The aircraft of WWI did not have electronic ignitions and the method of getting the engine running was similar to how you would start a manual car by putting it in gear, rolling it down the hill, and the dumping the clutch. The difference was ground crew would swing the propeller to engage the engine. But 180hp and 200hp engines have a great deal of compression; and it often took more than the muscle of one person to get the propeller turning.

Richard Williams writes that hand starting was practical for the 90hp and 160hp engines in the BE2 and Martinsyde's but the 200hp engines of the squadron's Bristol Fighter meant hand-starting was difficult. The Bristol Fighter and SE5a were fitted with magneto type self starters. Williams describes it:

An explosive charge was drawn into the engine cylinders by rotating the airscrew by hand and that having been done the ignition was switched on and a small magneto type apparatus was rotated to create a spark in the cylinders and fire the charge.

When Williams took over 40 Wing RFC he noticed that the aircrew of No.111 Squadron RFC were still hand starting the SE5a. He writes:

It was obvious the mechanics felt the same way [as Williams who wouldn't have liked to hand start a 200hp engine] and I asked the squadron commander why it was being done. He said the starters were useless.

We had gone through this in No.1 Squadron [AFC] and had found that when properly adjusted the starter was very good. I was able to arrange attachment of No.1 Squadron's senior electrician to the SE squadrons, starters were properly adjusted and swinging the airscrew by hand was stopped to the delight of the little chaps who had been doing it. Most of them really were little chaps.

The photo at the top of this article is of an SE5a squadron in Palestine. It is likely this picture was taken before Williams and No.1 Squadron's Electricians spent time with No.111 Squadron.

Another solution, in the ongoing absence of an electrical starter, was to make a mechanical one. The Hucks Starter was one such solution. It hooked up to a truck and rotated the propeller mechanically, substituting mechanical power for human power.

However the Hucks starter had similar limitations to hand starting and could not deal easily with the increasing compression of more powerful engines as horsepower output grew.

There was no aviation transport wing in World War I. Logistics was either by sea, truck or horse. In Palestine FA300 dominated the air; their aircraft were faster, better armed and more capable. However, logistics for them was a major hassle as petrol had to be brought in by donkey.

The allied supply lines were less extended and followed the ocean ports with the Royal Navy dominating the Mediterranean. The biggest concern were submarines. Aircraft were not powerful enough in WWI to sink a capital ship as they could in WWII.

There were instances were supply lines were stretched and one case in 1918 was when the AFC was supporting Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab irregulars near Deraa. The AFC forward base at Azrak required petrol, oil, ammunition and parts to be constantly flown in.

Fortunately, the AFC squadron had recently received a Handley Page 0/400. It was quickly pressed into transport duties.

The photo was taken by Richard Williams and is from the AWM Collections ID No.A00654. Under Australian copyright law no photograph taken before 1955 can be under copyright any longer.

Richard Williams relates the supply issues with supporting a forward base at Azrak:

The aircraft [two Bristol Fighters] could not work in the desert area east of Amman without supplies and the normal line of supply was via Akaba on the Red Sea.

This was useless, so the Handley Page was brought into service and used to transport petrol, oil, bombs and ammunition.

It went out during day-light to arrive at Azrak just before dark. It was escorted by two bristol Fighters which went on to bomb the enemy aerodrome at Deraa to distract attention from it [the 0/400].

Richard Williams called the 0/400 the best recruiting agent the British had with the Arab Irregulars. As the aircraft was so big and awe inspiring. He notes that the Biffs also knocked down two German aircraft the same day which meant the irregulars had local air superiority courtesy of the AFC and did not have to worry about being attacked from the air.

Ross Smith was the pilot of the Handley Page and the story goes that when he landed the Arabs celebrated the arrival of the aircraft by firing their guns into the air and racing around his aircraft on their horses. As Smith's plane was loaded up with flammables and explosives this behaviour apparently made him a bit nervous.

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