Lafayette Escadrille Pilot Biographies
Author | : Dennis Gordon |
Publisher | : G O S |
Total Pages | : 271 |
Release | : 1991-01-01 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 9780942258011 |
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Author | : Dennis Gordon |
Publisher | : G O S |
Total Pages | : 271 |
Release | : 1991-01-01 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 9780942258011 |
Author | : T.B. Murphy |
Publisher | : McFarland |
Total Pages | : 198 |
Release | : 2016-08-16 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 1476624313 |
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kiffin Yates Rockwell, from Asheville, North Carolina, volunteered to fight for France. Initially serving with the French Foreign Legion as a soldier in the trenches, he soon became a founding member of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron made up mostly of American volunteer pilots who served under the French flag before the United States entered the war. On May 19, 1916, Rockwell became the first American pilot of the war to shoot down a German plane. He was killed during aerial combat on September 23, 1916, at age 24. This book covers Rockwell's early life and military service with the Lafayette Escadrille, the first ever American air combat unit and the precursor to the United States Air Force.
Author | : Charles Bracelen Flood |
Publisher | : Open Road + Grove/Atlantic |
Total Pages | : 269 |
Release | : 2015-06-02 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 080219138X |
“The compelling story of the squadron of adventurous young American pilots who were among the first to engage in air combat.” —Tampa Bay Times In First to Fly, lauded historian Charles Bracelen Flood draws on rarely seen primary sources to tell the story of the daredevil Americans of the Lafayette Escadrille, who flew in French planes, wore French uniforms, and showed the world an American brand of heroism before the United States entered the Great War. As citizens of a neutral nation from 1914 to early 1917, Americans were prohibited from serving in a foreign army, but many brave young souls soon made their way into European battle zones. It was partly from the ranks of the French Foreign Legion, and with the sponsorship of an expat American surgeon and a Vanderbilt, that the Lafayette Escadrille was formed in 1916 as the first and only all-American squadron in the French Air Service. Flying rudimentary planes, against one-in-three odds of being killed, these fearless young men gathered reconnaissance and shot down enemy aircraft, participated in the Battle of Verdun and faced off with the Red Baron, dueling across the war-torn skies like modern knights on horseback. “First to Fly shows us that there was something noble and honorable about the Escadrille, men who did not turn against their own country but put their lives up to fight for a cause, not because they had to but because it was the right thing to do.” —The Wall Street Journal
Author | : Steven A. Ruffin |
Publisher | : Casemate |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2020-03-15 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : 9781612008523 |
The most complete account of America's first volunteer participants in the Great War yet written, lavishly illustrated with both period photos and color then-and-now shots for a new generation of readers . .
Author | : Dennis Gordon |
Publisher | : Schiffer Military History |
Total Pages | : 240 |
Release | : 2022-12-20 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : 9780764365355 |
A new translation of a classic work on early aviation history, Two Great Knights of Adventure. English-language readers will read this detailed dual biography of Marc Pourpe and Lafayette Escadrille hero Raoul Lufbery for the first time. This new edition of the long out of print original includes droves of new, unpublished information and imagery from the Lufbery family archive.
Author | : Bert Hall |
Publisher | : Read Books Ltd |
Total Pages | : 136 |
Release | : 2020-10-16 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 1528765648 |
""This book is the amazing story, told in his own words, of an American who fought in the French Army from the Second day after the war was declared in 1914 until the present time. His service included also special duty on the Russian front. The title, ""En L'Air,"" familiar to many American readers, is the command given aviators in the French Army to leave the ground on the duty to which r=they have been assigned."" This book is part of the World War One Centenary series; creating, collating and reprinting new and old works of poetry, fiction, autobiography and analysis. The series forms a commemorative tribute to mark the passing of one of the world's bloodiest wars, offering new perspectives on this tragic yet fascinating period of human history. Each publication also includes brand new introductory essays and a timeline to help the reader place the work in its historical context.
