In a contribution to the World’s Work, James R. McConnell, a sergeant-pilot of the original American Escadrille, gave the following graphic description of the engagement in which his comrade Prince lost his life. It is a pathetic circumstance that but a short time after he had written this tribute, Sergeant McConnell himself met the same fate as that which befell his American comrade, his dead body having been found within the German lines where he had fallen in an aerial combat with the enemy.
“On the 12th of October, twenty small aeroplanes flying in a ‘V’ formation, at such height that they resembled a flock of geese, crossed the Rhine River, where it skirts the plains of Alsace, and, turning north, headed for the famous Mauser works at Oberndorf. Following in their wake was an equal number of larger machines, and above these darted and circled swift fighting ’planes. The first group of aircraft was followed by British pilots, the second by French, and four of the battle ’planes were from the American Escadrille. They were piloted respectively by Lieut. de Laage, Lufberry, Norman Prince and Masson. The Germans were taken by surprise, and as a result few of their machines were in the air. The bombardment fleet was attacked, however, and six of our ’planes were shot down, some of them falling in flames. As the full capacity of a Nieuport machine allows but a little more than two hours in the air the avions de chasse were forced to return to their own lines to take on more gasoline. The Nieuports having refilled their tanks, went up to clear the air of any German machines that might be hovering in wait for the returning raiders. Prince found one, and promptly shot it down. Lufberry came upon three and he promptly disposed of them.
“Darkness was rapidly coming on, but Prince and Lufberry remained in the air to protect the bombarding fleet. Just at nightfall, Lufberry made for a small aviation field near the lines, known as Corcieux. Slow-moving machines, with great planing capacity, can be landed in the dark, but to try to feel for the ground in a Nieuport, which comes down at about a hundred miles an hour, usually means disaster. Ten minutes after Lufberry landed, Prince decided to make for the landing field. He spiraled down through the night air and skimmed rapidly over the trees bordering the Corcieux field. In the dark he did not see a high-tension electric cable that was stretched just above the tree tops. The landing gear of his airplane struck it. The machine snapped forward and hit the ground on its nose. It turned over and over. The belt holding Prince broke, and he was thrown far from the wrecked ’plane. Both of his legs were broken and he suffered other injuries. Despite the terrific shock and intense pain, Prince did not lose consciousness for a time. He even kept his presence of mind, and gave orders to the men who had run to pick him up. Hearing the hum of a motor, and realizing that a machine was in the air, Prince told them to light fires on the field. ‘You don’t want another fellow to come down and break himself up the way I’ve done,’ he said.
“Lufberry went with Prince to the hospital in Gerardmer. As the ambulance rolled along Prince sang to keep up his spirits. He spoke of getting well soon and returning to service. It was like Norman. He was always joyous and energetic about his flying. Even when he passed through the harrowing experience of having a wing shattered, the first thing he did on landing was to busy himself about getting another fitted in place. No one thought Prince was mortally injured in the accident, but the next day he went into a coma; a blood clot had formed on his brain. Captain Haaf, in command of the aviation groups of Luxeuil, accompanied by our officers, hastened to Gerardmer. Prince, lying unconscious on his bed, was named a second lieutenant and was then and there decorated with the Legion of Honor. He already held the Médaille Militaire and the Croix de Guerre.
“Norman Prince died on the 15th of October. His body was brought back to Luxeuil and he was given a funeral similar to Rockwell’s. It was hard to realize that poor Norman had gone. He was the founder of the American Escadrille, and every one in it had come to rely on him for inspiration. He never let his spirits drop, and he was always on hand with encouragement for others. I do not think Prince minded going. He wanted to do his part before being killed and he had more than done it. He had, day after day, freed the line of Germans, making it impossible for them to do their work, and five of them he had shot to death.
“Two days after Prince’s death, the Escadrille received orders to leave for the Somme. The night before the departure, the British gave the American pilots a farewell banquet and toasted them as their guardian angels. They keenly appreciated the fact that four men from the American Escadrille had brought down many Germans, and had cleared the way for their squadron returning from Oberndorf. The Escadrille passed through Paris on its way to the Somme front. The few members who had machines flew from Luxeuil to their new post. At Paris the pilots were reënforced by three other Americans, among whom was Frederick H. Prince, Jr., who had completed his training and had come over to serve in aviation with his brother Norman.”
Camp Norman Prince