sky, and one by one turn into airplanes as they wheel downward.
Finally all six of the machines that have been aloft are back on the
ground and the American Escadrille has one more sortie over the German
lines to its credit.


PERSONNEL OF THE ESCADRILLE

Like all worth-while institutions, the American Escadrille, of which I
have the honour of being a member, was of gradual growth. When the war
began, it is doubtful whether anybody anywhere envisaged the
possibility of an American entering the French aviation service. Yet,
by the fall of 1915, scarcely more than a year later, there were six
Americans serving as full-fledged pilots, and now, in the summer of
1916, the list numbers fifteen or more, with twice that number
training for their pilot's license in the military aviation schools.

The pioneer of them all was William Thaw, of Pittsburg, who is to-day
the only American holding a commission in the French flying corps.
Lieutenant Thaw, a flyer of considerable reputation in America before
the war, had enlisted in the Foreign Legion in August, 1914. With
considerable difficulty he had himself transferred, in the early part
of 1915, into aviation, and the autumn of that year found him piloting
a Caudron biplane, and doing excellent observation work. At the same
time, Sergeants Norman Prince, of Boston, and Elliot Cowdin, of New
York--who were the first to enter the aviation service coming directly
from the United States--were at the front on Voisin planes with a
cannon mounted in the bow.

Sergeant Bert Hall, who signs from the Lone Star State and had got