Episode #252 - Were the Knights of the Air a Myth? (Part I)

Our Fake History

PodcastOne

History, Education, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 73 minutes

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Summary

At the outbreak of First World War airplanes were still a novelty on the battlefield. Originally planes were used for reconnaissance and the pilots were usually unarmed. This quickly changed and soon airplanes were being outfitted with machine guns and tasked specifically with destroying enemy aircraft. Fighter pilots were a new type of warrior, but ironically they started to be described in medieval terms. Stories began to appear in the wartime press about acts of courtesy between enemy pilots. Soon propagandists were claiming that airmen were "knights of the air" bound by an unwritten code of chivalry. The image of the daring and gentlemanly "flying ace" proved to be an incredibly effective recruitment tool. Were the stories of gallantry in the sky little more than wartime propaganda, or was there something to the image of the gentleman-pilot? Tune-in and find out how King Arthur, Ernest Hemmingway, and the "Fokker Scourge" all play role in the story.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	There's a story that in 1916 at the height of the First World War, a team of British airmen were flying a reconnaissance mission over the German trenches on the Western Front.
0:18.8	The two-man air team was composed of the pilot, Captain Darley,
0:23.6	and the observer, photographer, and gunner, Captain B.J. Slade. They had not been in the air long
0:30.4	before they were spotted and intercepted by a German fighter. But this plane was not piloted by just
0:36.6	anyone. At the controls was a man known as
0:40.1	the Eagle of Lille, the German fighter pilot, Max Imelmann. By 1916, Imelman was already a bit of a legend
0:50.0	among aviators. He had started his flying career right as combatants on both sides of the war
0:57.0	had realized that airplanes could be weapons. It was often claimed that he was the first German pilot
1:05.4	to shoot down an enemy aircraft. He was technically the second, But soon he gained a reputation as one of the
1:13.1	war's first true flying aces. He was among the first airmen to be awarded the German military
1:21.3	honor known as the Poor Le Merit, which colloquially became known as the blue Max, Max for Max Imelman.
1:32.6	It was reported in English language papers at the time that Imelman's reputation was so
1:38.7	esteemed, even among British and French flyers, that Allied pilots were known to comment, quote,
1:45.3	It's no disgrace to be caught and shot down by him, end quote. Well, on that day in early
1:52.4	1916, Captain's Darley and Slade were about to experience that very thing, which they had been
1:59.6	assured, was in no way disgraceful.
2:02.7	Captain Slade would remember that before they could take any evasive action, Imelman appeared on their
2:08.3	tail and started raking them with machine gun bullets. In no time, the fuel tank of the British
2:13.6	plane was riddled with holes and fuel was leaking everywhere. The plane was tipped into a nosedive, but Imamman stayed in close pursuit with his machine
2:22.2	gun blaring. As the British plane careened towards the earth, Captain Darley was shot through
2:27.9	the thumb. Thinking quickly, Slade produced a penknife and successfully amputated what was
2:33.6	left of the digit and improvised a hasty bandage to staunch the bleeding,
	...

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