Lafayette Escadrille Pilot Captain Dudley Hill's Souvenir Trench Art.. ...

Description

Lafayette Escadrille Pilot Captain Dudley Hill's Souvenir Trench Art.

A beautiful trench-art shell, made from a 1918-dated German brass shell casing. 11 ½ x 4-inches. The shell is decorated in the typical floral style but the background is heavily stippled giving it a rather more impressive look. A winged propeller appears above a French Croix de Guerre medal with "HILL" stamped on the ribbon. Along the top rim of the shell is stamped "LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE N. 124". The shell is sold with a 3 x 5-inch black-and-white photo of Hill standing next to his airplane. Dudley Lawrence Hill was born October 6, 1893 in New York. Like many American pilots who flew with the French, Hill initially joined the Ambulance Service but joined the French Service Aeronautique. Hill's service with N. 124 began officially on June 6, 1916 and continued through February 18, 1918 when Escadrille SPA. 124 was incorporated into the U.S. Air Service as the 103rd Aero Pursuit Squadron. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre on October 17, 1917 and became one of only six Lafayette Escadrille pilots to be authorized by Field Marshal Petain to wear the French fourrangere in the colors of the Croix de Guerre.

Condition: Excellent.

More Information: In August of 1914, when World War One broke out between France and Germany, young American citizens who were residing in France rushed to the aid of the French Republic. The first volunteers joined the French Air Service and soon engaged German squadrons in aerial combat over the front lines. Other young Americans volunteered to serve with the French Ambulance Corps and drove Ford Ambulances to the front to recover wounded from the battle lines and transport them back to the hospitals.

This vanguard of American volunteers was small in number. Only 38 American pilots flew in the Lafayette Escadrille. Two-hundred-thirty-one other young Americans flew heroically in other French Squadrons. These American pilots flew and fought in French uniforms. The Ambulance drivers wore their own distinctive uniform. The following offerings represent these young heroes' service to France in the Great World War.