Knights Without Parachutes

These are highlights from an article about Kiffin Yates Rockwell that was sent to email subscribers. Of the Lafayette Escadrille pilots - American pilots fighting for France before America entered the war - Kiffin Rockwell was not the first to die. That was Victor Chapman on 24 June 1916. But as any branding expert could tell you, a memorable name sticks in the mind better (see here for what it feels like to be named Kiffin), and more importantly, on 13 May Rockwell had scored the first aerial victory for the Lafayette Escadrille, the first victory to an American pilot.If Hollywood made a movie that stuck...

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Red Baron's first victory. In commemoration, here are the highlights from the description in his autobiography The Red Baron: The Story of the Fabled Ace in His Own Words (email subscribers received the entire description today): The Englishman near me was a big, dark-colored barge. I did not ponder long and took aim at him. He shot and I shot, but we both missed. The fight then began. I tried to get behind him because I could only shoot in the direction I was flying. This was not necessary for him, as his observer's rotating machine...

Tanks, like airplanes, came into their own in WWII, but WWI was the first experiment with them. Tanks and airplanes of WWI looked more like something someone threw together in their garage, than like the WWII weapons.  Today is Tank Day, that is, the 100th anniversary of the first use of tanks in warfare, when the British Mark I tanks took the field. Their first use wasn't that impressive, but the Germans immediately caught on to the possibilities, and not only copied the idea, but soon painted the Iron Cross on captured tanks and sent them right back into battle.  Germany did come up...

Stanford and Cornell both have claims to the first American flag in Europe. The story of who was first is told in today's Roads to the Great War blog, which covers "Arthur Kimber of Stanford and Edward Tinkham of Cornell. Both started with the American Field Service, delivered their flags, became military pilots, died in service, and are buried in Europe." Tinkham's whole story was covered earlier in Roads to the Great War by Cornellian James Patton. Following is Tinkham's obituary as found in the Roll of the Fallen in Military Records of Cornell University in the World War. EDWARD...

Since the VAFM will be taking the SPAD to the Dawn Patrol airshow in Dayton this October, Andy Parks will not be available to hold the second-Saturday open house and talk that were scheduled for September 10th and October 8th. We were working on having a substitute talk, but the speaker is sick. You could, of course, come to Dayton and talk to Andy in person! Andy's planned talk about the Lost Battalion and Cher Ami, the heroic pigeon, will be postponed to the second Saturday in November, November 12th, also known as the day after the 98th anniversary of Armistice...