WAR

Discharged from the army he roamed about India, Japan and China. In
1912, in Saigon, he met and joined up with a compatriot, the famous pre-war
exhibition flyer, Marc Pourpe. Although completely unschooled, Lufbery was
bright enough to be able to pick up anything he set his mind to, and in a
short time became chief mechanic and factotum to Pourpe. Together they barnstormed
Europe and Africa. They were in France when the war broke out and
Pourpe offered himself to
the Service d'Aeronautique. He was accepted but Lufbery
was not. Well, everyone knew the war was going to be over by Christmas
anyway. Lufbery joined the Foreign Legion, but was soon transferred into the
air service as Pourpe's chief mechanic. For Pourpe, the war was over by Christmas—he
was killed in action on December 2, 1914.
Lufbery's energy and ability had come to the attention of his superiors and
it was suggested that he take flying training. He accepted gladly and was sent to
flight school at Chartres in May 1915, receiving his wings in July and posted to
VB 106 in October. For six months he flew almost daily bombing missions in
the Voisin squadron. In the meantime, the Escadrille Lafayette was coming into
being through the efforts of Norman Prince and Dr. Gros. Lufbery, on the basis
of his hitch in the U. S.
Army, was approached with a view to interesting him in
joining the new American squadron. Lufbery accepted, and after a conversion
course at Le Plessis-Belleville was transferred into the Lafayette in April 1916.
Lufbery was a born mechanic, but,
unlike many other born mechanics, such
as Fokker and Voss, was not a born pilot. He had to work hard at flying, but,
because he had the kind of perseverance that counts, he eventually became a superlative
pilot. He scored his first victory on July 30, 1916, and his fifth, to become
an Ace, on October 12, 1916, during the famous raid on the Mauser works at
Oberndorf. It was following this same raid that Norman Prince was killed in a
landing accident.
Edward F. Hinkle, who designed the Sioux Indian insignia for the
Escadrille
Lafayette, recently said in an interview for Cross & Cockade: "Lufbery was a
wonderful mechanic and his 'plane was always the best in the Escadrille. Anyone
would rather have a second-hand Lufbery machine than a new one, anytime."
During 1917 Lufbery flew regularly and without interruption, a skillful professional
who knew everything there was to know about guns, aeroplanes, tactics,
engines. He was awarded the Medaille militaire and the Croix de Guerre with ten
palms. He was awarded the Military Cross by Britain, the first man in the American
service to be so honored, and he was named a Chevalier of the Legion
d'Honneur. He was also given a snazzy roadster by the Hispano Suiza company.
When the U. S. Air Service began to pull itself together, Lufbery was commissioned
a Major and promptly taken out of the fight. He fidgeted behind a
desk at Issoudun for a time while the American brass hats slowly came to the
realization that they knew nothing about the war, or how to run it,
that everybody
else but America had had four years of experience. Finally Lufbery was assigned
to the 94th as CO.; the brass hats went on to find other blunders to make. Taking
Lufbery out of action for a short time did no real harm, but putting untrained
Americans in did. Untrained Americans fell in droves in the fall of 1918.
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