American Aces

Hi!
I am a History major doing a paper on the American Aces. Could someone recommend a few memoirs or personal narratives to me for my project? I am presently reading Horses Don't Fly, the memoir of Frederick Libby. Thank you! ~ Nici

Here is a link to the full text of Rickenbacker's Fighting the Flying Circus at http://www.richthofen.com/rickenbacker/

Good luck with your paper!

[jado]

Another two sure to please:

Up And At'Em by Harold E. Hartney

Fighting Airmen by Charles Biddle

www.abebook.com is the place to look.

Good luck,
Joe

[Dave_Kent]

Hello:

I would like to suggest the works of James J. Hudson, HOSTILE SKIES and IN CLOUDS OF GLORY. Though not first hand accounts, they are excellent.

Dave

[Lufbery]

Hi!
I am a History major doing a paper on the American Aces. Could someone recommend a few memoirs or personal narratives to me for my project? I am presently reading "Horses Don't Fly," the memoir of Frederick Libby. Thank you! ~ Nici

I just finished Horses Don't Fly this weekend. It's an excellent book! Don't forget, though, that Libby did all of his service at the front as a Canadian having lost his US citizenship. Another caveat is that Fighting the Flying Circus, while based on Rickenbacker's diary, was ghost-written and contains some minor embellishments that Rickenbacker did not intend. Still, it's a great read.

I'd also check out High Adventure by James Norman Hall. The entire text for it, too, is availble free online: http://www.richthofen.com/hall/. Here's the blurb from that site:

This on-line edition of James Hall's account of aerial warfare during World War One, is based on the articles he wrote to the Atlantic Monthly during the years 1917 and 1918. The combined manuscripts, including a letter written after his capture by the Germans, were later published in book form as High Adventure.

"Jimmie Hall," as he was called, served both in the famous Lafayette Escadrille, and in the 94th pursuit squadron with Raoul Lufbery and Eddie Rickenbacker. He appears many times in Eddie Rickenbacker's book Fighting the Flying Circus. He was also considered to have been the best writer among the various pilots, with his innate sense of observation benefitting him both in the air and on paper.

Regards,

If the thesis of your paper is to generate a statistical analysis of the performance of the American Aces, you ought to go to the Forum Bookstore and buy Frank Luke: The September Rampage. It has a wealth of statistics and information on the airmen and aces of the pursuit squadrons. I do not believe that Americans who fought with Allied units were counted as American aces, unless they transferred to the USAS when it formed up in France. These were mostly aces of the Layfayette escadrille, like Lufberry. In September Rampage there are three lists of the aces of the four squadrons of the 1st Pursuit Group: Hartney's, Olinyk's, and the USAF Official List, which reduces the victory counts of some aces, bringing them below the five required. Example: Hartney, who commanded the 1st Pursuit was a Canadian, who became an ace in English service: his five planes did not count on his American record. Many of the books in the Forum bookstore will be useful to you.
I also think that observers and non-flying airmen who shot down five planes were considered aces.
My impression is that you should confine your paper to the American aces of the USASAEF. If you broaden it to include American aces who fought outside our air service, you will have too much material to squeeze into a term paper. If you get off the statistics, you would do well to consult Mike Spick's The Ace Factor. This book analyzes the qualities of character and physique that produce aces. You might take one of these factors and write an excellent paper. VBRs Billy H 3 April 02

[Shooter]

Nici:

Billy's suggestion is valid. *As an owner of " September Rampage" I certify that it is a wealth of data and also anecdotes that you will find invaluable. *Additionally, it sheds much light on the enigmatic personae of Frank Luke Jr, who is perhaps the most notable American aviator of the Great War.

I believe that Luke, who is officially credited with 18 victories and who may have scored on as many as 21 German a/c, would have been the top shooter of the war, had he lived to see the end of it. *Of course, given his tactics and his attitude, it is unlikely that he would have lived that long, even though the end only preceded him by a matter of weeks.

Good luck.

Shooter sends

[Dave_Kent]

Hello:

There is certainly a lot of material available. Could you help focus us a little better ? Have you determined, for example, if you are interested only in those American Aces who flew with the U.S. forces, or those with the British or those with the French ? Are you primarily interested in combat and vistories, perceptions of war, daily life, experiences as a P.O.W. ?

