Fighting the Flying Circus
Page 1
Books by Eddie V. Rickenbacker
FIGHTING THE FLYING CIRCUS
SEVEN CAME THROUGH
CONTENTS
Foreword
Glossary
I Introducing “Archie
II The Aerodrome
III Our First Sorties
IV Downing My First Hun
V Jimmy Meissner Strips His Wings
VI Jimmy HalVs Last Fight
VII New Responsibilities
VIII A Victory and a Narrow Escape
IX Down in Flames
X Lufbery Is Killed
XI Squadron Festivities
XII Jimmy Meissner Again
XIII Americas First Ace
XIV Rumpler Number 16
XV Campbell's Last Flight
XVI Becoming an Ace
XVII A Perplexing Bank of Fog
XVIII Strafing the Drachen
XIX The Chateau-Thierry Salient
XX The Death of Quentin Roosevelt
XXI The Flying Circus Scores Heavily
XXII Our Spads Arrive
XXIII Back Close to Verdun
XXIV The Saint-Mihiel Drive
XXV American Ace of Aces
XXVI Captain of the Hat-in-the-Ring Squadron
XXVII An Eventful “D” Day
XXVIII Frank Luke Strafes His Last Balloon
XXIX A Night Mission
XXX A Day's Work—Six Victories
XXXI “Seeing the War9
XXXII A Regular Dogfight
XXXIII An Airplane Movie Show
XXXIV An Overzealous Ally
XXXV The End Draws Near
XXXVI Last Victory of the Great War
XXXVI Official Victories of the Q4th Aero Squadron
FOREWORD
On November 6, 1930, twelve years after the close of hostilities, President Herbert Hoover presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker at Boiling Field, Washington, D.C. The citation read:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France, September 25, 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines, the then Lieutenant Rickenbacker attacked seven enemy planes (five type Fokker protecting two type Halberstadt). Disregarding the odds against him, he dived on them and shot down one of the Fokkers, out of control. He then attacked one of the Halberstadts and sent it down also.
Thus, was America's greatest fighting ace finally rewarded for his extraordinary contribution to the Allied victory in World War I, with his country's highest military honor. He had previously been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross with nine Oak Leaves, the French Legion of Honor, and the Croix de Guerre with four Palms. Captain Rickenbacker is credited with twenty-six confirmed victories, all scored during his seven months of front-line service-but it should be added that for more than two months of this period he was hospitalized following a mastoid operation.
As has been pointed out by one British historian, Rickenbacker's score is a record for the limited time he spent in action; a record that has never been equaled by any Allied or enemy pilot in either World War I or II. Although many are credited with a greater number of victories, their scores were compiled over many long months of combat. Ironically, Rick never suffered a scratch in any of his sky battles.
A man's personal greatness and his degree of fighting skill are, of course, relative. Much depends on the weapons he uses and his theater of operations. During World War II and the Korean action a pilot might have attained greatness aboard a supersonic fighter armed with rockets that were capable of destroying an enemy a mile away. Between 1942-45 American aces ran up great scores while flying 350-mph fighters armed with banks of .50-caliber machine guns, but Rickenbacker fought in an arena that provided only 100-hp aircraft armed with two rifle-caliber weapons, and the pilot had no automatic sighting devices. He had to call on his native ability to seek out and destroy his target. Such refinements as radar, oxygen equipment, and rocket armament were beyond the imagination.
To his great credit, Rickenbacker has never played the role of a professional hero, and as a result most historians have had difficulty in presenting his war career for popular consumption. He never attempted to pose as the swashbuckling intrepid birdman featured in the postwar fiction media.
Few World War I air aces were able to continue their careers in postwar aviation; all too many came home after the Armistice to wind up on the discard heap, or to die in senseless deaths in Roman holiday spectacles. Too many lacked the courage, personal discipline, or imagination to face the difficult peacetime world. Rickenbacker, on the other hand, proved himself completely, and was for years a commanding figure in American commercial aviation, and until recently the chief executive of the famed Eastern Air Lines.
