Lafayette Escadrille

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Squadron Insignia of the Lafayette Escadrille

The Lafayette Escadrille (from the French Escadrille de Lafayette), was a squadron of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.

The squadron was formed in April 1916 as the Escadrille américaine (number 124) in Luxeuil prior to U.S. entry into the war. Dr. Edmund L. Gros, director of the American Ambulance Service, and Norman Prince, an American expatriate already flying for France, led the efforts to persuade the French government of the value of a volunteer American air unit fighting for France. The aim was to have their efforts recognized by the American public and thus, it was hoped, the resulting publicity would rouse interest in abandoning neutrality and joining the fight. Not all American pilots were in this squadron; other American pilots fought for France as part of the Lafayette Flying Corps.

(In fact, higher numbers of American volunteers served with the Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during the conflict.)

The squadron was quickly moved to Bar-le-Duc, closer to the front. A German objection filed with the U.S. government, over the actions of a supposed neutral nation, led to the name change in December. The original name implied that the U.S. was allied to France when it was in fact neutral like Sweden.

The planes, their mechanics, and the uniforms were French, as was the commander, Captain Georges Thenault. Five French pilots were also on the roster, serving at various times. Raoul Lufbery, a French-born American citizen, became the squadron's first, and ultimately their highest claiming, flying ace with 16 confirmed victories before his squadron was transferred to the US Air Services.

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[edit] Combat

The first major action seen by the squadron was at the Battle of Verdun, being posted to the front in May 1916 until September 1916, when the unit moved to 7 Army area at Luxeuil. The squadron, flying the Nieuport scout, suffered heavy losses, but its core group of 38 was rapidly replenished by other Americans arriving from overseas. So many volunteered that the Lafayette Flying Corps was formed, many Americans thereafter serving with other French air units. Altogether, 265 American volunteers served in the Corps. Although not formally part of the Lafayette Escadrille, other Americans such as Michigan's Fred Zinn, who was a pioneer of aerial photography, fought as part of the French Foreign Legion and later the French Aéronautique militaire.

The Escadrille had a reputation for daring, recklessness, and a party atmosphere.[citation needed] Two lion cubs, named "Whiskey" and "Soda", were made squadron mascots.

Lufbery got into trouble for hitting an officer who was unwise enough to lay hands on him during an argument. He was rescued from jail by his squadron mates. He was a man after the heart of French ace Charles Nungesser who came calling on the escadrille during one of his convalescences. He borrowed a Spad and shot down another German plane even though he was officially grounded.

On 8 February 1918, the squadron was transferred to the US Army Air Service as the 103rd Pursuit Squadron. For a brief period it retained its French planes and mechanics. Most of its veteran members were set to work training newly-arrived American pilots.

The 103rd PS claimed a further 49 kills up until November 1918.

[edit] Members

James Norman Hall (1887–1951) of the Lafayette Escadrille, 1917

There is some confusion between pilots who were a part of the Lafayette Escadrille or the Lafayette Flying Corps, especially in the film Flyboys. These 5 French officers and 38 American pilots were part of the Lafayette Escadrille[1].

[edit] French Officers

[edit] American Pilots

[edit] Tributes

Community House Monument to James R. McConnell
  • Memorial to the American Volunteers. On 4 July 1923, the President of the French Council of State, Raymond Poincaré, dedicated a monument in the Place des États-Unis, Paris, to the Americans who had volunteered to fight in World War I in the service of France.

[edit] Fictional accounts

The story of the Lafayette Escadrille has been adapted into two films: Lafayette Escadrille (1958), a William A. Wellman movie starring Tab Hunter, and Flyboys (2006), directed by Tony Bill and starring James Franco. The Lafayette Escadrille also appears in "Attack of the Hawkmen", an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in which Indy is temporarily assigned to the group as an aerial reconnaissance photographer.

The exploits of the Lafayette Escadrille are also captured in several works of historical fiction including: Falcons of France by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall (1929), To the Last Man by Jeffrey Shaara, Valiant Volunteers by Terry L. Johnson (2005), An Ace Minus One by Timothy Morrisroe (2006), and Kickapoo by Thomas Wilson (2006).

[edit] See also

Films based on the Escadrille américaine

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://pagesperso-orange.fr/rdisa/html/Pages/List%20of%20Pilots%20En.pdf

[edit] Bibliography

  • Bowen, Ezra. Knights of the Air. New York: Time Life Books Aviation Series, 1980. ISBN 0-80943-252-8.
  • Brown, Walt, Jr. An American for Lafayette: The Diaries of E.C.C. Genet, Lafayette Escadrille. Charlottesville Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1981. ISBN 0-81390-893-0.
  • Morse, Edwin W. America in the War: The Vanguard of American Volunteers in the Fighting Lines and in Humanitarian Service, August, 1914–April, 1917. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1919.
  • Nordhoff, Charles and James Norman Hall. The Lafayette Flying Corps. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920.
  • Parsons, Edwin C. I flew wth the Lafayette Escadrille. Indianapolis. E. C. Seale and Company, Inc., 1930 first edition, reprint 1953.
  • Shaara, Jeff. To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 0-345-46134-7.
  • Wilson, Thomas. Kickapoo. Thomaston, Maine: Dan River Press, 2006. ISBN 0-89754-216-9 and 0-89754-215-0.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Escadrille"
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