3 Stories from The Great War
Gerald D. Swick, who was an editor and proofreader of the rules for MacGowan & Lombardy’s The Great War™ card game, authored a newspaper column of historical information about his home state, West Virginia, for more than 16 years. With Gerald’s permission three of those columns that dealt with the First World War are offered to the Kickstarter and BackerKit customers who post their feedback about the game. You can read more by Gerald in his always fascinating “Once, in America, a quirky American history blog” at GeraldDSwick.com.
#2 The final flight of “balloon buster” Louis Bennett, Jr.
Bennett piloted a British-made SE-5A single seater biplane fighter plane after being assigned to the Royal Air Force No. 40 Squadron in 1918. He was credited with shooting down eight German observation balloons and two confirmed and one probable aircraft before he was shot down nine days after his first aerial combat. He died of his injuries a month short of his 24th birthday.
This article originally appeared in the Clarksburg Exponent Telegram August 24, 2008.