Kiffin Rockwell, the Lafayette Escadrille and the Birth of the United States Air Force

With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kiffin Yates Rockwell, from Asheville, North Carolina, volunteered to fight for France. Initially serving with the French Foreign Legion as a soldier in the trenches, he soon became a founding member of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron made up mostly of American volunteer pilots who served under the French flag before the United States entered the war.
On May 19, 1916, Rockwell became the first American pilot of the war to shoot down a German plane. He was killed during aerial combat on September 23, 1916, at age 24. This book covers Rockwell's early life and military service with the Lafayette Escadrille, the first ever American air combat unit and the precursor to the United States Air Force.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Prologue

¿1.¿The Early Years

¿2.¿Leaving Home

¿3.¿World War I Begins

¿4.¿Training in the French Foreign Legion

¿5.¿At the Front

¿6.¿The Battle of Artois

¿7.¿Kiffin's Recovery and New Hope

¿8.¿Pilot Training

¿9.¿The Creation of the Lafayette Escadrille

10.¿Verdun

11.¿The Lafayette Escadrille Comes of Age

12.¿Passing the Torch

13.¿The Climax of the Lafayette Escadrille

14.¿The Transition to the U.S. Air Service

15.¿The Dawn of American Air Power

16.¿The Legacy of the Lafayette Escadrille

17.¿Final Thoughts

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

T.B. Murphy is a pilot in the United States Air Force with more than a decade of fighter aircraft experience. He lives in Germany.

Product details

• Authors: T. B. Murphy, T.B. Murphy
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.08.2016
• EAN: 9781476664019
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-6401-9
• No. of pages: 200
• Dimensions: 178 mm x 254 mm x 10 mm
• Weight: 363 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, TRANSPORTATION / Aviation / General, First World War, 20th Century, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / Military / United States, Air forces & warfare, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Air forces and warfare, Aircraft and aviation, c 1914 to c 1918 (World War One period), Aircraft: general interest, HISTORY / Military / Aviation & Space, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War I, ww1, military aviation