Observer, gunner, pilot — and inventor under fire
Hinkler enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914.
Distinguished Service Medal (1917) for service as an aerial gunner in bombers over France.
“…whereupon our teacher, one of the naval officers, will begin to explain the mysteries of the art of aviation.”
Early letter home describing the hangar classroom. Later letters from France vividly described dogfights and bombing raids.