Raoul Lufbery’s grave after his body was moved, in 1919, from the Sebastopol cemetery, near the Toul aerodrome, to the St. Mihiel American Cemetery at Thiaucourt. It was later transferred one final time, to the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial. (US Air Force)
The second exception to this otherwise stale period involved one of these “civilians.” Budding author James Norman Hall celebrated New Year’s Day 1918, by downing an Albatros fighter, for his first confirmed victory. The German pilot, who must have been feeling the effects of the previous night’s celebration, never saw Hall diving on him. It was the last victory ever credited to the Lafayette Escadrille.
Finally, on February 18, 1918, the event the men of the Lafayette Escadrille had been both dreading and anticipating occurred. After much high-level, behind-the-scenes negotiating, the squadron was officially transferred to the US Air Service and designated the 103rd Aero Squadron. Capitaine Thénault was re-assigned to other duties, as was Lieutentant Verdier-Fauvety. The valiant lieutenant was destined to die on the evening of August 21, 1918, when the French escadrille of which he was in command came under attack by German night bombers. He was killed by a bomb explosion while attending to his men.
Twelve of the remaining American pilots—Bridgman, Dolan, Dugan, Ford, Hall, Hill, Jones, Marr, Peterson, Rockwell, Soubiran, and Thaw—stayed with the 103rd, with Major William Thaw in command. Within months, however, most of these men were dispersed to other units throughout the US Air Service. The wealth of knowledge and leadership these combat veterans would provide to the inexperienced young US Air Service pilots was incalculable. Meanwhile, Escadrille SPA.124 remained on the books and continued to operate with Groupe de Combat 13 as a French squadron.
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With the stroke of a pen, the Lafayette Escadrille passed into history. During its 22 months, its 38 American pilots had left an indelible mark, as they swept across the skies of the Western Front. They had flown a total of some 3,000 combat patrols in every major sector of the war and destroyed, in all likelihood, far more enemy aircraft than the 33 with which they were officially credited. Eight of these young American volunteers had lost their lives in aerial combat, one had become a prisoner of war, and several others had sustained crippling wounds.
In tribute to these men, their commanding officer, Capitaine Georges Thénault, wrote, “Let us bow low before them and salute them very respectfully. Glory to all these volunteers. Glory to all these noble heroes, these noble forerunners.” French Général Henri Gouraud also expressed a feeling that many of his countrymen shared for the Americans of the Lafayette:
When men who have no obligation to fight, who could not possibly be criticized if they did not fight—yet nevertheless decide upon their own individual initiative to risk their lives in defense of a cause they hold dear—then we are in the presence of true heroes, and France owes them all the homage that word implies.
As the past 100 years have shown, neither France nor the United States would soon forget the dashing young men of the Lafayette Escadrille, their exploits, or their sacrifices.
CHAPTER 14
AFTERMATH
“… swallowed up in the disenchantment of the Lost Generation”
On November 11, 1933, a 48-year-old arms peddler was sentenced to two and one-half years in Federal prison. On May 24, 1936, a 41-year-old alcoholic ex-convict died in a Washington, DC, flophouse of acute congestive heart failure. No one claimed his body. On November 9, 1951, a depressed 56-year-old college professor fell, or more likely jumped, from the deck of a New York ferry and drowned. These three men had absolutely nothing in common, except for one thing: all had once flown for the World War I fighter squadron known as the Lafayette Escadrille.
Twenty-seven of the thirty-eight Americans who had served with the escadrille survived the war and most spent the remainder of their lives basking in the glory that attended it. The group of young Americans who had voluntarily risked their lives flying for an ideal in which they believed was the stuff of legends. To be one of these pilots was a distinction the world never forgot. It was so appealing that, in the years following the war, an estimated 4,000 men—according to historian Philip M. Flammer—fraudulently claimed to have served in the Lafayette Escadrille. These “ringers,” as they were derisively called, who attempted to exploit its name seemed to crop up everywhere, and they became a very sore subject to the surviving Americans who actually had flown for Escadrille 124. This fact serves only to demonstrate just how prestigious it was to be a bona fide member of this unique flying unit.
