LM 8577 Sgt Victor Emmanuel Chapman, Escadrille Lafayette.
Born in New York on 17 April 1890, Victor was a Harvard graduate of 1913. Following graduation, he became a student of architecture at the college of Beaux Arts in Paris, but left France for London at the outbreak of war. After a change of heart, he returned to France and, by the end of August 1914, had enlisted into the Foreign Legion at one of their Parisian recruiting offices; by Christmas 1914 he was in the trenches of the Somme.
Service in the Vosges followed, before Victor decided to transfer to the French Aviation Service on 1 August 1915. Assigned to Escadrille VB 108, he entered the school of military aviation at Avold on 26 September and was brevetted a pilot in January 1916. In April, he was transferred to the Escadrille Lafayette at Luxeuil and promoted to Sergeant before seeing his first (aerial) action over Verdun a short time later. Victor was wounded by a machine-gun bullet to the head during aerial combat with four German machines on 17 June 1916, but he continued to fly and, with a heavily bandaged head, was engaged in attacking a numerically superior German force over Douaumont on 23 June. Unfortunately, possibly due to damage to his aircraft, Victor was unable to pull out of a dive and crashed into the ground at full speed behind the German lines. He was killed instantly. Initially buried by the Germans, Victor's body was recovered post-war and his remains now lie in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at Romagne. He is classified as being the first American aviator to die in action.
A book of Victor's letters (plus a brief - though poignant - overview of his life) entitled "Victor Chapman's Letters from France" was published in May 1917.
23 June 1916
Research by: David O'Mara, Croonaert Research Services.
