Pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille with two of their many mascots

All of the Lafayette Escadrille pilots depicted in An Ace Minus One, with the exception of Jack Elliot of course, were real. Many were sons of the wealthy and privileged, though not all. Due to the manpower shortage in France and the novelty of airplanes, the screening of volunteers was not as selective as it would be today, for instance, for Air Force or Navy flight training. As with any group of individuals there were wide differences in flying skills, commitment, courage, and leadership. Some, such as Bill Thaw, Raoul Lufbery, and David Peterson, became outstanding combat commanders. Others exhibited less than heroic qualities, which is not unexpected given the terrifying ordeal of early aerial combat – flying in flimsy aeroplanes against an unforgiving and often more experienced foe, without even a parachute to fall back on if your aeroplane became a “flamer” or you suddenly found yourself riding a “bunch of matchsticks” during a steep dive.

On February 18, 1918 French Headquarters removed S.124 (the escadrille had converted exclusively to SPADs) from the order of battle. Many of the pilots would eventually be transferred to the newly forming American squadrons, though this took time. Whether the Lafayette Escadrille was the raging success portrayed by an idolizing public (or not) can be debated by military historians. Certainly, success cannot be measured in a strict tally of victories versus losses, though the numbers offer some perspective. The American Lafayette escadrille pilots recorded 35 aerial victories during their French service. The number of aeroplanes lost in combat by Lafayette Escadrille pilots was less than 35. Eight of pilots died in aerial combat, including subsequent service with the U.S. Army, and three died in aircraft accidents. More were wounded, and all survivors suffered scars, both physical and emotional, that lasted the remainder of their lives. As An Ace Minus One mentions, the longest living survivor of the Lafayette Escadrille was Charles Dolan, who died in 1981 at age 86. Sadly, Charles Dolan was the exception as longevity was a rarity for members of the “Valiant 38.”

Mule Ship

Throughout the Great War both sides relied heavily on mules and horses to transport matérial, pull field guns and ammunition limbers, and even transport the wounded to aid stations. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) alone drafted one million horses and mules. It is estimated a quarter million of these died on the western front. Many of these mules came from the United States. In An Ace Minus One, Jack Elliot serves as a stable-hand on a ship loaded with mules for delivery to Great Britain.

Volunteer Ambulance

With sentiment largely on he Allied side even prior to the United States entry into the war, many young American men volunteered to drive ambulances for France. A 1915 agreement resulted in ambulances being attached to particular French divisions. One of the three major volunteer groups was the American Field Service (AFS). The AFS recruited their drivers primarily from American universities. Some of rhe American ambulance driers also volunteered and were selected for French flight training. In An Ace Minus One, Jack Elliot drives a Ford ambulance as part of the AFS at Verdun. The most dangerous duty for ambulance drivers was carrying the wounded from the aid stations near the front to hospitals in the rear. Of 800 volunteers for the AFS 151 were killed.

Historical Figures in An Ace Minus One

Ernest Hemingway: As a young man, this future literary giant craved adventure.  In 1918 Hemmingway left his newspaper job to travel to Europe, not wanting to miss out on the spectacle of the Great War.  As a member of the Red Cross parceling out food to the Italian troops he was wounded by Austrian artillery.  After marriage in the United States, he saved his money so he could return to Europe. He and his first wife, Hadley, lived in Paris off and on in the 1920s, a time when many expatriate Americans were drawn to the cheap booze and low cost of living. In An Ace Minus One Jack Elliot meets Hemingway, before he became famous, at the Montparnasse nightclub and again the next day at Sylvia Beach’s bookstore Shakespeare & Co. Later, of course, Hemingway authored several books about his experiences, such as A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises, that won him the Nobel Prize in 1954. Hemingway committed suicide in 1961 just three weeks short of his 62^nd birthday.  
 

 Raoul Lufbery: The most famous pilot of the Lafayette Escadrille and the most enigmatic, Raoul Lufbery was born to an American father and French mother in Chamalieres, France in 1885. As a young man he traveled through Indochina, working as a mechanic to the French aviator Marc Pourpe. When war broke out he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, eventually being transferred to aviation. Not a natural pilot, he developed his lethal skills through sheer perseverance and his experiences. One of the early members of the Lafayette Escadrille, he soon became the most successful. By October 12, 1916 he had shot down his fifth German, making him an ace. A loner by nature, he felt out-of-place with the other more boisterous Americans. His commander often granted him permission for chasse libre – solo patrols. When the Lafayette Escadrille pilots were transferred to the United States Army, Major Lufbery was put in charge of training the new pilots, such as Eddie Rickenbacker. On May 19, 1918 he jumped into a Nieuport 28 to chase a German aeroplane flying over Toul, a scene described in An Ace Minus One. During the engagement his aeroplane caught fire and Lufbery either jumped or was thrown from the cockpit. His final confirmed victory total was 16, though, because so many of his kills occurred well behind German lines, he likely had at least twice as many.    
 

William “Billy” Mitchell:  William Mitchell was born the son of a Wisconsin senator in 1879. As a junior officer on the general staff, Mitchell became enamored of aviation, even taking private flying lessons when the Army thought him too old for flying.  When the United States entered the war in April 1917 the U.S. air arm was virtually nonexistent.  Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell was the first experienced flying officer to arrive in Europe. From his observations of British and French air operations, he was instrumental in developing the fledgling U.S. air arm. Despite his blunt and often time acerbic manner, his hard work, organizational and leadership skills were eventually recognized by his superiors, and he rose to the rank of Brigadier General to command all of the U.S. combat air forces by the end of the war.  After the war he continued to rankle those “non-flying” officers whom he felt didn’t appreciate the strategic value of the airplane. A strong advocate of an independent air force, his uncompromising views earned him a court-martial for insubordination. He died in 1936, before seeing his vision validated in the crucible of World War II.
 

Charles Nungesser: Probably the most charismatic ace of the Great War, Charles Nungesser was born in Paris in 1892. A competitive athlete as a child, Nungesser channeled his risk-taking nature into a slot as a scout pilot. Never a conformist, he shot down his first German when he took off from the aerodrome without permission of his commander. As he tallied more victories, he began to adorn his own fuselage with a morbid insignia of a coffin with skull and crossbones. During his flying career Nungesser suffered many crippling injuries, including a skull fracture, broken jaw, and internal injuries. He was a well-known figure in Paris during his convalescence, often seen with the upper echelon of French society, especially the beautiful and wealthy women. Despite all of his injuries, with 45 confirmed victories, Charles Nungesser survived the war as France’s third highest scoring ace. In May 1927, possibly seeking to reclaim some of his lost glory, he and François Coli attempted to cross the Atlantic flying from Paris to New York. Their aircraft, L’Oiseau Blanc, disappeared without a trace. Charles Lindbergh successfully became the first man to solo across the Atlantic, flying from New York to Paris, two weeks later.