoir of his time as a fighter ace was first published in 1920 and has been long out of print. This new 2026 Spitfire Publishers edition includes Seldon’s extant ‘Combats in the Air’ reports.About the AuthorSeldon Long was born in Aldershot in 1895 and educated at the United Services College in Windsor, an English boy’s public school for the sons of military officers and civil servants. In December 1914, immediately after leaving Sandhurst, he was posted to Farnborough for observer training with the Royal Flying Corps. Seldon completed his pilot’s training at the Central Flying School, Upavon, in just six weeks and was appointed Flying Officer in March 1915. Deployed to France first with 29 Squadron, he was flying Maurice Farman Longhorns and BE2a aircraft, quickly progressing from observer to pilot. He was then transferred to 24 Squadron flying the single-seater Airco DH2. He was awarded the Military Cross in October 1915 and the DSO in March 1917. Seldon survived the War and remained in the RAF until 1919. His fighter pilot memoir, In the Blue, was published in 1920. He served once more in the Second World War in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He died in 1952. Read more