Bloody April

As the Allies embarked upon the Battle of Arras - a British offensive on the Western Front in April 1917 - they desperately needed accurate aerial reconnaissance photographs. But by this point in the First World War, pilots from the Royal Flying Club were flying obsolete planes. The new German Albatros fighters massively outclassed them in every respect: speed, armament, ability to withstand punishment and manoeuvrability. Many of the RFC's pilots were straight o