‘By the time of America’s entry into WWI in April 1917, Eddie Rickenbacker was already famous. Always obsessed with engines, he had become a mechanic to Lee Frayer in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup at the age of only 15. In 1910 he became a race-car driver himself, racing in the Indianapolis 500 in 1911. He joined the Duesenberg brothers to develop a new Mason racing car with which Rickenbacker achieved national fame in 1914, becoming known as ‘Fast Eddie’ for his hard driving and his daring – both skills he would later utilise as a pilot. He set a world land speed record at Daytona in 1914 of 134 mph (215 kph). He moved around various racing teams and came close to being the champion driver in 1916. In 1916 he signed on to the British Sunbeam team and, despite the war, sailed for the UK. He was, however, detained in Liverpool, suspected of being the son of a disowned Prussian Baron; a news story had invented these facts – he was, in fact, the third son of Swiss-German Ohio immigrants. Despite clearing his name, he soon abandoned the original spelling of his name: Rickenbacher.’

This episode was written by Murray Dahm.

Murray is an ancient and medieval military historian from New Zealand, living in Australia. He has written more than 100 articles on various aspects of ancient and medieval military history and other historical topics from all periods. He is the author of Macedonian Phalangite vs Persian Warrior, Athenian Hoplite vs Spartan Hoplite and Leuctra 371 BC, all from Osprey Publishing. He is a regular on the Ancient Warfare Podcast.