VICTOR CHAPMAN -1916

Victor Chapman

Escadrille Americaine Left to Right:VICTOR CHAPMAN, ELLIOTT COWDIN, BERT HALL, WM. THAW, LT. DELAAGE, NORMAN PRINCE, J.R. MCCONNELL, K. ROCKWELL, CAPT. THENAULT

 

Southern Aviators Do Daring Work in France, The Cordele Dispatch, Wednesday, May 21, 1916, Transcribed by Bob Davis - June, 2004       Paris, May 18. - The American aviators forming the Franco-American flying corps took part in an expedition over the German lines the first time as a separate unit. They sustained particularly heavy shelling as they recrossed the front, but landed safely.       The flotilla, including the craft piloted by Corporal Kiffen Rockwell, of Atlanta; Corporal James Rogers McConnell, of Carthage, N. C.; Sergeant Elliott Cowdin, of New York; Lieutenant William K. Thaw, of Pittsburg; Sergeant Norman Prince, of Boston; and Sergeant Hall, of Galveston, started at daybreak and spent nearly two hours reconnoitering under a hot fire but encountered no German machines.       Corporal McConnell was flying at a height of 12,000 feet but German shells burst all around him, showing that the range of the German anti-aircraft guns had lengthened.       Corporal Victor Chapman's machine was hit and driven out of its course, returning so late to its base as to cause anxiety regarding Chapman's fate. The aeroplane piloted by Lieutenant Thaw lost part of its tail piece and the propeller was damaged by a shell.       Three more Franco-American flotillas are to be organized from the forty additional American volunteers now in training.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Victor Chapman", using the Google search engine, (9-21-07), you will find about 694 links! The one cited below is typical of many of them and is a good place to start. If time permits, you may want to visit some of the other sites.

 

Escadrille Americaine       This page on the USAF Museum website tells the story of the Escadrille Americaine, later renamed Escadrille Lafayette, which was formed early in WWI and consisted of seven pilots, including Victor Chapman. It offers photographs of Bill Thaw and Bert Hall, Kiffin Rockwell, and Victor Chapman. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

You can access his story by clicking on the title above.

 

Victor Chapman lost his life near Verdun on June 17, 1916. He thus became the first Escadille Americaine pilot to die while engaging the enemy. from the Centennial of Flight website   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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