I have been asked to contribute some reminiscences of the first two years of the 1914–1918 War to this Centenary number. Selection has proved difficult: I did not keep a diary and so must rely on memory alone for what I write. This may result in errors of detail and for any such mistakes I apologise in advance.

Early in February 1915 I received a telegram from the Admiralty as follows: “You have been appointed acting junior technical advisor to the Director of the Air Department and should present yourself for duty at the earliest possible moment”.