‘A Short Life in the Sky’: the story of a WWI pilot
A typical training day, Hendon, July 1915 
(NRS reference: GD486/54 page 1)

Transcript:

Royal Naval Air Station
Hendon, N.W.
Sunday, 18 July 1915 

Dear Mother 
At last I have made my first flight alone and am
here to tell the tale. I had quite an exciting time as the [aero]drome
was full of machines and I twice got into a backwash just as I 
was landing, which made things rather unpleasant. However I didn’t 
do so badly & at any rate it was much the most exciting experience 
I have had yet. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s flying.

So sorry my letters do not satisfy your curiosity but I can imagine 
your mode of life at Aulich [a village in Perthshire] and did not remember that you could have no idea of mine here. If there is flying the D[uty] O[fficer] at 4am wakens the six whose turns are next & wakens another six as required. If there is no flying we sleep peacefully on till ‘Harry the boots’ wakens us at 
8am when we rise, wash, shave, dress & descend to breakfast in the 
Mess Room at 8.30. Breakfast consists of porridge made without 
salt which I seldom take, sometimes fish, sausage, bacon and eggs, bread, 
butter, marmalade, tea, coffee. At 9am we fall in, in front of the 
Press Club for drill. This we get from a fat old colour sergeant who 
can’t be less than 17 stone. It consists of squad drill (form fours etc)
rifle drill & extended order drill sometimes varied by revolver practice 
and lasts till 10.30. I only once had revolver practice. The pistols 
were the latest Webley Scott Automatic, firing 8 shots, the target was a 
cardboard box lid with a 3 inch bull on it. I got the bull first…