This page is provided as a source for materials and links relating to the Lafayette Escadrille
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In August 1914 war broke out in
Europe when Germany invaded France. Within the next four years the whole
world would be pulled into the maelstrom and eight million young men would
perish.
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Many
months prior to the United States entry into the World War, a vanguard of
thirty-eight American volunteer pilots flew and fought for France against
the air squadrons of Germany. Here is the story of the Lafayette
Escadrille pilots and their world famous squadron as told through the use
of rare archive footage and photographs. 112 minutes.
This book contains not only the history of the legendary Lafayette Flying Corps, but also detailed biographies of the 269 volunteer American airmen and gunners of France's Service Aeronautique who flew in sixty-six pursuit and twenty-seven bomber/observation squadrons over the Western Front - also included are the thirty-eight pilots of the Escadrille Lafayette. It is an accurate and absorbing account of the lives and combat experiences of the men who later formed the nucleus of the American Expeditionary Force squadrons. This ground breaking work contains comprehensive research, including details of war casualties and survivors, and many unpublished photographs.