Most of the Lafayette Escadrille survivors successfully adapted to the peacetime environment and went on to enjoy happy and productive lives. Even so, all suffered in one way or another from their traumatic experiences. Like most men returning from war, they had seen horrors—as ambulance drivers, soldiers in the trenches, and combat airmen—that no amount of time could let them forget. The nightmarish images etched into their brains were memories that would continue to haunt them for the remainder of their lives.
Compounding this mental trauma were the unhealthy habits the pilots picked up during the war and retained afterward. Most of them had learned to offset the tremendous stresses that daily combat patrols imposed on their nervous systems with regular doses of alcohol and nicotine. Most of the pilots in the Lafayette Escadrille had used these substances as tonics to settle their nerves, help them forget, and give them the strength and courage to carry on with their often terrifying duties. For some, these vices became demons that possessed them, destroyed their lives, and helped send them to early graves.
Another, entirely different set of memories these men brought back with them from the war also may have adversely affected their later lives. Their carefree sprees in “Gay Paree” were legendary. They lived for the moment when they could steal away to the City of Light for a few hours to eat, drink, party, and carouse. Ted Parsons was not entirely joking when he wrote that he and his comrades returned to the front from a typical binge in Paris only to get some rest. Paris in World War I was a place unique in all of history. Even during the war’s darkest days, it was a lively city packed with good restaurants, bars stocked with the best liquor, and limitless numbers of lonely, willing women in need of a man. The town belonged to the heroic American airmen who strutted down the Champs-Élysées with their pockets stuffed with francs, their medals and aviator’s insignia gleaming in the sunlight, and a beautiful woman hanging on each arm. For the world-famous “rock stars” of the Lafayette Escadrille, a visit to Paris was a visit to paradise, an experience they would always remember and long for again. Unfortunately, it was also an experience that could never be re-created. Never again would these men find themselves in such an exalted position. When the war ended, some of them felt—at the delicate age of 20-something—that life as they knew and loved it, had also forever ended. It left them with a feeling of emptiness. How could they ever again be content with an ordinary job or the girl back home, when they had once owned the world?
Thus, the men of the Lafayette Escadrille ended the war mentally and physically scarred by some of the best and worst memories imaginable. They were addicted to stimulants, sex, celebrity, and perhaps most damaging of all: the euphoric adrenalin buzz they had daily experienced from defying death in the clear blue sky. They had seen and lived it all at a very young age, and life would never be the same for any of them. Most would cope, but a few would be swallowed up in the disenchantment of the Lost Generation.
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The Rest of the Story
GEORGES THÉNAULT will always be remembered as the only commanding officer of the Lafayette Escadrille. Though his sometimes ill-disciplined young American pilots did not always see things his way, they rarely failed to pay him the respect he had earned and deserved. After the war, he served as the air attaché to the French embassy in Washington, DC, and in 1921, published his classic book The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille. In 1925, he married Sarah Spencer, of St. Joseph, Missouri, with whom he
had two children. Thénault retired from the French Air Service in 1935, after which, he entered into business. Living in Paris during World War II, he suffered through the years of Nazi occupation, and on December 17, 1948, died of a stroke, at the age of 61. His remains lie in the crypt at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial next to those of the men he considered, “the honor of my life to have commanded….”
Major Georges Thénault (right) standing outside the White House on October 29, 1925, with the leading Allied ace of World War I, French Capitaine René Fonck. Thénault served as the air attaché at the French Embassy in Washington, DC, from 1920 to 1933. Fonck finished the war with 75 officially credited victories. (Library of Congress)
CHARLES NUNGESSER, who lived and flew with N.124 in July 1916, finished the war as France’s third-ranking ace, with 43 confirmed victories. Though physically debilitated from all the injuries and wounds he suffered during the war, he continued to fly afterward. He ran a flying school, flew exhibitions, and performed as a stunt pilot in Hollywood—in 1925, he even starred as himself in the silent movie Sky Raider. Still, this was insufficient for a man who was used to taking big chances and being idolized by an adoring public. On May 8, 1927, he and fellow Frenchman François Coli, took off from Paris’ Le Bourget field in a big white biplane they named l’Oiseau Blanc—the white bird. They headed west, hoping to make history’s first nonstop flight from Paris to New York City. Soon after takeoff, they disappeared and were never seen again.
