Rogue Flight Is A Stand-Out New Novel of World War 1 Aviation

On The Table Read, “the best book magazine in the UK“, Rogue Flight by Fritz Wintle is a band of brothers tale about an elite team of talented World War I aviators and their top of their game ground crew pulling out all the stops on to wrestle command of the skies on the Western Front.

Rogue Flight

Published on 14^th July 2022, Rogue Flight transports the reader back to 1917 and introduces a team of Britain’s most talented aviators, whose lives depend on the expertise and dedication of their equals – the ground crew.

Looking death in the eye on a daily basis, this is a tale of unimaginable heroism, camaraderie and the bringing together of souls that without a war would most probably never have been in the same room, let alone relied on each other for survival.

Rogue Flight is the author’s first literary venture and in following his passion for military history, Fritz Wintle honours the memory of both World War I’s aviators, or as Lloyd George called them ‘the cavalry of the clouds’, and their indefatigable ground crew.

General Caddell

General Caddell was determined to assemble a flight of talented aviators and supporting ground crew to wrestle command of the skies from the enemy.

This unlikely collection of individuals would have to work together to put the best pilots in the air with the best scout plane the Royal Flying Corps had in its arsenal. The ground crew were considered to be as equals with the aviators, as they were tasked to keep them alive. They would have to make these frail machines fly faster, turn tighter and be reliable enough to withstand the hazardous missions they were given.

This unlikely collection of individuals from different worlds and social standing had to learn to work together, and for that they had to break rules both in the air and on the ground. They would be given hazardous and dangerous missions to justify their existence. For that they needed rogues, who could become heroes.

Characters In Rogue Flight

Captain John ‘Singer’ Singh-Smythe. Born leader and established ace. A mixed race social renegade, and the finest pilot the RFC had at the time.

Adrian ‘Addie’ Wentworth. Charismatic wealthy socialite. Born into privilege and wealth. Scornful of the establishment, especially the military establishment.

Herbert Rhys-Jones. A large bluff Cornishman whose organisational genius helps assemble a gifted ground crew unequalled in the RFC

 Dickie Watson. An unassuming working class lad from the slums of Hockley brook, whose flying prowess would surpass all before him.

Claudette Faure. She and her family struggle to continue to run a modest establishment in a tiny hamlet near the Western Front.

The life expectancy of an average pilot was short on both sides of the conflict. They would need each other to survive the attrition in the air, and hostility by their own on the ground. From within themselves they would also learn to understand and respect the enemy and hang on to what humanity they had left.

… and what really was the ultimate fate of Germany’s most successful air warrior?

About Fritz Wintle

Fritz Wintle is a former businessman who resides with his family in Cornwall, England. He lives with his wife and three children in the heart of an unassuming village, in a quiet backwater of the county.

He has enjoyed researching history for many years, with a particular interest in British military history, both fact and fiction. It has been a lifelong ambition to write himself, with ‘Rogue Flight’ being his first venture.

The book started just a few days after discarding his professional persona, after thirty-three years’ operating a coastal holiday park. The park itself was originally a historical coastal fortification, commonly known as one of ‘Palmerston Follies’ It has been his privilege to ensure the historical integrity of the Fort has been enhanced and preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Another period of history Fritz has explored has been the Napoleonic wars. Research into the Wintle’s family history found one of his ancestors ensconced in the Chateau of ‘Hougoumont’ with the third foot guard at the battle of Waterloo. Much to his surprise he later discovered that a lifelong friend of his, also had a direct descendant within the same Chateau; both men survived the battle.

Find Rogue Flight now:

Rogue Flight is available in paperback (£10.99) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rogue-Flight-Fritz-Wintle/dp/1803810734/ref=sr_1_4?crid=UXJF67BEYF1E&keywords=ROGUE+FLIGHT&qid=1657108573&s=books&sprefix=rogue+flight%2Cstripbooks%2C93&sr=1-4

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