The Lafayette Escadrille was an escadrille (squadron) of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique Militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters. Gervais Raoul Lufbery (March 14, 1885 - May 19, 1918) was a Fren
The Lafayette Escadrille was an escadrille (squadron) of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique Militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters. Gervais Raoul Lufbery (March 14, 1885 - May 19, 1918) was a French-American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both the French Air Force, and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, he is sometimes listed alternately as a French ace or as an American ace. Officially, all but one of his 17 combat victories came while flying in French units. On May 19, 1918, Lufbery took off in his Nieuport 28 in an attempt to intercept a German Rumpler reconnaissance machine near to the 94th's home airfield. Closing in to attack, the German gunner's fire hit the Nieuport. What happened next has been a matter of debate. At an altitude variously estimated between 200 and 600 feet, Lufbery was said to have jumped out of the plane, either to avoid a fiery death or as an attempt to land in the nearby Moselle River, rather than being thrown from the cockpit after it flipped over above the village of Maron. His falling body struck a metal garden picket fence, causing his death.
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