Captain Rickenbacker displayed none of the horseplay or ebullience associated with the wartime airmen of his day. He was the antithesis of Frank Luke, the Arizona Balloon Buster; nor had Captain Eddie the lighthearted savoir-faire of his fellow fliers, Douglas Campbell, Jimmy Meissner, Alan Winslow, or the much-publicized Elliott White Springs.
Daring, but not foolhardy, Captain Rickenbacker fought with the same cool intelligence with which he administered his unit, the 94th “Hat-in-the-Ring” Pursuit Squadron that ended the war with the greatest number of victories scored by any American squadron—69. It was the first American unit to go over the enemy lines, the first to destroy an enemy machine, and the squadron credited with bringing down the last German airplane to fall in the campaign.
The 94th Pursuit Squadron produced the first American ace, Captain Douglas Campbell, and our greatest ace, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker of Columbus, Ohio. This squadron totaled more hours of flying over the enemy lines than any other in the United States Air Service. And finally, the 94th was awarded the distinction it richly deserved when it was selected as the only fighting squadron in the American forces to move into Germany with the Army of Occupation. This proud squadron owes its historic rating to the leadership of Captain Rickenbacker, and will always be acknowledged as the greatest fighter squadron the United States sent to the war.
Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio, on October 8, 1890, and grew up with much of the reserve of a Midwestern boyhood and family background. When Eddie was twelve his father died, and the day after the funeral the young boy's schooling ceased. In order to contribute to his family's support, Eddie pleaded for and obtained a job with the Federal Glass Company by insisting that he was fourteen and had working papers. He worked twelve hours a night, six nights a week, and turned over to his mother all of his weekly pay— $3.50. A nearby foundry offered him $6.00 a week, and later a local shoe factory hired him at $7.50. Eventually, he drifted to a garage where he received his introduction to the internal-combustion engine. That job was to have a great influence on his entire life.
To augment his limited education, Eddie took an engineering course with the International Correspondence School, and by 1908 was proficient enough to be employed to road-test automobiles for the then famous Frayer-Miller company. In those days, even more so than now, motor cars sold on their reputation for speed. Practically every company concentrated on the existing speed marks in such racing classics as the Indianapolis 500-mile race, and the famed Sheepshead Bay Trophy race. Rickenbacker drove in three of the Indianapolis contests, and once pushed a Blitzen Benz to a record 134 mph. A prudent, but most skillful driver, he became highly respected as a competent racer and was soon making about $40,000 a year.
In 1916 Rickenbacker went to Great Britain, hoping to consummate a previous business suggestion with the Sunbeam Motor Company. Just before the outbreak of war in 1914, there had been so
me general talk of his supervising the designing and building of a Sunbeam racing fleet, and organizing a driver team to compete in several first-class races in the United States, but he was not able to get to England to go into further details before 1916. By that time the Sunbeam company had, of course, converted to the wartime production of aviation engines and could not consider racing competition abroad. Rick's trip was not a total loss, however, for during his stay in England he naturally caught the spirit of the war, and saw some of the activity and training operations of the Royal Flying Corps at Brooklands, Britain's noted auto track.
As a result, when the United States entered the conflict the next year—April 1917—Rickenbacker proposed that a special flying squadron, composed of American racing drivers, be organized at once. The initial plan was turned down by the authorities in Washington, but Army officials suggested that Rickenbacker, by then one of the country's foremost racing drivers, abandon his career, enlist, and join General John J. Pershing's staff of drivers. Eddie considered the proposal carefully, and finally decided to accept and use the appointment as a means of getting overseas quickly and transferring to the Aviation Service in France, instead of wasting time in the general channels of procedure.