WILLIAM THAW was the only pilot to serve with the Lafayette Escadrille for its entire span of existence. As the ranking American and most long-standing member, he, more than anyone else, was the heart of the squadron. After it disbanded on February 18, 1918, Thaw accepted a commission as a major in the US Air Service. He first had to obtain a waiver from American Expeditionary Forces Commanding General John J. Pershing, for defective hearing and vision, a bum knee, and a bad elbow. He was named the commanding officer of the 103rd Aero Squadron, and later, promoted to command the 3rd Pursuit Group. He was credited with five confirmed aerial victories—two with the Lafayette Escadrille and three with the 103rd Aero Squadron. Lieutenant Colonel William Thaw was discharged from the Air Service in 1919. In the postwar years, he engaged in various business pursuits but eventually began to suffer from the effects of his wartime experiences and years of heavy drinking. He passed away on the morning of April 22, 1934, from pneumonia. He was 40 years old.
ELLIOT COWDIN spent only a short time with the squadron and flew but a few missions. He left under a dark cloud but managed to secure a commission as a major in the US Air Service Bureau of Aircraft Production. After the war, he unenthusiastically continued to play polo, but never married or worked at any particular profession. He died on January 6, 1933, at age 46 of complications from influenza.
BERT HALL left the Lafayette Escadrille on November 1, 1916, also under less than happy circumstances. After transferring to Escadrille N.103, he achieved, on November 26, 1916, his fourth and last aerial victory. He went on to write two books, produce and star in two Hollywood movies, marry at least four beautiful women—and serve time in a federal penitentiary for illegal arms transport. The “lovable old rogue” died of a heart attack on December 6, 1948, at the age of 63. His ashes were scattered from an airplane over his hometown of Higginsville, Missouri.
CLYDE BALSLEY had a long and painful road to recovery after his disastrous, first and only aerial combat of June 18, 1916. For two weeks, he lay in the filthy, crowded French evacuation hospital, only a few miles from the front. Virtually unattended by an overworked staff, he was delirious with pain and on the verge of death when finally transferred to the American Hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine. Here, he received the care he needed. Six surgeries and a year and a half later, he had recovered to the point where he could walk with a cane. He joined the US Air Service and was working in recruiting and war bond drives, when he met and married silent screen star actress Miriam MacDonald. In the years that followed, he involved himself in various business enterprises. He died in Los Angeles on July 23, 1942, four days shy of his 49th birthday.
CHOUTEAU JOHNSON served as an instructor in the US Air Service until the Armistice. Afterward, he became a stock broker in San Francisco and married. He and his wife had one daughter, before they divorced—largely, because of Johnson’s addiction to alcohol. He eventually moved to New York and remarried, but soon afterward, developed throat cancer, from which he died on October 10, 1939. He was 50 years old.
LAURENCE RUMSEY returned to the United States, after his rather lackluster performance with Escadrille N.124. He enlisted in the US Army and ended the war as an artillery lieutenant. After the Armistice, he resumed his polo career and lived off of his family’s wealth. For the remaining 50 years of his life, he avoided further association with his former squadron mates, but to his credit, also refrained from exploiting his status as a pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille. He died in Buffalo, New York, on May 11, 1967, at the age of 80.
DUDLEY HILL joined the 103rd Aero Squadron, thanks also to a vision waiver that General Pershing approved. He eventually transferred to the 139th, and then the 138th Aero Squadrons, the latter as squadron commander. He was later elevated to command the 5th Pursuit Group. He finished the war with an aversion to flying and never flew again. Similarly, he left his memories in France and avoided talking about them, even to his family. He worked in various business pursuits over the years, married, and in 1942, was blessed with a son. He died of a heart attack on June 30, 1951, at his home in Peekskill, New York, at age 57.
