Bryan Couchman reviews Grid by Adam Claasen for New Zealand International Review:
‘The story of First World War fighter ace Air Commodore 'Grid' Keith Caldwell is vividly brought back to life in this impressive biography by Massey University historian Dr Adam Claasen. New Zealand aviators such as Caldwell distinguished themselves in both world wars with achievements disproportionate to their numbers. The nickname 'Grid' reflected Caldwell's habit of calling an aircraft a grid, slang of the era for a bicycle.
A striking photo of Caldwell emerges from the shadows on the front cover. It captures the determination and focus that enabled him to survive the rigours of aerial combat and command on the Western Front. By the age of just 22 Caldwell was appointed commanding officer of a new Royal Flying Corps (RFC) squadron, which he led with distinction, developing a formidable reputation as New Zealand's highest scoring pilot of the war. Caldwell's achievements were once well-known, and his name appears in many memoirs and histories of the period. Combining a strong and charismatic personality with extreme modesty, however, Caldwell resisted writing a memoir of his own. As a result, knowledge of his exploits, and those of his generation, faded with the passage of time. This helps explain why this first biography of one of New Zealand's greatest aviators is only appearing now, some 45 years after his death.
An engaging introduction places Caldwell's military achievements in context, capturing some of the paradoxes and complexities of his military service. The fame and exhilaration he experienced, for example, was juxtaposed with an overriding desire to avoid the limelight. Claasen explains that for many veterans, including Caldwell, 'the war proved to be the pivotal event of their lives, simultaneously marring and surprisingly enriching'. Classen deftly describes the period in which Caldwell lived and the early experiences that helped shape his character. Blessed with wealthy parents, he was exposed to the elite education system of the day as a boarder at Wanganui Collegiate School. The martial and patriotic values espoused by such schools aimed to instil the qualities of courage, selflessness and determination that were to characterise Caldwell's approach to challenges throughout his life.
The bulk of the book focuses on Caldwell's First World War exploits. After flight training in New Zealand and England, Caldwell survived 27 months of operational service; this was extraordinary, given the attrition rate during training alone was high. About half the deaths of New Zealand aviators during the war were the result of accidents. Caldwell survived six crash landings and, according to Claasen, 'was widely acknowledged to have survived more aerial battles than any other Empire airman', including against such German aces as Werner Voss and Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus. Grid also served with many of the well-known pilots of the RFC, including Albert Ball, the controversial Billy Bishop and Edward Mannock.
Claasen writes in a lively style with just the right attention to detail. Of particular interest are Caldwell's private insights on some of his fellow RFC aviators, for example, the doubts he shared about Bishop's claims that led to the latter's Victoria Cross award for his lone wolf exploits. In contrast, Caldwell was more of a team player who looked after his pilots, often at great risk to his own personal safety. Descriptions of the brutal nature of aerial combat have an exhilarating immediacy. At times, the reader almost most feels like a participant in the fray flying alongside Caldwell.
The last five chapters help provide a more rounded account of Caldwell's life, offering new insights beyond the scope of earlier published works, which tended to narrowly focus on his flying career. Classen describes Caldwell's difficult readjustment to life in peacetime, despite the assistance he received from wealthy and caring parents. He offers glimpses of the toll that sustained combat operations inevitably had on veterans like Caldwell. As he revealed many years later, 'I had a terrible time settling down. I could not settle at all.' There was little therapy or understanding available to his generation, much beyond rolling your sleeves up and endeavouring to work it off. Caldwell embraced a farming career and later played an important role in sustaining military aviation in the inter-war years, commanding the Territorial Air Force. Returning to the active list at the start of the Second World War, he was a popular commanding officer at RNZAF Base Woodbourne and then station commander of Wigram. He also served back overseas in India and England, rising to the rank of air commodore. After the war, Caldwell returned to farming but retained his involvement in aviation and veterans affairs, for example, playing a key role in the New Zealand 1914-1918 Airmen's Association.
In keeping with his opening quote from Homer's Odyssey, Claasen succeeds in capturing the breadth of Caldwell's career in a remarkably engaging manner. Claasen has done a great job piecing together the many fragments of Caldwell's long and full life from a wide variety of primary and secondary sources. He details how he overcame the research challenges that defeated others who contemplated writing such a biography. Interviews of Caldwell's descendants and access to previously unpublished family documents and photographs provided important insights that have rounded out this meticulous study.
This beautifully written and generously illustrated book will have broad ranging appeal, from aviation enthusiasts and military historians to the general reader alike. Caldwell's advice to 'be brave in deed, modest in word' marked him apart from some of his contemporaries. But such traits have often typified the most effective military leaders and, thanks to Adam Claasen's efforts, the example set by this-remarkable New Zealander will now live on to inspire a new generation’
