James Hall Charles Nordhoff 1st Ed 1920 The Lafayette Flying Corps Hardcover

Up For Sale Today is

The Lafayette Flying Corps

by

James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordhoff
Associated Editor by Edgar G Hamilton

Hardcover. 8vo. Published by Houghton Mifflin and Company,, Boston, MA. 1920. 2 Volumes. 514 & 361 pages,   including appendices and an index. Signed and inscribed with a lengthy gift inscription from Dr Edmund Gros (one of the originators of the unit)

Bound in blue cloth boards with titles present to the spine and front board. Boards have shelf-wear present to the extremities (boards are lightly scuffed and worn). No ownership marks present.  Text is clean and free of marks. Hinges repaired.

The Lafayette Escadrille was formed thanks to three individuals: Norman Prince of Boston, Mass., William Thaw of Pittsburgh, Penn., and Dr Edmund L. Gros of the American Hospital of Paris.

Seeking to aid the Allied cause, they lobbied officials in Paris to create an all-American squadron within the French Air Service. The Allies were in need of more combat forces, and were fully aware of the positive propaganda value that Americans flying under the French flag could afford in garnering United States support for the Allied cause.

Men who were considered part of this elite flying group came from diverse backgrounds, including authors of fiction, a professional polo player, all-American football players, an FBI special agent, and a U.S. ambassador to name a few. Of this number, only 38 were assigned to the Lafayette Escadrille — the term escadrille means squadron in French. The rest served in other French flying units. Collectively, all Americans in the French Air Service, known as the Service Aéronautique, were considered to be part of the Lafayette Flying Corps, an unofficial designation. Many of these aviators transferred to American squadrons once the U.S entered the war in April 1917.

Oft he the more than 200 American pilots completed French aviation training and 180 flew in combat. Sixty three brave Americans gave their lives for the French cause and the corps was credited with nearly 160 enemy aircraft shot down. Lafayette flyers included eleven flying aces and four winners of the Legion d' Honneur. This two volume history of the services of the Lafayette Flying Corps includes contributions by many of it members and is an essential source work on the subject for all those interested in the early history of military aviation. Volume one is a history of the corps from its formation, and includes details of the origin of the Escadrille Américaine, the Escadrille Lafayette at the front, the Lafayette Flying Corps, enlistment and early training, adventures in action, life on the front, combats and prisoners of war.