Horses Don't Fly: The Memoir of the Cowboy Who Became a World War I Ace

By Frederick Libby

Book Overview

From breaking wild horses in Colorado to fighting the Red Baron's squadrons in the skies over France, here in his own words is the true story of a forgotten American hero: the cowboy who became our first ace and the first pilot to fly the American colors over enemy lines.

Growing up on a ranch in Sterling, Colorado, Frederick Libby mastered the cowboy arts of roping, punching cattle, and taming horses. As a young man he exercised his skills in the mountains and on the ranges of Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Colorado prairie. When World War I broke out, he found himself in Calgary, Alberta, and joined the Canadian army. In France, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an "observer," the gunner in a two-person biplane. Libby shot down an enemy plane on his first day in battle over the Somme, which was also the first day he flew in a plane or fired a machine gun. He went on to become a pilot. He fought against the legendary German aces Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen, and became the first American to down five enemy planes. He won the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry in action.

Libby's memoir of his cowboy days in the last years of the Old West evokes a real-life Cormac McCarthy novel. His description of World War I combines a rattling good account of the air war over France with captivating and sometimes poignant depictions of wartime London, the sorrow for friends lost in combat, and the courage and camaraderie of the Royal Flying Corps. Told in charming, straightforward vernacular, Horses Don't Fly is an unforgettable piece of Americana.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1611457106
• ISBN13: 9781611457100
• Release Date: October 2012
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Best book about history of the WW 1 era, aviation, flying aces and the true story of the man who liv

Caution, Horses Don’t Fly has been known to to cause devorce! This is a story that starts in the western US, after roping a Antelope and getting dragged into a fence post and breaking a leg, his family sends him to a line camp to tend to the cattle as he heals. It turns out to be the hardest winter that anyone can remember. With cows freezing to death all around him he vows to never go through anything like that again. In the spring him and a friend come up with the idea to work on a ship for passage to Tahiti. It doesn’t work out but they do get on a ship to Canada were they plan to become prospectors for gold. That doesn’t work out either and they end up in the Canadian Army where they claim they can drive trucks; they learn on the job. The Royal Air Force is looking for volunteers and he is ready. The real story starts here, he moves to England to become one of the RAF’s aces, he is decorated by the Queen and returns home to Texas to train US pilots. There is alot of action and good reading between the narratives. Like I said Caution you can’t put this one down which is sure to irritate your wife!