Resurrects an important part of the first-person literature of the Lafayette Escadrille. A long-lost gem.

Over the Front

Recommended.

WW1 Historical Association

Illustrated through the body of the book, this is the memoir of James Roger McConnell, an American pilot flying with the famous French Flying Corps’ American ‘Layfayette’ Escadrille and provides a unique personal insight into the air war in Europe.

Firetrench Reviews

This volume in Pen & Sword’s ‘Eyewitnesses from the Great War’ series is the repackaged memoir ‘Flying for France’, by James McConnell, an American who initially enlisted in the American Ambulance Corps. His experiences in France resolved him to take a more active role in the fighting, and he applied to join the French air force.

McConnell writes vividly about the war in the sky; flying at 13,000ft over Verdun he offers a detached view of the carnage below and describes how pilots had certain disconnection with the war going on below them. He describes the tactics of air warfare, and how a rota system was operated so that there were always planes in the air. Two hour sorties were standard, mainly patrols, although on one occasion The memoir and letters give a surprising amount of detail about the pilot’s life and tactics employed. McConnell’s story is certainly an interesting one and this is a short and easily digestible introduction to the life of a First World War pilot.

WW1 Geek

This book tells the story of a young American who served the Lafayette Escadrille, part of the French Air forces. Young American pilots volunteered the French Air Force to fight against Germans. The book shows great detail about gear and aviation technics of both sides which, up to now, I have not read in any book before. For example, the Jerries used ammunition mounted with explosive heads. According to the allied forces this was an act of war crime. Once hit on a plane, there was no way to escape death. This is why, if they could get hand of a German pilot, extra-judicial executions was often his fate.

One tale of the Lafayette Escadrille tells the story of a captured German ‘Flieger’ who could only save his life when revealing German army positions. He opted to die stating that he would rather give his life instead, to save the lives of so many of his comrades. The unexpected outcome is that the French took him for a drink out of respect.

What possibly saved the guy also is that he spoke the French language fluently. This and other strange stories make the book readable.

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