The French aviator is nimble, and impetuous: the German aviator
is daring, but slow in thought: the British airman is a master of
strategy, quick in thought, and prepared to risk anything to
achieve his end. The German airman is sent aloft to reconnoitre
the enemy and to communicate his information to his headquarters.
That is his assigned duty and he performs it mechanically,
declining to fight, as the welfare of his colleagues below is
considered to be of more vital importance than his personal
superiority in an aerial contest. But if he is cornered he
fights with a terrible and fatalistic desperation.
The bravery of the German airmen is appreciated by the Allies.
The French flying-man, with his traditional love for individual
combat, seeks and keenly enjoys a duel. The British airman
regards such a contest as a mere incident in the round of
duty, but willingly accepts the challenge when it is offered. It
is this manifestation of what may be described as acquiescence in
any development that enabled the British flying corps, although
numerically inferior, to gain its mastery of the air so
unostentatiously and yet so completely.
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