Download or read book Lafayette Escadrille America s Most Famous Squadron written by and published by NFI. This book was released on with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Story Of The Lafayette Escadrille Told By Its Commander written by Captain Georges Thenault and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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

Download or read book The Lafayette Escadrille written by Steven A. Ruffin and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A fresh look at the 38 Americans in the Escadrille Américaine . . . a finely-researched, well-written and well-illustrated book. It is recommended highly” (Over the Front). The Lafayette Escadrille was an all-volunteer squadron of Americans who flew for France during World War I, arguably the best-known fighter squadron ever to take to the skies. In this work, the entire history of these gallant volunteers—who named themselves after the Marquis de Lafayette, who came to America’s aid during its revolution—is laid out in both text and pictorial form. Along with archival photographs and documents, current snapshots of existing markers and memorials honoring the Lafayette Escadrille were taken by the author in France. In several cases, he was able to match his present-day color photos with older images of the same scene, thus creating a jaw-dropping then-and-now comparison. To add even more color, the author included artwork and aircraft profiles by recognized illustrators, along with numerous full-color photographs of artifacts relating to the squadron’s men and airplanes, as they are displayed today in various museums in the United States and France. The result is undoubtedly the finest photographic collection of the Lafayette Escadrille to appear in print. Along with expert text revealing air-combat experiences, as well as life at the front during the Great War, it is a never-before-seen visual history that both World War I aviation aficionados and those with a passing interest in history will appreciate. “This magnificent book probably provides everything needed by someone wishing to learn about this famous fighting unit.” —Cross and Cockade “When it comes to describing aerial combat in all its bloody fury, [Ruffin] excels.” —Air and Space Magazine

Download or read book Like a Thunderbolt written by Office of Air Force History and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The advent of an American squadron, or “escadrille,” within the French air force, the Service Aéronautique, had been far from a simple process. French leaders initially held the belief, common at the time, that the war begun in 1914 would be a short one. The potential value of American volunteers fighting for France both for propaganda purposes and for helping bring the power of the New World into the war on the side of the Allies was thus irrelevant at first. By early 1915, however, the French began to accept American volunteers and assign them toescadrilles. In early 1916, the Service Aéronautique united several of these men in an elite chasse unit, which quickly earned an enviable reputation for audacity, bravery, and élan.Success of this unit, the Lafayette Escadrille, had three consequences. First, its existence encouraged a large number of Americans, far more than needed in one escadrille, to volunteer for French aviation. These individuals, identified unofficially as members of a “Lafayette Flying Corps,” served in numerous French air units. Second, the publicity surrounding the Lafayette Escadrille contributed favorable press for the Allied cause, strengthened ties between France and the U.S., and ultimately helped prepare the U.S. to participate on the Allied side of the conflict. Third, the existence of a large body of experienced American pilots provided combat veterans for the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France when the U.S. ultimately entered the war. These veterans helped instill in the U.S. Air Service the attitudes and practices of the Service Aéronautique, an infusion especially reflected in two U.S. pursuit squadrons, the 103rd Aero Squadron, made up of Lafayette Escadrille pilots, and the 94th AeroSquadron, the most famous American combat squadron of the war. Further, this body of veterans influenced all U.S. pursuit units as Lafayette personnel spread throughout the Air Service.This was not the whole story, though. In early 1918, two pursuit units, the 27th and 147th Aero Squadrons, joined with the 94th and 95th Aero Squadrons to form the 1st Pursuit Group, the U.S. Air Service's first and most famous combat groupand forerunner of the U.S. Air Force's present-day wings. These, however, were British-trained squadrons commanded by Royal Flying Corps (RFC) veterans, and they contributed a British ethos to the American pursuit force, an ethos characterized by emphasis on the offensive at all hazards. Finally, and perhaps most important,the U.S. Army officers who created and commanded the U.S. Air Service had their own shared identity and sense of professionalism, that of the regular U.S. Army and of the Military Academy at West Point.By late 1918, the Air Service in France had begun to develop its own leaders who, whether imbued with the attributes of the French, British, or American systems, or a combination thereof, brought their own standards and practices toAmerican pursuit. Perhaps no one epitomized this contribution more than the eventual U.S. ace-of aces, Edward V. “Eddie” Rickenbacker. The final result in the early 1920s was a distinctly American fighter force with a special sense of identity.

Download or read book The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille written by Georges Thenault and published by Red and Black Publishers. This book was released on 2014-10-18 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the United States declared its neutrality. But a handful of American citizens nevertheless went to Europe and volunteered to fight for France against the Germans. Using French aircraft, they formed a squadron that became known as the "Lafayette Escadrille." This is the story of the Lafayette Squadron, as told by its French Commander, Captain Georges Thenault. Illustrated, and with new Introduction.

