"War Bird Ace The great war exploits of Capt.Field E. Kindley" by Jack Stokes Ballard

[StephenLawson]

I have the pleasure to present to you a published manuscript of high quality. It is the biography of Capt.Field E. Kindley a flight commander of the 148th Aero in 1918 and one of Arkansas' favorite sons.



A motion picture operator recently moved from Arkansas to Coffeyville, Kansas, Kindley joined the Kansas National Guard in May 1917. Transferring to the U.S. Army's Signal Corps, he attended the School of Military Aeronautics at the University of Illinois before going to England for advanced flight training at Oxford. To gain combat experience, he was assigned to the Royal Air Force's 65 Squadron on the Western Front on 22 May 1918. Flying the Sopwith Camel, Kindley scored his first victory on 26 June 1918, shooting down a Pfalz D.III flown by the commanding officer of Jasta 5, Wilhelm Lehmann.

Reassigned to the 148th Pursuit Squadron as a flight commander, Kindley's patrol engaged Jasta 11 on 13 August 1918. That day, he scored his fourth victory, shooting down a Fokker D.VII possibly flown by Lothar von Richthofen who was wounded in the battle.

Promoted to Captain on 24 February 1919, Kindley assumed command of the 94th Pursuit Squadron at Kelly Field in Texas in January 1920. On Feb. 1, 1920, he was killed during training maneuvers when a control cable broke and his plane crashed to the ground. Kindley Field in Bermuda was named in his honor.

Published by Texas A&M press you should find it at Amazon .com or Barnes and Nobles Bookstores.
ISBN -13 : 978-1-58544-554-7

[karrart]

Being of Arky Ozark ancestry, I may have to look into this one. One of my small prints depicts one of his Camels.......see:
http://www.karrart.com/karrart/2dpre2/sopcm.php
The Arkansas Air Museum at Drake Field in Fayetteville used to have a small exhibit about him- I don't know if it's still there, I haven't visited since the mid-90s.
Robert Karr
www.karrart.com

[wingedwarrior]

Originally Posted by StephenLawson

I have the pleasure to present to you a published manuscript of high quality. It is the biography of Capt.Field E. Kindley a flight commander of the 148th Aero in 1918 and one of Arkansas' favorite sons.

Sounds like another long over-due biography on a WWI ace. Thanks Stephen for bringing it to our attention.

Regards,

Darren

[Taz]

Available as a preorder from Walmart for $18.99, but postage is kind of expensive at $0.97.

Taz
Terry Phillips