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Raymond H. Fredette is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and author. One of Fredette's works is The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain, 1917-1918, originally published in 1966 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and reissued by Smithsonian Institution Press as part of the Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight Series in 1991. The book examines the use of air power in World War I.

 Identifier

NASM.2015.0030

Creator

Fredette, Raymond H.

Date

bulk 1960s - 2000s

Provenance

Raymond H. Fredette, Gift, 2015

Extent

3.4 Cubic feet ((10 boxes))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of approximately 3.44 cubic feet of material pertaining to the book The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain, 1917-1918 by Raymond H. Fredette including correspondence; photographs and negatives; reference material; research notes; drafts and proofs; reviews; and business and financial records. There is extensive correspondence with German veterans of World War I including Kurt Delang; Kurt Küppers; Walter Georgii; Erwin Sauer; J. Johann Kilian; Franz Schrader; W. Zumbeck; Alfred Keller; Erich Fessel; Reinhold Konitzer; Paul Karkos; and Johannes Lorenz. The photographs in the collection are gathered from a variety of sources and show various aircraft including the Gotha G.IV; Handley Page O/400; Sopwith Camel; Gotha G.V; Zeppelin-Staaken R.IV 12/15; Zeppelin-Staaken R.V 13/15; and the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. The photographs also show barrage balloons; important figures such as Hugh "Boom" Trenchard, Queen Mary, and Lord William Weir; several airfields; aerial photographs of London, England; and various German air crews, flight clothing, and flight preparation activities. In addition to the source material, the collection also includes correspondence with publishers regarding various editions of the book as well as records pertaining to the purchase of photographs, resource materials, etc.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Citation

The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain, 1917-1918 Book Collection [Fredette], Accession 2015-0030 , National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Aeronautics

Aeronautics, Military

World War, 1914-1918

World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations

Fighter pilots

World War, 1914-1918 -- Germany

Gotha G.IV

Handley Page O/400

Sopwith F.1 Camel

Zeppelin-Staaken R-Plane Projects

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Photographs

Research