Download or read book Like A Thunderbolt The Lafayette Escadrille And The Advent Of American Pursuit In World War I Illustrated Edition written by Roger G. Miller and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes 29 Illustrations The advent of an American squadron, or “escadrille,” within the French air force, the Service Aeronautique, had been far from a simple process. French leaders initially held the belief, common at the time, that the war begun in 1914 would be a short one. The potential value of American volunteers fighting for France both for propaganda purposes and for helping bring the power of the New World into the war on the side of the Allies was thus irrelevant at first. By early 1915, however, the French began to accept American volunteers and assign them to escadrilles. In early 1916, the Service Aeronautique united several of these men in an elite chasse unit, which quickly earned an enviable reputation for audacity, bravery, and élan. Success of this unit, the Lafayette Escadrille, had three consequences. First, its existence encouraged a large number of Americans, far more than needed in one escadrille, to volunteer for French aviation. These individuals, identified unofficially as members of a “Lafayette Flying Corps,” served in numerous French air units. Second, the publicity surrounding the Lafayette Escadrille contributed favorable press for the Allied cause, strengthened ties between France and the U.S., and ultimately helped prepare the U.S. to participate on the Allied side of the conflict. Third, the existence of a large body of experienced American pilots provided combat veterans for the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France when the U.S. ultimately entered the war. These veterans helped instill in the U.S. Air Service the attitudes and practices of the Service Aeronautique, an infusion especially reflected in two U.S. pursuit squadrons, the 103rd Aero Squadron, made up of Lafayette Escadrille pilots, and the 94th Aero Squadron, the most famous American combat squadron of the war.

Download or read book SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille written by Jon Guttman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2004-07-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the story of one of World War I's most famous squadrons, Spa. 124 - the only French squadron made up entirely of American volunteers (save for the commander and executive officer.) Organised in April 1916, the group was successively dubbed the Escadrille Americaine, Escadrille des Volontaires and finally the Escadrille Lafayette. Its achievements were modest, but it included several colourful characters who captured the public imagination and played a major role in gaining American sympathy for the Allied cause. When the United States finally entered the war, many Lafayette veterans helped prepare US Army Air Service and Navy pilots for combat, although a few chose to stay on with the French.

Download or read book Kiffin Rockwell the Lafayette Escadrille and the Birth of the United States Air Force written by T.B. Murphy and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille written by Georges Thenault and published by . This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Like a Thunderbolt written by Roger Gene Miller and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Lafayette Escadrille Pilot Biographies written by Dennis Gordon and published by G O S. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Lafayette Flying Corps written by James Norman Hall and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the formation of the L.F.C. following the successes of the Escadrille Lafayette. Includes biographical sketches of L.F.C. members who served in various French escadrilles until after the U.S. entered the war in 1917.

Download or read book First to Fly written by Charles Bracelen Flood and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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

Download or read book The Millionaires Squadron written by Tom Moulson and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagined by an aristocrat in White's Club, London in 1925, a part-time squadron of wealthy young men with their own private aircraft was incorporated into a newly-established combat-ready Auxiliary Air Force, first as bombers, then fighters. The pre-war years combined serious training with frivolity and mischief, but the outbreak of war in 1939 changed that. Despite their social rank the pilots were thrust into the heart of the action, with mortality proving to be the great social leveler. From privileged pre-war lifestyles to front line deployment the lives of those who survived underwent radical change. Through the battles of Britain, Malta, the African desert and Italy the squadron's composition was transformed, and by war's end only a minority were British and none were millionaires. Britain had changed too, and the re-formed squadron filled with a combination of veterans and young middle-class ex-service pilots. The pilots flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain, and Spitfires thereafter until the arrival of jets in the '50s; DH Vampires and Gloster Meteors. The one aircraft they could not master was the little-loved mid-engine P-39 Bell Airacobra in 1941. Disbandment in 1957 of the by-then 'Royal' Auxiliary Air Force was fiercely resisted, but inevitable.Originally published in 1964 to great acclaim, this second edition features a wealth of brand new content in the form of newly uncovered documentation and photo illustrations. It is set to bring the story of this eccentric and dynamic squadron to a whole new audience of aviation and military enthusiasts.As seen in the Western Morning News and Epping Forest Guardian.

Download or read book Eugene Bullard written by Larry W. Greenly and published by NewSouth Books. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the life of the African-American pilot who flew missions for France during World War I, experienced racial discrimination in the United States, was beaten in the Peekskill Riots of 1949 and became a member of the French Legion of Honor.

Download or read book American Aces against the Kamikaze written by Edward M. Young and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Japanese High Command realised that the loss of Okinawa would give the Americans a base for the invasion of Japan. Its desperate response was to unleash the full force of the Special Attack Units, known in the west as the Kamikaze ('Divine Wind'). In a series of mass attacks in between April and June 1945, more than 900 Kamikaze aeroplanes were shot down. Conventional fighters and bombers accompanied the Special Attack Units as escorts, and to add their own weight to the attacks on the US fleet. In the air battles leading up to the invasion of Okinawa, as well as those that raged over the island in the three months that followed, the Japanese lost more than 7,000 aircraft both in the air and on the ground. In the course of the fighting, 67 Navy, 21 Marine, and three USAAF pilots became aces. In many ways it was an uneven combat and on numerous occasions following these uneven contests, American fighter pilots would return from combat having shot down up to six Japanese aeroplanes during a single mission.

Download or read book The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille written by Georges Thenault and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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."