Any clarification you could give me would help.

Thanks

Dave

Hi Everyone! Thank you all for your help and suggestions. My paper assignment is to write 10-12 pages using mostly primary sources (first hand accounts) and a few secondary sources (anything else) using any topic having to do with early 20th century US History ~ nothing later than the 1920s. As of right now, I would like to focus on how the American pilots viewed the war ~ what moved them to join, what kind of men joined to be pilots, and did they feel they had a large stake in winning the war? I have the most information on Americans who fought for other countries. I do not know just yet whether I will use Americans who fought for other countries or Americans who fought for America. It simply depends on how much reading I can get done between now and 18 April, when my first draft is due. This is a fascinating subject, and I will use any information that I do not use now on my thesis next spring, where I can go more in depth. I know this will need work, and it will probably change as I do more research, but this is what I've come up with so far. Once again, thanks to everyone for their help ~ this website has been invaluable to me!! ~ Nici

[Frank_Olynyk]

For reference, here is a list of the biographies of American aces that have been published in book form, that I am aware of:
Marion Hughes Aten: Last Train Over Rostov Bridge, by Aten, Marion and Arthur Orrmont. 1961 [ignore -- rubbish]

William Terry Badham: Memoirs and Art, by Badham, William Terry. 1987
Eyes of the Eagle, The Exploits of Henry Lee Badham, Jr. and William Terry Badham in the AEF, by Badham, Thomas E. 1996

Charles John Biddle: Fighting Airman: The Way of the Eagle, by Biddle, Charles J. 1968

Arthur Raymond Brooks: Capt A R Brooks: America's Quiet Ace
of W.W.1, by Musciano, Walter A. 1963

Harold Robert Buckley: Squadron 95, by Buckley, Harold. 1933

Lawrence Kingsley Callahan: Callahan, The Last War Bird, by Skelton, Marvin L. 1980

Alvin Andrew Callender: War in an Open Cockpit, by Callender, A A. 1978

Douglas Campbell: Let's Go Where the Action Is!, by Campbell, Douglas, ed by Jack R Eder. 1984

Everett Richard Cook: Everett R Cook, A Memoir, by Riggs, Joseph and Margaret Lawrence. 1971

Hamilton Coolidge: Letters of an American Airman: Being the War Record of Capt. Hamilton Coolidge, U.S.A. 1917-1918, by Coolidge, Hamilton. 1919

Harold Evans Hartney: Up and At 'em, by Hartney, Harold E. 1971

William Carpenter Lambert: Barnstorming and Girls, by Lambert, Bill. 1980
Combat Report, by Lambert, Bill. 1973

Frederick Libby: Horses Don't Fly: A Memoir of World War I, by Libby, Frederick. 2000

Raoul Lufbery: Deux grands Chevaliers de l'aventure: Marc Pourpe, Raoul Lufbery, by Mortane, Jacques. 1938

Frank Luke: Frank Luke: The September Rampage, by Haiber, William P. 1999
The Balloon Buster: Frank Luke of Arizona, by Hall, Norman S. 1928

Ralph Ambrose O'Neill: A Dream of Eagles, by O'Neill, Ralph A. 1973

Edwin Charles Parsons: I Flew With the Lafayette Escadrille, by Parsons, Edwin C. 1972

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker: Eddie Rickenbacker, by Adamson, Hans Christian. 1946
Rickenbacker, by Rickenbacker, Edward V. 1967
From Father to Son: the letters of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, by Rickenbacker, William F (ed.). 1970
Fighting the Flying Circus, by Rickenbacker, Eddie V, edited by W David Lewis. 1997
Seven Came Through: Rickenbacker's Full Story, by Rickenbacker, Edward V. 1943
Fighting the Flying Circus, by Rickenbacker, Eddie V. 1965

Elliot White Springs: War Birds: The Diary of an Unknown Aviator, by Springs, Elliot White. 1966
War Bird, by Davis, Burke. 1987

Robert Miles Todd: Sopwith Camel Fighter Ace, by Todd, Robert M. 1978

George Augustus Vaughn: War Flying in France, by Vaughn, George A. 1980

Charles Herbert Veil: Adventure's A Wench, by Veil, C H as told to Howard Marsh. 1934

Frank.