Military Myths & Legends: The Lafayette Escadrille

The Lafayette Escadrille was a U.S. unit constituted in 1916 under French command, made up of volunteers who came forward to fight for France during World War I. The Escadrille of the Aeronautique Militaire was mainly composed of American volunteer pilots flying fighters. It was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolutionary War.

Dr. Edmund L. Gros, a founder of the American Hospital of Paris and organizer of the American Ambulance Field Service, and Norman Prince, a Harvard-educated lawyer, and an American expatriate already flying for France led the attempts 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 arouse interest in abandoning neutrality and joining the fight.

Authorized by the French Air Department on March 21, 1916, the Escadrille de Chasse Nieuport 124 (Escadrille Americaine) was deployed on April 20 in Luxeuil-Les-Bains, France, near Switzerland's border. 

Despite the unit notorious weak status in the United States, the Escadrille proved useful for the French and Americans, taking into consideration that before the First World War, aircraft were not considered combat units. Initially, there were seven Americans pilots: Victor E. Chapman, Elliot C. Cowdin, Weston (Bert) Hall, James R. McConnell, Norman Prince, Kiffin Rockwell, and William Thaw.  The full roster included 38 pilots.

The unit's aircraft, mechanics, and uniforms were French, as was the commander, Capt. Georges Thenault. Five French pilots were also on the roster, serving at various times in command positions. Raoul Lufbery, a French-born American citizen, became the squadron's first, and ultimately their highest scoring flying ace with 16 confirmed victories before the pilots of the squadron was inducted into the U.S. Air Service.

Two unofficial members of the Escadrille Americaine, the lion cubs named Whiskey and Soda, provided countless moments of relief from battle stress to fliers.

A German objection filed with the U.S. government, over the actions of a supposed neutral nation, led to the name change to Lafayette Escadrille in December 1916, as the original name implied that the U.S. was allied to France rather than neutral.

American members of the Lafayette Escadrille transferred into the United States Army Air Service on February 18, 1918, as the 103d Aero Squadron. The French personnel formed the Escadrille SPA.124 Jeanne d'Arc.

Not all American pilots, however, were in Lafayette Escadrille; over 200 American fliers fought for France as part of the Lafayette Flying Corps. On April 3, 1918, eleven American pilots from the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force were assigned to Escadrille, an air defense squadron stationed near Paris. American flyers served with this French unit until July 18, 1918, and it is sometimes referred to as the Second Escadrille Americaine.

The Escadrille ceased to exist on February 18, 1918. Later, only to resurface as the Escadron de Chasse 2/4 LaFayette, which retook the unit designation of "LaFayette," this time however, in the French Air Force.

During the existence of the Escadrille, 224 Americans served in the unit. Of those, fifty-one died in combat, and an additional eleven died in non-combat. Fifteen became prisoners of war. A total of eleven pilots became aces.

The first major action seen by the squadron was May 13, 1916, at the Battle of Verdun, and five days later, Kiffin Rockwell recorded the unit's first aerial victory. On June 23, the Escadrille suffered its first fatality when Victor Chapman was shot down over Douaumont.

The unit was posted to the front until September 1916, when the unit was moved back to Luxeuil-Les-Bains in the 7 Army area. On September 23, Rockwell was killed when his Nieuport was downed by the gunner in a German Albatross observation plane, and in October, Norman Prince was shot down during the air battle. The squadron, flying Nieuport and later, Spad scouts, suffered heavy losses, but it received replacements until a total of 38 American pilots eventually served with the squadron. 

So many Americans volunteered to fly for France that they were eventually farmed out to other French squadrons. As a group, the Americans who flew in WWI for France's air service, the "Aeronautique Militaire," are collectively known as the Lafayette Flying Corps. Altogether, 265 American volunteers served in the Corps.

On February 8, 1918, the squadron was disbanded, and 12 of its American members inducted into the U.S. Air Service as members of the 103rd Aero Squadron. For a brief period, it retained its French aircraft and mechanics. Most of its veteran members were set to work training newly arrived American pilots. The 103rd was credited with a further 45 kills before the Armistice went into effect on November 11. The French Escadrille SPA.124, also known as the Jeanne d'Arc Escadrille, continued Lafayette Escadrille's traditions in the Service Aeronautique.

In the mid-1920s, France recruited some 16 former American fliers (9 Officers and 7 Warrant Officers) with World War I combat experience for service in the French Army of Africa. Their aim was to forestall American public and diplomatic support for the Rif tribes rebelling against Spanish and French colonial rule.

Charles Sweeny, the organizer of the RAF Eagle Squadrons, proposed to reconstitute the Lafayette Escadrille. However, Paul Ayres Rockwell, a brother of fallen Escadrille Americaine's pilot Kiffin Rockwell, wrote that "the attempt to call the unit the Lafayette Escadrille had been abandoned almost before we left Paris, as there was not one former pilot of the famous World War squadron in our group." 

The pilots were inducted into the French Foreign Legion in July 1925, where they formed the Escadrille de la Guarde Cherifienne in the Sultan's Guard Escadrille of the French Air Force. 

Public protests in the United States led to the Cherifienne Escadrille dissolution in 1925.

Nine pilots died in the Lafayette Escadrille, while others perished after leaving the unit. More sustained non-fatal injuries. The planes flown were flimsy, and not as safe as those of later years. Engines and other parts failed, and machine-guns often jammed when they were needed. One man asked to be moved back to his infantry unit, where "he could be safe." The first pilot to be killed in action was Victor Chapman. Edmond Genet became the first American casualty of World War I, following the U.S. entry into the war. Other Americans had died prior to the U.S. declaration of war. Still, since Genet had been active in the Escadrille since before the U.S. entry into the war, his death only a few days after the U.S. declaration of war made him the first official U.S. casualty.

After the Great War, the membership in the Escadrille Lafayette was claimed by over 4,000 people, "including a dozen well-known Hollywood personalities and several high government officials."

From the beginning, there was a great deal of confusion between American pilots who were members of the Lafayette Escadrille, a designated all-American aviation squadron of the French Service Aeronautique, and the Lafayette Flying Corps, an unofficial paper organization highlighting in its roster published during the war the names of approximately 231 American volunteer aviators who flew with more than 90 French operational escadrilles.

To the French civilians, the pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille were extra special. They were successful, adventurous, dashing, and most were handsome! Further, these pilot's home country wasn't officially involved in the war during the main years of the squadron's activity-so there was added selfless, patriotic feeling.

Several of the Escadrille pilots received citations, awards, and medals for their actions and service. The French welcomed the volunteers and, later, remembered their service by dedicated a large memorial in Paris to the squadron.