Leading American Ace Missing
Four Hun Airmen Attack Lieut. Baylies and His Machine Fell in Flames Within Their Lines
PARIS, June 21.The leading American ace in the French Flying Corps, First Lieut.
Frank L. Baylies of New Bedford, Mass., is missing after an unequal fight with four German machines.
On June 17, Lieut. Baylies with Sergeants Dubonnet and Macari of the Stork escadrille had finished several hours' patrolling and were about to return at twilight, when they sighted four single-seater airplanes. They paid little attention to the other machines, believing them to be British.
It turned out the machines were German and all of them seized an opportunity to attack Baylies simultaneously. The enemy had the advantage of position and number, but Baylies put up a game fight. He attempted to take the offensive, but his machine caught fire and fell after moments about six miles within the German lines.
Sergeant Marcari [sic] thinks that Lieut. Baylies may have had a good landing if he escaped death in the flames of his burning machine.
From Feb, 19, 1918, up to June 7, Lieut. Baylies had gained 12 aerial victories and had been promoted from corporal to sergeant and then to first lieutenant. On June 1 he was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor and he had been cited in French army orders several times previously. He was 22 years old.
Joining the American Field Ambulance in February 1916, he served in it in France, Serbia and Macedonia. Rejected for the American Aviation Corps because of defective vision, he was accepted by the French army and rapidly gained a reputation as an intrepid and successful airman.
The Lowell Sun - Friday, June 21, 1918
Linear Mode