DIDIER MASSON returned to the United States after the war and worked at various jobs through the years, both in the United States and South America, before settling in Mexico. He lived the last eight years of his life in Chetumel, where he managed a hotel. He died on June 2, 1950, at the age of 64.
ROBERT ROCKWELL joined the 103rd Aero Squadron and eventually became its commanding officer. After the war, he worked in various business endeavors, but retained his commission as a reservist in the Air Service. In 1939, he returned to active duty as a full colonel. He served throughout World War II, before retiring in 1946. He died of a heart attack on January 25, 1958, in San Bernadino, California. He was 65 years old.
WILLIS HAVILAND left the Lafayette Escadrille at Senard on September 18, 1917, and served briefly with Escadrille SPA.102 before enlisting in the US Navy. He served as a Naval Aviator in Italy and ended the war as one of the most highly decorated pilots to have flown for the Lafayette Escadrille. He again served in the Navy during World War II, until diagnosed with lung cancer. He died at age 54 on November 28, 1944. One of Haviland’s biggest contributions to the squadron’s legacy was the outstanding photo collection he accumulated during and after the war. His scrapbooks, which are maintained by his grandson, Mr. Willis Haviland Lamm, comprise one of the finest collections of Lafayette Escadrille photographs in existence. Willis Haviland is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
FREDERICK PRINCE JR. left the Lafayette Escadrille on February 15, 1917, as a result of his powerful father’s unwanted political intervention—for which young Fred never forgave him. Their contentious relationship continued, and when the elder Prince finally died in 1953, he willed his estimated $100 million estate to an adopted son and left Fred Jr. with only a yearly stipend of $5,000. Frederick Prince Jr. died on October 5, 1962, on Long Island, New York, at age 77.
A trio of former Lafayette Escadrille pilots share a laugh at an undated reunion dinner, some years after the war. Pictured are Carl Dolan, Robert Soubiran, and Chouteau Johnson. Teetotaler Dolan appeared here to be maintaining his traditional role as the unit’s “designated driver,” as he nursed his glass of water. He enjoyed a long life to become the final surviving member of the Lafayette Escadrille, dying in his adopted state of Hawaii on the last day of 1981. (Washington and Lee University Archives)
ROBERT SOUBIRAN transferred to the 103rd Aero Squadron and, three weeks before the Armistice, became its commanding offic
er. In the years that followed, he married and raised a family, while working at various jobs in both France and the United States. He died in Queens, New York, on February 4, 1949, at age 62. Like Willis Haviland, he accumulated a sizable collection of Lafayette Escadrille photographs. The originals can be viewed today in the archives of the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
TED PARSONS was the only member of the Lafayette Escadrille to pass up a commission in the US Air Service and remain with the Aéronautique Militaire. When the offer was extended, he was on leave in the States. After returning to France, some of his comrades who were unhappy with the delays and general disorganization in the new American Air Service, advised him against joining. He therefore elected to fly for Escadrille SPA.3, the famed “Storks” squadron of Groupe de Combat 12. Here, he met with further success, knocking down seven additional enemy aircraft, for a total score of eight victories, and receiving a commission as a sous-lieutenant. He ended the war as the senior ranking officer in his squadron and the second-ranking ace to have flown for the Lafayette Escadrille. After the war, Parsons served for three years as an agent in the US Bureau of Investigation (later known as the FBI). Afterward, he transitioned—with the help of an old Lafayette Flying Corps acquaintance-turned-Hollywood director, named William Wellman—into the motion picture industry. Parsons became a writer and technical director for aviation films and also began writing aviation stories. In 1937, he penned his entertaining—though not always completely factual—history of the Lafayette Escadrille, The Great Adventure. He later joined the US Navy, where he served with distinction throughout World War II. He retired in 1954 at the rank of rear admiral. He died on May 2, 1968, in Sarasota Florida, at age 75 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Lafayette Escadrille: A Photo History of the First American Fighter Squadron Page 20