Goshawk Squadron - a novel by Derek Robinson

This Derek Robinson novel is a brutal black comedy telling the adventures of a squadron of SE5a

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5

The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. Although the first examples reached the Western Front before the Sopwith Camel and it had a much better overall performance, problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine, particularly the geared-output H-S...

 pilots from January 1918 to the time of the German spring offensive of March 1918.

This novel was Robinson's first.

The novel introduces the memorable character, Stanley Woolley, the commander of the squadron, a man who Robinson himself says is not the sort of man you'd want your daughter to marry.

Reception

Quaesitor in his review says this book is now regarded as something of a classic and that 'Robinson searingly conjures up the brutality and insanity of the war'.

The book was recognised at the time of its publication for its quality and was nominated for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1971.

Quotes

Not much happened in the Great War that day. As usual, about two thousand men (of the millions along the Western Front) died.