A newspaper article publishing a letter written by Major Raoul Lufbery to a friend. The article also included information about his life and career as a pilot.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms502_newspapers/1030/thumbnail.jp

Lufbery, Gervais Raoul

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Wright State University CORE Scholar Raoul Lufbery Newspapers Raoul Lufbery Collection (MS-502) March 2019 Lufbery, 'American Ace' Writes of His Pleasure Flying for Gen. Pershing Gervais Raoul Lufbery Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms502_newspapers  Part of the Military History Commons Repository Citation Lufbery , G. R. (2019). Lufbery, 'American Ace' Writes of His Pleasure Flying for Gen. Pershing. . This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the Raoul Lufbery Collection (MS-502) at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Raoul Lufbery Newspapers by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact library-corescholar@wright.edu. -LUFBERY,'AMERICAN ACt:' \ WRITES OF HIS PLEASURE FLYING FOR GEN. PERSHING First Published Letter Since Leaving Laf a­yette Escadrille Full of Human Interest -How Wanderlust- Led Him to Aviation in Inda-China +--------------+--------------The ,.American Ace," bored by! the monotony of bringing down j Hun aviators, somewhere In France, wishes he could go fish­ing down in• Plymouth, Mass. Major Oervais Raoul Lufbery, formerly of the Lafayette Esca• drille, but now with the "Sam­mies," expressed that wish In a letter received in Boston. This is the first word to come direct from Lufbery, although tite cables have been busy telling of his exploits. Here Is the letter, written to a friend: Escadrille No. 124 S. P. I was ver.y glad to get your nice long letter. Was also pleased to hear that you enjoyed yourself at Plymouth. Yes, It's too bad I was not there. Weill next year per­haps, U the war Is over. I might have the pleasure or going fishing with you. Of course, you will have to give me some lessons, for I am rather awkward In that kind of game. Olad to Be With Americans This morning I was told that my transfer to American aviation corps was accepted and tha a commission of major was given to me. The grade of major Is equivalent to the stripes of ;1, French commandant. Ot course, I do not ~ave to tell ye'> tba.\ I was awfully pleased. I have now 14 Germans ofl'iclally brought down. (He got three more since the letter was written.) As you see, I am pretty busy with the Boches, and do not waste my time. Unfortunately, I do not thinlc I shall be able to keep It up this winter, for the cold disagrees with me and I am always afraid of getting my old rheumatism back again. Poor old Whisky! (Whisky was a lion cub, pet of the escadrille.) The !l>OOr fellow has left the front and he Is now at the zoo In Paris. I must say that It was a bad trick they played on him, for he never asked to be sent to the rear, anyway. a: felt very sorry to see him leave. R. LUFBERY. Escadrille Lafayette, Secteur 181. Gervais Raoul Lufbery, the "Ace" 6t the American escadrille, has looked into a.bout as many odd corners of the globe as a.ny other living man of his age . . Since his early days Lufbery's career has been continuously one of excite­ment and adventure and his story Is one of the most Interesting of any American In the allied service. Fifteen years ago Lufbery set out to 11ee the world. First he went to France, visiting Paris, Bourges, Marseilles and other cities. From Marseilles he set sail for northern Africa and passed !lome time In Algeria, Tunis and Egypt, then went to Constantinople. Leaving Turkey, Lufbery went through the Balkan States to Germany, where, from Hamburg, he sailed for South America. There he decided to pay the home folks a visit, and in 1906 returned to Wallingford, Conn., where his father lived. Enlisted In U. S. Army In 1907 Lufbery, tired of the quiet Connecticut life, went to New Orleans and enlisted In the United States army and was sent to the Philippine Islands, where he remained for over two years. When he was a soldier In the United States army he won and held the marksmanship medal of his regiment. Leaving the Philippines, he visited Japan and China, exploring these coun­tries thoroughly. Then he went to Bom­bay In India. From there he went to Indo-China. At Lalgon, Cochin-China, he met Maro Pourpe, a young French aviator, who was giving flying exhibi­tions in Asia. He went ..wlth him and that was the beginning of a fine friend­ship between the two young men. They gave flying exhibitions all over the French provinces In Indo-China with great success. The King of Cam­bodia was so pleased that he decorated both with a medal which entitled them to a guard of honor whenever they appeared In the streets of any town in Cambodia. In the summer of 1914 the two com­rade~ went to France to get a new aeroplane. Then war was declared and Pourpe at once volunteered as an avia­tor. Lufbery wished to ·enlist with him, but when he presented himself at a re­cruiting bureau he was told that, not being a French citizen, he must enter the Foreign Legion if he wished to fight for France. And he did! Joined to Avenge Death Pourpe was shot to death during one of his wonderful air feats, and wish­Ing to avenge the death of his friend, Lufbery asked to take his place. His request was granted, and in the sum­mer of 1916 he went to the front as a member of the famous American Esca­drille. It was on Aug. 4 of that year that he brought down his third enemy plane, and soon afterward was decor­ated with the Military Medal and the Freu:J'a.r Crosa, with th6 tollowlllg clta _, . - "•··-• a, _, _J_..... u.-111...