Above the French Lines / Letters of Stuart Walcott, American Aviator: July 4, 1917, to December 8, 1917

Chapter 28: THE FINAL COMBAT

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About This Book

A collection of wartime letters from an American aviator written between July and December 1917, documenting the author's decision to go to Europe, training and service with Allied aviation units, daily life at the front, aerial patrols and dogfights, the bonds among fellow flyers, and personal reflections on duty and sacrifice. The book also contains an introductory article, a biographical note by the author's father, illustrative photographs, and documents detailing his final combat and fate.

THE FINAL COMBAT

On December 12, while on patrol, Stuart Walcott met a German biplane carrying two men. Three cable reports agree that he shot down and destroyed this machine about two and a half miles within the German lines. He then started back for the French lines and was overtaken by four Albatross German planes. He was overcome and his machine went down in a nose dive within the German lines, it being assumed that either he was shot or his machine disabled.

There was still a hope that he might have escaped death. Inquiries were at once instituted through the American Red Cross and the International Red Cross, with the result that on January 7 a cable came from the International Red Cross stating that it was reported in Germany that S. Walcott was brought down during the afternoon of December 12 near Saint Souplet, and that he was killed by the fall.