Author | : Captain Georges Thenault |
Publisher | : Pickle Partners Publishing |
Total Pages | : 222 |
Release | : 2014-06-13 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : 1782892044 |
“Aces over the Western Front The Lafayette Escadrille is now a legend of early aeronautics and warfare in the air. Originally titled the Escadrille Americaine, this squadron of the French Air Force of the Great War was formed in 1916 and as it name suggests was piloted mainly by Americans who came to the Western Front to fight the battle of the skies for the Allies out of conviction—in the hope of encouraging the United States to join the fray—or simply in the spirit of adventure. The élan of this crack squadron has survived it and today its Indian chief insignia is instantly recognisable. There have been several books concerning the Lafayette Escadrille, but this one has unimpeachable credentials since its author was none other than the unit’s commander. Few readers interested in the subject of this book will need explanation as to its contents.”-Leonaur Print Version
Author | : Georges Thenault |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 122 |
Release | : 2016-12-06 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : 9781519085740 |
In April 1916, the creation of the American escadrille was decided. During the next twenty-one months this aviation squadron was to be seen over every important battlefield, with its men fighting and dying for France. George Thenault's fascinating history of the Lafayette Escadrille covers from its very inception to the end of the war. Many Americans living in France at the outbreak of war in 1914 wanted to fight for the country that they saw as the founder of Liberty, and some of those men were pilots. But with the French army only having 80 planes the Americans were initially rejected from joining the air force and instead had to sign up with the Foreign Legion. It was only after months of persuasion that some of these intrepid Americans were given control of France's planes and later, under Thenault's command, they developed their own squadron. They were immediately thrown into the thick of the fighting above the pockmarked land of the Western Front. Thenault provides vivid descriptions of his brave pilots which included Norman Prince, the Rockwell brothers and the ace Raoul Lufbery. Some of these pilots were rather eccentric, for example William Thaw who when in Paris bought two lions, named Whiskey and Soda, which became the escadrille's mascots. Flying their Nieuports, they were fighting at the very beginning of military aviation and were instrumental in pioneering new battle techniques. Their life expectancy was not long and many who had joined at the inception of the escadrille did not make it through until the end of the war. Thenault's extremely personal account covers all aspects of this squadron in World War One, from their activities on the ground to their dogfights in the air. It is a truly remarkable read. Eventually with the United States joining the war the Lafayette Escadrille was disbanded and a number of its members were inducted into the U.S. Air Service as members of 103 Aero Squadron. George Thenault's The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille was published in 1921. His book gained widespread American public recognition. In May 1922, he accepted an assignment that began an eleven year diplomatic service in the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C.. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1933 following successful completion of duties as Military Attache for Aeronautics at the French Embassy in Washington DC, he returned to France and continued his military services with the French Air Army. He died in 1948.
Author | : Georges Thenault |
Publisher | : CreateSpace |
Total Pages | : 66 |
Release | : 2015-01-29 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : 9781507767436 |
This is a concise but comprehensive history about the Lafayette Escadrille, a celebrated unit of the French airforce that was manned by American volunteers during World War I. From the preface: "You have told this story of heroism with a sincere simplicity which recommends it not only to literary critics but to all young people who take delight in noble deeds. To obtain this result all you needed was to tell what you had done and what you had seen. The first American volunteers of your escadrille began their service in the Foreign Legion. They wished to fight to defend Liberty, which France incarnated and protected. Some months later, as aviation developed, they were able to begin their training as pilots. In April, 1916, the creation of the American escadrille was decided, and from that moment this escadrille took part in every great action. During twenty-one months it was to be seen over every important battlefield. First came Verdun, where you won your earliest glorious laurels with 146 fights and 13 enemy planes defeated. Then the Vosges, and the Somme-a period when the supremacy of allied aviation became manifest, a period of heroic combats, in which the Sioux, which you took as your emblem, won a terrible reputation in the enemy's ranks. It was then that you became the "Lafayette Escadrille." In the United States the exploits of your escadrille had-I could see that for myself-a great moral influence, and the example of your volunteers was an inspiration to many of their countrymen. We never doubted what America's decision would be; but since your pilots were the forerunners theirs will be the glory. The war dragged on and you never rested. . . . After the Somme came the battle of the Aisne, then Flanders, then the return to Verdun where you collaborated in the recapture of the Mort-Homme and the Hill 304. A magnificent citation was the reward of your splendid efforts. I desire to reproduce it here: Escadrille formed of American volunteers come to fight for France in the purest spirit of sacrifice, carried on without truce under the command of Captain Thenault a burning struggle against our enemies."
Author | : Dennis Gordon |
Publisher | : Schiffer Military History |
Total Pages | : 520 |
Release | : 2000 |
Genre | : History |
ISBN | : |
This new book contains not only a history of the legendary Lafayette Flying Corps, but also detailed biographies of the 269 volunteer American airmen and gunners of France's Service Aeronautique who flew in sixty-six pursuit and twenty-seven bomber/observation squadrons over the Western Front - also included are the thirty-eight pilots of the Escadrille Lafayette. It is an accurate and absorbing account of the lives and combat experiences of the men who later formed the nucleus of the American Expeditionary Force squadrons. This ground breaking work contains comprehensive research, including details of war casualties and survivors, and many unpublished photographs.