Sten Maulsby's Reviews > Goshawk Squadron

“Richards’ father owned a length of Curzon Street, a chunk of Yorkshire, and the warm respect of all mankind. He had raised his son in a tradition of service and self-sacrifice, meaning command over others.” (p. 18) From here the narrative turns to truly grim humor.

This is a re-read, from about 15 years ago. I approached this reading with an overall impression of the trajectory of the plot and a couple of the main threads of it. The trajectory is laid out by the chapter headings, each chapter named after the 12 levels of wind force in the Beaufort scale, from the little activity of Light air to the tragedy of Hurricane. I noted this time around, having studied WWI during the centenary, that this story takes place from January 15, 1918, a relatively quiet time on the Western Front, till the start of Germany’s final major offensive, last week of March. The interest (especially in re-reading) is in how elements of their private and personal lives, their corporate lives (as a squadron) and the official (military) lives interact and shape decisions.

I don’t know how unique this is (maybe I just haven’t been paying attention or asking the same questions before) but this story strikes me as being not just about the brutality of war but about the way war brutalizes and dehumanized the people involved. (I don’t think that’s exactly what we usually mean by the brutality of war, but maybe it should become part of the idea). I would also note that much of the brutalizing (that is, making people brutish) is seen to occur before battle begins.