Once in Europe, however, Eddie found himself shackled by his skill as a driver, and General Pershing's determination to retain this well-trained and most soldierly man. Time and time again Rick put in for a transfer but was always put off with some emergency or contrived military technicality. On one occasion General Per-shing argued: “Look here, Eddie. You know you are getting on. War flying is for youngsters just out of school. It's not for mature men.” Eddie was twenty-seven at the time.
How he eventually transferred to the American Aviation Service makes an interesting story. One day Colonel Billy Mitchell, then senior officer of the budding air force in France, had a motor breakdown while on a tour of the front with a Major Armengaud of the French General Staff. Another car, carrying Major T. F. Dodd who had been assigned to Pershing's staff as an aviation official, followed, and pulled up behind. Major Dodd's driver hopped out, lifted the Mercedes' hood and soon located the trouble. Colonel Mitchell was impressed with the man's skill and asked who he was.
“That's Eddie Rickenbacker, one of the Indianapolis drivers. He's been with Pershing's staff for several weeks.”
“Seems like a good man,” Colonel Mitchell observed.
Rick naturally made the most of the roadside association, and expressed his desire to get into the Air Service, and in a short time Mitchell had persuaded Pershing to relinquish his driver for aviation pilot training. The decision proved to be most satisfactory for all concerned; in eighteen months Rickenbacker became America's Ace of Aces.
The ex-racing driver was soon sent to Issoudun, the first United States training center set up in France. By January 1918, Rick was commissioned, and after five and one half hours of dual-control instruction he made his first solo flight. He was an apt pupil because of his auto-track experience. An amazing judge of speed and distance, he had the racing driver's inherent trick of timing. However, since he was an outstanding mechanic, it was decided that he would also make a good chief engineering officer at the Issoudun center.
Although this ground job occupied much of his time, Eddie was able to log flight time in several types of aircraft. He was keenly interested in airplanes and their handling, but hated violent acrobatics in the air, and like many other pilots had to force himself to spin and roll the primary trainers of that day, and carry out the required school maneuvers to the satisfaction of his instructors.
During all this he repeatedly applied for advanced combat training, and finally was sent to the air-gunnery school at Cazeau where for the first time his persistence paid off and he was allowed to fly a plane equipped with machine guns and live ammunition. He put in several weeks there doggedly diving on ground targets, and firing at “socks” dragged by French airplanes.
One day, after a wearying gunnery drill, he landed and stared up at the cordite-pitted muzzle cups of his guns and reflected, I can see that aerial warfare is nothing more than scientific murder.” From that day on Rickenbacker strove to fly scientifically and get the most out of every bank, turn, and dive.
Early in March 1918, the tall, slim young man from Columbus, Ohio, was posted to the nucleus of the 94th Pursuit Squadron then based at Villeneuve. The squadron was being formed around Major Raoul Lufbery who had been transferred from the original Lafayette Escadrille with the idea of helping to organize the outfit. Actually, the squadron was under the direct command of Major John Huffer, another ex-Lafayette Flying Corps pilot. Other airmen included James Norman Hall, Hamilton Coolidge, Jimmy Meissner, Reed Chambers, Douglas Campbell, and Harvey Weir Cook. When Rickenbacker joined the 94th the squadron had lots of pilot talent, but no airplanes. In fact, another month passed before a few secondhand French Nieuport scouts could be obtained, but once sufficient aircraft were made available, the 94th felt justified in moving up into the Toul sector to begin its Great Adventure.
As stated before, the Hat-in-the-Ring squadron covered itself in glory and won the sincere gratitude of the American people, chiefly because of Captain Rickenbacker's extraordinary inspiration, his continued example, and ability as a leader that in turn brought sterling success to many combat pilots who came under his guidance. Eddie was the ideal commander and is best remembered for the high example he always set.
