RETRO FILES / LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE JOINS THE FREY

 

AMERICAN FLYBOYS FREELANCE FOR FRENCH

Before the United States officially entered World War I, a small group of American volunteer pilots crossed the Atlantic to fight for France. They became known as the Lafayette Escadrille, one of the most celebrated combat flying units of the First World War.

The squadron was officially formed on April 20, 1916. At the time, America was still neutral, but many young Americans believed France was fighting for civilization itself. Some volunteers came from wealthy families. Others were adventurers or idealists. All understood they might never return. 

Originally the unit was called the Escadrille Américaine. Germany protested the name, arguing it implied official American involvement in the war. To avoid diplomatic trouble, France renamed the squadron after the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero who helped America during the Revolutionary War. 

The symbolism was perfect. Lafayette had once sailed west to help America. Now Americans sailed east to help France. The unit was organized largely through the efforts of Norman Prince, a wealthy Boston pilot, and Dr. Edmund Gros, an American living in Paris. 

France desperately needed trained aviators, and the volunteers arrived at a time when military aviation was still experimental, dangerous, and wildly unpredictable. The Lafayette pilots flew lightweight French fighters called Nieuports. Built of wood, wire, and stretched fabric, the aircraft were fast but fragile. 

Pilots sat in open cockpits exposed to freezing air, engine oil, and enemy fire. Parachutes were not standard equipment. 

The Escadrille saw first combat during the terrible Battle of Verdun on May 13, 1916, one of the bloodiest battles in human history. While millions fought and died in trenches below, the Lafayette pilots carried out reconnaissance missions, bomber escorts, and aerial combat high above the battlefield. 

Among the 38 original members of the Lafayette Escadrille (with French unit commander, Capt. Georges Thenault, center) pose in front of a Nieuport bi-plane are left to right: James McConnell, Kiffin Rockwell, Norman Prince and Victor Chapman. None of the Yanks lived beyond 1917--all dying in aerial combat. WikiCommons.

The Yanks quickly became international celebrities. Newspapers loved their daring image and romantic reputation. They drank hard, posed for photographs beside their planes, and became symbols of youthful courage before America officially joined the war. 

But the danger was very real. 

In May 1916, Victor Chapman became the first Lafayette pilot killed in combat. Norman Prince later died after injuries suffered in a crash landing. The unit’s most famous ace, Raoul Lufbery, became one of the war’s legendary fighter pilots before eventually dying in combat after America entered the war. 

When the United States officially entered World War I in April 1917, many Lafayette pilots transferred into the new U.S. Army Air Service. 

First ace: William Thaw II survived his stint with the Escadrille's four-year history.  Credited as of of the unit's first to fly in combat.  Also credited with being first pilot to fly under all NYC's East River bridges.

By early 1918, the Lafayette Escadrille ceased operating as a separate French unit. Its legend only grew afterward. The larger organization of American volunteer flyers became known as the Lafayette Flying Corps. 

Films, books, and memorials celebrated their bravery for decades after the war ended. 

Today their tiny airplanes look impossibly delicate beside modern aircraft. Yet those young Americans willingly climbed into them over Verdun’s burning skies long before their own country officially entered the war. America had not yet donated soldiers. 

WBut it had already donated wings.

Robert Soubiran was an early combat fighter with the American unit Lafayette Escadrille.  Unique Indian artwork was used to readily ID the Nieuport bi-planes.  Note Lewis machine gun on the top wing.  Reloading was tricky as the pilot had to stand in the cockpit to replace the canister.