The story of the League of World War One Aviation Historians begins at a meeting called in April 1985 in Dallas, Texas, by George Williams, one of the field's most active researchers.
George had been a member of the editorial staff of the Cross & Cockade Journal, WWI aviation's pioneer publication. Upset that Cross & Cockade was about to go out of existence, George and the group set out to keep the study of WWI aviation history alive in the United States. Out of that meeting an idea was born to not only continue 
publishing the best in First World War aviation history for those already interested in the period, but to spread the word to others and, in the process, elevate the study of 1914-1918 military aviation to the level of true academic pursuit. We began that effort with Over The Front.
Over The Front is a quarterly journal, 8.5 x 11 inches in size, on acid-free, archival paper, packed with the finest research you'll ever see, by the world's leading WWI aviation historians. From personal accounts of those involved in the war, preserved for their and our decendents, to squadron histories, to analytical papers, to technical information about the aircraft and aerial weapons used in the war (including vast amounts of color and markings information for the aircraft modeller), each 96-page issue of Over The Front is packed with anything and everything you would want to see about aerial conflict in its pioneer days. We have a cover gallery/index page with all of the past covers represented. You can examine each cover illustration or photograph by clicking on it.
We're reducing the price of all available back issues prior to Volume 36, and to back volumes for Volumes 32-35 (the complete Volume 31 is no longer available). These are the original issues of Over The Front, not the Amazon reprints. All back issues up to Volume 35 No. 4 (Winter 2020) are now $10 (plus shipping outside the US). Complete volumes, if available, from 2005 through 2020 are all now $40; complete volumes from before 2005 remain at $20 a volume, again plus shipping outside the US. Back volumes and issues for 2021 and later remain $60/volume and $20/issue (plus shipping if outside the US).
We open with Christophe Cony’s look at some of the captured German aircraft, as exhibited in Paris in 1918. Carl Bobrow then introduces us to early German motion picture pioneer Oskar Messter, who was also a pioneer in developing roll-film cameras for military reconnaissance work. One day in Flanders during October 1918 is the topic of Walter Pieters and Alain Van Geeteruyen’s article, and Steven Suddaby begins a multi-part series on German bombing missions on mainland Europe. The issue wraps up with Peter Kilduff’s look at some of the newest books bearing on World War aviation.
Steve Suddaby has more than generously provided us with his research on bombing missions during World War I, initially for Allied operations over the Western front, and now for over 1700 German bombing raids. He has also prepared a database and timeline of German raids during the first battle of Britain, and is offering us over 300 World War I-era maps. This wealth of information can be found here.
We are pleased to announce preliminary plans for the upcoming League of World War I Aviation Historians Seminar, scheduled for Fall 2025. While final details, including the venue and exact dates, are still under review by the board, we are preparing for another engaging and informative event. For further details, including about submitting papers, see the article at https://overthefront.com/about/otf-seminars
As President Dan Polglaze said in Between the Lines in Volume 35 No. 3, we (mostly he) have been delving through our back issues to create the first-ever complete Table of Contents for every issue of OTF published to date. In it you'll find titles, authors, volume, issue and page references, and major topics for each article. It's all in the form of an Excel spreadsheet so you can download your own copy and sort, search and modify it as much as you want. Can't wait to get started? Download a...
The videos of talks at the 2023 League Seminar last October are now available on YouTube The link to all videos is here.