Interestingly enough, he conspired to see the air war to its ultimate conclusion. On the morning of November 11, 1918, after word had been flashed along the front that hostilities were to cease at 11:00 A.M. that day, most servicemen laid low and refrained from taking any further risks. Not so, Eddie Rickenbacker. In a recent interview he explained, “I decided I wanted to see the real ending, and in spite of the fact that all combat units had been ordered to stay on the ground for twenty-four hours prior to 11:00 A.M. on November 11, I managed to wiggle my way up to the front alone, all this unbeknownst to any other members of my squadron. I say 'wiggled' because there was a lot of fog between our aerodrome and no-man's land.
“Reaching the village of Pont-à-Mousson on the Moselle River, I flew at about 100 feet along the front, over no-man's land, passing to the left of Metz, and then over the village of Fontoy. I crossed the line about two minutes before the hour of eleven, and the troops on both sides—Germans and Americans—could be seen very clearly. There were some shots fired at me, but at the appointed hour all shooting ceased, and then slowly and cautiously, soldiers came out of the German and American trenches, throwing their rifles and helmets high into the air. They met in no-man's land and began fraternizing just as a group of school kids would after a football game—happy in the realization that they would not be killed in this terrible conflict. It was fantastic to them, and to me, to know that the war was over.
“I wiggled my way back again, landed, and when I was asked where I had been I simply stated that I had taken my plane up to test the engine. All in all, I had been gone less than an hour.”
Today, Eddie Rickenbacker is presumed to be on the retired list, but this gallant gentleman continues to be as busy and active as ever. He still has deep concern and high hopes for his country and campaigns manfully against any threat of foreign ideology— and Communism in particular. He studies world history avidly, and only recently made a 30,000-mile tour of Africa to get firsthand knowledge of the many political changes taking place there. On his way home he visited Germany and went to West Berlin where he was shown the rebuilt city, and the horror of the Berlin Wall. He also learned from the United States Commanding Officer, Colonel Paul Kenney, who has his headquarters at Tempelhof Airport, that there were two German airmen in Berlin who had been members of the famous Richthofen Circus which the 94th Squadron had opposed frequently during the closing weeks of the war. These two veterans, Herr Willi Gabriel and Herr Alfred Niemz, expressed a wish to meet America's Ace of Aces, and Rickenbacker willingly agreed. A luncheon was arranged at the Offic
ers Club at Tempelhof and formal introductions were made, after which all three air fighters reminisced while news photographers recorded the event.
During this luncheon, Rickenbacker made inquiries concerning the resting places of Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, and Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke. The German airmen explained that they were all buried in the Hero Veteran Graveyard which was in East Berlin. Determined to find their monuments if possible, Rickenbacker requested Soviet permission to visit the burial ground. After long hours of searching and probing, Rick eventually found the graves of all three German heroes. He wanted to be photographed examining Von Richthofen's monument, but East Berlin's rulings were adamant.
This is the type of man whose air-fighting history is offered here. What follows is the full story of America's “Ace of Aces” written by the hero who is still the heart and spirit of American military aviation. Between the lines the reader will perceive and be impressed with his continued striving for perfection and leadership. He willingly accepted great service responsibility, rather than the freedom of the free-lance flier, which might have doubled his score. The esteem and respect of his fellow airmen was far more important.
ARCH WHETEHOUSE
GLOSSARY OF EXPRESSIONS USED IN EARLY AVIATION
ACE. A fighting pilot who has brought down five enemy machines.
ARCHIE. Antiaircraft shells.
AERODROME. Field where airplanes land and live.
BANK. TO tilt an airplane sideways in rounding a corner.
BARREL. Rolling the airplane over and over in air, like a barrel.
BIPLACE. Two places or seats, a two-seater airplane. A monoplace has but one seat. A triplace has three.
BIPLANE. Airplane with two sets of wings, an upper and a lower. A monoplane has but one set of wings. A triplane has three.
CEILING. Topmost level an airplane can reach.
CHANDELLE. TO make an upward corkscrew climb.
CONTACT. TO put on the spark.
COUPEZ. Cut off the spark.