Guest Gary Davidson Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 Were any of the WW1 air squadrons comprised of mixed nationalities? Cheers, Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 Most Allied squadrons were of mixed nationality, to give an example: No.10 Squadron RNAS had the following: British Canadian American French Australian New Zealand South African Perhaps not all at the same time but over a year or so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 Gary Quite a number of airmen of different nationalities flew in the French Aviation Militaire, such as the Russians Capitaine Paul d'Argueff (born Pavel Argeyev) in SPA124, Lieutenant Ivan Orlov in N3 and Sous-Lieutenant Eduard Pulpe in MS23 and N3. There were others. The Japanese Capitaine Kiyotake Shigeno flew with N26. Other non-French airmen transferred from the Foreign Legion. Americans flew with the French in N124/SPA124, the Escadrille Lafayette, while many more flew with other units as part of the Lafayette Flying Corps. Another 'foreigner' who served in an Allied unit was Feldwebel Marcel Pliat, perhaps from Senegal, who flew as a gunner with the Russians on Il'ya Mourometz bombers. On some date in 1916 he was the first person of African origin to be credited with shooting down an enemy aeroplane. A photograph of Marcel Pliat is below. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 MikeW + Gareth -- Wow. Thanks for that. That is truly amazing. I had no idea it was such a melting pot. So, it is conceivable that a lone U.S. Air Services pilot could be assigned to an all British squadron? Cheers, Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 Is it true some Belgian pilots flew in British squadrons too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 US Air Service pilots certainly flew with British RNAS and RAF bomber squadrons in 1918, both as "guests" for a couple of "introduction to the front" flights, and as permanent members of the squadron. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 ALL the NZ pilots flew in someone else's airforce- we didn't have one! Generally the RFC/RAF and the AAF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 15 January , 2005 Share Posted 15 January , 2005 Bkristof I don't know of any Belgians who flew with the RFC or RNAS, though some may have done for familarisation. The Aviation Militaire Belge was a reasonably large organisation, with 11 Escadrilles (1 maintenance, 5 observation, 1 photo-reconnaisance, 1 photo reconnaisance and night bombing and 3 fighter) and a Flying School at Etampes, plus a seaplane unit at Calais. Some Belgians did some flying training in the United Kingdom. The leading Belgian fighter pilot, Lieutenant Willy Coppens de Houthulst wrote of his experiences in Days on the Wing, also titled Flying in Flanders. Christine The Australian air service was the Australian Flying Corps (AFC). Gary The major multi-nationality air service was the Austro-Hungarian Luftfahrtruppen. In its ranks were Austrians, Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, etc. You might like to read the excellent book Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Dr Martin O'Connor. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 16 January , 2005 Share Posted 16 January , 2005 Sorry Gareth, I couldn't remember it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vb136 Posted 19 January , 2005 Share Posted 19 January , 2005 The French escadrille C 74 had Belgian observers during 1917, possibly earlier as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Biplane pilot Posted 31 January , 2005 Share Posted 31 January , 2005 IIRC, John M. Grider's "memoir" (ghosted by EW Springs) describes the interaction of Brits and "colonaials" in some detail. For comparison, note that many German squadrons were "provincial" with personnel wholly or largely from Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemburg, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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