Who is E.A. Marshall?

snirt · 13 November 2006, 06:44 PM

At the end of McConnell's "Flying for France" are letters to Paul Rockwell concerning McConnel's death by E.A. MARSHALL. Two quotes: "Just a few words about myself. I am awaiting the results of my friends' actions in the States on my behalf. I am placed in a peculiar position in the escadrille. I have nothing to do here." and "I expect to go back to the infantry soon."

I haven't found E.A. MARSHALL listed anywhere as an Escadrille Lafayette pilot or member of the Layafette Flying Corps.

Who was he and what is his story?

Thanks! Snirt

snirt · 20 November 2006, 11:49 AM

Mike Robbins of "VALIANT 38 Productions" (www.valiant38.com) was
kind enough to supply the following info, relayed from Mr. Dennis Gordon:

"E.A. Marshall was Emil Marshall, an American of French ancestry from Brooklyn who enlisted in the French Army and fought at the front with the French 356th Infantry. Through the intervention of James McConnell and Paul Rockwell, he was removed from the trenches and sent to aviation school. He was blind in one eye, and never got through pilot training. The American pilots didn't want to see him sent back to the trenches, so they requested that he be sent to the Squadron as a non-flying personnel. He spent some months there, but decided he needed to serve in a more active capacity, so he requested and was sent back to the trenches."

Thanks Mr. Robbins and Mr. Gordon!

Snirt

bombaimer · 30 November 2006, 02:13 PM

The Lafayette Escadrille by H.M. Mason Jr. reports that Emil Marshall was a victim of a paper work glitch. Marshall served with the French infantry and subsequently requested a transfer to aviation. The slipup occurred when he was sent directly to N.124, bypassing altogether the training schools. Weeks passed before Thenault could get the tangle straight and Marshall posted to Avord for primary flight training. At Avord the doctors discovered that Emil was blind in one eye, and he was sent back to the Escadrille, this time as a mechanic. But Marshall hadn't even a rudimentary idea of the workings of an internal -combustion engine, and he was finally put to work in Thenault's office handling papers. Marshall was the only American member of N.124 carried on the roster as Personnel non-navigant, a distinction he was far from happy with.

bombaimer