LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE, a squadron of American aviators fighting with the French in the World War. It went back long before the period of the United States' entry into the war and was of gradual growth. By the fall of 1915 there were six Americans serving as full-fledged pilots in the French army, and in the summer of 1916 the list num bered fifteen or more, with twice as many again training for their pilots' licenses in the military aviation schools. The pioneer was William Thaw of Pitts burgh, who was the first American to hold a commission in the French Flying Corps. Lieutenant Thaw had enlisted in the Foreign Legion in Auguat, 1914. Later Sergeants Norman Prince of Bos ton and Elliott Cowdin of New York were the first to enter the French avia tion service, coming directly from the United States. As soon as it was seen that American ambulance workers in France showed a disposition to join the combatant forces a special channel was created for the reception of applications and so the Escadrille began to assume dimension. The Americans were at first distributed, but the idea of forming an all-American unit soon began to take shape. Early in 1916 there were enough pilots already brevetted in conjunction with the eleves or pupils in the training schools to man the dozen airplanes in one escadrille. In February, 1916, a
captain was assigned to command an American escadrille, and the Americans were placed under his orders. Before the escadrille became an established fact Cowdin brought down one German ma chine and won the first Medaille Mili taire.
In July, 1917, there were about 100 Americans in the Army Aviation School at the camp of Avord, near Bourges, and these continued to be augmented. By that time General Pershing and his staff were in France, and one hundred hydroplanes had been landed to strengthen the sea patrol against sub marines. The Lafayette Escadrille was under the general inspection of Lieut. Col. Girod, and Capt. Gallet was "Chief of Pilotage." Americans living in France had taken much interest in the formation of the escadrille, conspicuous among them being W. K. Vanderbilt, who was awarded the French decoration of the Red Rosette in acknowledgment. In course of time, as the aerial forces of the United States got into shape, the American aviators in the French service 'were absorbed by them and the experi ence they had gained in warfare proved of great help to aviators in the United States service.