Across the Blood-Red Skies by Robert Radcliffe
A book review by Anne McFadgen
A classic adventure set during the First World War, Across the Blood-Red Skies offers a wild ride with the pioneers of aerial combat. Radcliffe’s compelling tribute to the courageous men who fought high above the trenches in their flimsy machines has it all: strong storytelling, sympathetic characters, action, human drama, comradeship and romance.
In a war notable for grim statistics, one number stands out for newly promoted flight leader George Duckwell of the Royal Flying Corps: eighteen hours is the average survival time of a reconnaissance pilot in the spring of 1917. When George heads out on dawn patrol over Arras on Saturday, April 21, he’s a veteran. “Finally it was dawning I was actually in charge. And more importantly why. At eighteen years old and with just four months of service with the squadron I was the most senior left in my flight. All the others were dead”.
The mission is a disaster. George is shot down, but to his surprise, not dead - yet. “Staring up in wonderment at the grey morning sky, I lay there savouring the sudden stillness and rejoicing in my survival.” Trapped in No Man’s Land, he’s rescued by his friend Mac, a crack Canadian air ace. Mac is a complex man, tormented by dark secrets from his past, and obsessed by his ongoing duel with “The Red Baron”, legendary German ace Manfred von Richthofen. The bonds of friendship are sorely tested, though, when George introduces Mac to Emily, a frontline ambulance driver and the girl he’s crazy about.
Of the three main characters, it’s George’s engaging voice that dominates Across the Blood-Red Skies and gives the story much of its appeal. George is immensely likable, a bit of a lad, reckless, loyal, resourceful, and possessed of an irrepressible dry sense of humour. Amid war’s bloody, surreal madness, sometimes laughing in the face of fate is the only way to stay sane. (2010; 336 pages)