-. Major Raoul Luf'bery, the "l\merican Ace," who has 17 German planes to his credit. Photo ,(C). Underwood & Underwood, New York. distance bombardmenta and by the daily combat which he delivers to enemy airplanes. On July 31 he at­tacked at short range a group of four German airplanes. He shot • one of them down near our lines. On Aug. 4, 1916, he succeeded In bringing down a second one." Two or more combats a day In the air came to be a common occurrence with L ufbery, and many times he returned to the base with his machine full of holes and his clothing cut by German bullets. When l..ufbery heard of the death of Klffln Rockwell, he ordered his gaso­lene tank refilled and soared into the sky In the hope of avenging the death I of his comrade. Unfortullately, no ene­my machine waa to be found. During the bombardment of the MauMr factories on Oct. 12, 1916, the intrepid aviator brought down a three­manned avlatik. This was counted as his fifth official victory and gained him additional honors. It was during this raid that Norman Prince was mortally wounded. After the Escadrille had moved to the Somme battlefield, Luf­bery, on Nov. 9 and 10, brought down two more German planes. Machine Often Riddled On Dec. 27, 1916, he nearly lost hie life In bringing down his sixth flier. Four bullets riddled his machine close to his ceived body. the For Cross this of Yictory the Legion he re­of Honor. In ·March, 1917, he was officially crej­ited with bringing down his seventh German machine. Ten others have been sent hurtling to the earth at different times since then. Lufbery is a qu.let, level-headed man. His particular friend In the Lafayette Escadr!lle of American fliers was Ser­geant Paul Pavelka, ~w killed, wno also hailed from Conn t1e1it. Lufbery has his own pecial methoC,s of attacking enemy airplanes. He Is cool, cautious and brave and an ex­ceptionally fine shot. He has been cited In army orders several times since August 1916. Major Raoul Lufbery has the largest score of any American who has flown In France. His total is now 17 enemy "Lufbery, Raoul, sergeant th the Escadrille No. 124, a model skill, sang froid and courage, h a ' istin­guished himself by numer< long-planes. He is wearing the French War Cross with four palms, the British Mili­tary Medal, the Tuench Military Medal and the French Cross of the Legion of Honor, all awarded him for valor. How Lurbery ~let DeatJ1 . The Chicago Dail)" Tribune pub­lished, a few days ago, the following interesting account of Major Luf­bery's last air fight. It was written by the Tribune's corre:ipondent, _Ed­win L. James: Early in the morning a giant plane appeared over the American airdromes, moving slowly. Four Americans started up and found themselves face to face with a Ger­man plane driven by armored en­gines, and carrying a pilot and two gunners who were heavily armored, each manning heavy machine guns from protected positions. The Americans sent streams of bullets in vain against the enemy. One Amer­ican got in close, and nt three hundred bullets sweeping against the flying tank with absolutely no effect , on it as it loafed along In the ~~ . When one of the Americans land­ed , out of ammunition, and told of his inability to do damage to the Germll,n plane, Lufbery asked, and received permission to try. He mounted up above the German ma­chine, got his machine gun going . well and swept· head first at the monster. When part of the way had been traversed he swerved off, sup­posedly because his machine gun jarumed. But in a few minutes he was back at the boche machine again, and dashed by with his ma­chine gun going, but produced no ef­fect on the enemy plan€. He was seen to turn and start up at the enemy again, when suddenly he swerved and a thin line of flame shot from his machine, which seem­ed to hang still for a moment and then dart down. This all took place at an altitude of about 2,200 and when his machine was about 1,500 yards from the ground, the Ameri­can ace was seen to 1trise and leap in midair. From long experience he knew that to stay in his seat meant to be burned to death horribly. His body fell like a plummet, landing in the midst of a flower gar­den, back of a residence in the vil­lage of Maron. His machine fell in flames half a kilometer away and was burned to ashes. His fellows rushed from the American aviation field to the spot where their com­rade had fallen, but before they reached there some French people had straightened out the body in their garden and almost covered it with the flowers in the midst of which he fell. The only wound on Major Luf­bery's body was a bullet wound on bis right hand. This showed that the incendiary bullet which had set his petrol tank on fire had passed through the hand which held the control lever, a few inches from the tank. As soon as the news of Lufbery's death spread, Americans went up. looking for vengeance on planes for which their machines were a match. Lieut. Douglas Campbell of Califor­nia was successful. Spotting a Ger­man observation plane, he drove for it with his machine gun going full blast. The German machine came down three kilometers behind the Americans lines. The pilot had two bullets through his brain· and the observer had six in various parts of his b6dy. Both were dead. Major Lufbery never missed an opportunity to _ knock down an enemy plane, frequently taking desperate chances to add to his victories. Only the day before his death he re­marked jokingly to his comrades: " You fellows can't get all the easy pickings. I heard how you were knocking them down and decided to hurry back and get some myself Let 'em all come, the more the mer­rier." 

Lufbery, \u27American Ace\u27 Writes of His Pleasure Flying for Gen. Pershing

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Lufbery, \u27American Ace\u27 Writes of His Pleasure Flying for Gen. Pershing

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