The Volunteer

Spring 1915: 18-year-old Alan Farmer, a blacksmith from Becket’s Hill in Sussex, lives with his widowed mother, his father having been killed attempting to fly an old plane. Alan continues to have a keen interest in flying and engines and, against his mother's wishes, goes for an interview with the Royal Flying Corps. His father's brother, who has lost an arm on active service, comes to stay with the family and run the smithy. A local farmer's daughter, Lorna Collins, is in love with Alan but he is slow to begin a proper relationship with her. At his interview for the RFC, Alan meets Charles Gaylion, an army officer from an upper-class background who hopes to transfer to the RFC. Alan's interview goes badly, and it is clear that his working-class origins will interfere with his aspirations; however, when he mentions his past "experience" with his father's plane, he is accepted. Alan and Charles are reunited at the training centre, where they meet their instructor Captain Triggers, at first sight a bad-tempered disciplinarian. Mistakenly believing Alan to be an experienced pilot, Triggers takes him up in a dual-controlled Avro which Alan proves unable to land. He is berated by Triggers for risking both their lives. As Alan is packing his case, expecting to be dismissed, Triggers unexpectedly returns, makes encouraging remarks to Gaylion, and insists on Alan taking another flight, this time with Triggers at the controls. He performs advanced manoeuvres that leave Alan feeling foolish, but ends by telling him that he can continue with his training.