Flying Aces of World War I

196 Pages·1965·13.19 MB·English

by  Gene Gurney

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WORLD WAR
I
GENE GURNEY
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FLYING
ACES OF
WORll WAR
I
by Gene Gumey
Illustrated with photographs
J™I^0SCHOLASTIC BOOK SERVICES
N«WYORK.TORONTO•LONDON•AUCKLAND•SYOtttV•TOKYO
To
Clare
All photographs in this book are from the United States Air
Force with the exception of the following: Bettmann Archive,
pp. 4, 12, 27, 37 (top), 59; Lt. Col. Kimhrough S. Brown,
pp. 20, 62, 121, 127; Culver Pictures, pp. 7 (left), 25, 30, 56;
The Daily News, p. 146; European Picture Service, p. 17; The
Granger Collection, p. 7 (right); Imperial War Museum, pp.
71, 74, 76, 105, 118; National Archives/Army Air Forces, pp.
45, 110, 161; NationalArchives/U. S. Navy, pp. 133, 135; Na-
tional Archives/U. S. Signal Corps, p. 115; Robert Soubiran
(through USAF), title page, pp. 37 (bottom), 95, 119; United
Press International, p. 109.
Cover Painting: Francis A. Chauncy
Noportofthispublicationmaybereproducedinwholeorinport, orstoredinaretrieval
system,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic, mechanical,photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information
regarding permission, write to Random House, Inc., 201 East 50th Street, New York,
N.Y. 10022.
ISBN 0-590-30388-0
©
Copyright 1965 by Gene Gurney. All rights reserved. This edition is published by
Scholastic Book Servkes, a division of Schobstic Inc., 730 Broadway, New York, NY
10003, by arrangement with Random House, Inc.
12 11 10 9 8 7 3 4 5 6 7/8
Printed In the U.S.A. 11
CONTENTS
The Airplane Goes to War 3
Georges Guynemer of the Storks 22
The Invincible Albert Ball 40
Manfred von Richthofen and
His Flying Circus 57
Raoul Lufbery and the Escadrille
Lafayette jj
Edward Mannock, Britain's Leading Ace 100
Willy Coppens, Fighter for Belgium 114
Dave Ingalls, Navy Ace 131
Eddie Rickenbacker Throws
His Hat into the Ring 148
Record of Planes Downed by
World War Aces
I 173
Bibliography
177
Index 181
MAP OF THE W^ESTERN FRONT 10

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THE AIRPLANE
WAR
GOES TO
The immediate cause of World War I was an assas-
sin's bullets. The fateful shots were fired in Sarajevo,
the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of
Bosnia, on June 28, 1914. On that day the heir to the
throne of Austria-Hungary, Francis Ferdinand, who
was in Sarajevo to observe the summer maneuvers of
the Austrian army, went for a ride through the city in
an open motor car. His consort, the Duchess of
Hohenberg, accompanied him. As the couple traveled
through the sunlit streets of Sarajevo, a young man
named Gavrilo Princip quietly joined a group of
people who were waiting for a glimpse of the Arch-
duke. When the royal entourage approached the spot
where Princip stood, the young Bosnian stepped for-
ward, aimed a pistol at the Archduke, and fired.
At the sound of the shots the horses in the pro-
cession neighed and reared in fright. The Archduke
Archduke Francis Ferdinand with his wife approximately
one hour before their assassination.
grasped his throat and fell forward; the Duchess
collapsed against him. In an instant the soldiers
accompanying Francis Ferdinand had wheeled their
mounts and surrounded Princip. It was too late to
do anything for the Archduke. Both he and his
consort had been fatally wounded.
Why did Gavrilo Princip shoot the man who some-
day would have been the ruler of the great Austro-
Hungarian Empire? The reason was political. Like
many of his fellow Bosnians, Princip wanted his coun-
try to be independent. "Why should we be ruled by
officials in faraway Vienna?" he asked.