A veteran of the First World War, now 109 years old, remembers:

As mechanics, we had to keep the aircraft flying using anything we could. The pilots liked to take their mechanics up in the plane with them, because that way they knew the mechanics would service the plane properly. I used to sit behind the pilot and drop out bombs.

The WWI vets' reminiscences in their entirety are haunting. (Hat tip: Mark Brady at Liberty and Power.)

On the subject of WWI, I recommend the French film A Very Long Engagement (2004), now available on DVD. Part of the plot turns on another strategic issue: how the French army dealt with soldiers who shot themselves (or invited the enemy to shoot them) in the hand in an attempt to get sent home.