“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
VI
HIS BROTHER’S SERVICE
It was the proud privilege of both the Prince brothers to give their active services to France on the battle fronts. Having passed their boyhood and early youth together, performing the same tasks and enjoying the same recreations, Frederick and Norman developed similar ambitions and aptitudes, particularly in their more strenuous activities. Moreover, they had obtained in part their early education in France, and the call to the French colors at the outbreak of the war appealed almost as strongly to them as to the patriotic Frenchmen. Norman’s early experience as an aviator at home and abroad gave him a temporary advantage over Frederick in that he already had the preliminary training for service in the aviation corps in which both desired to enlist. He was consequently first of the two to realize his heart’s desire and to take the oath of allegiance to France and her cause. It was with pardonable hesitation that permission was subsequently given by his parents to their only other son to join Norman in the perilous aviation service but it was freely given, with an appeal for God’s blessing, and Frederick sailed for France with Norman on the latter’s return from his Christmas furlough at home in 1915. He underwent the rigorous training at the Pau aviation school and began his active service at the front in the late summer, flying at first with the intrepid Captain Guynemer, at the latter’s invitation, and subsequently joining the Lafayette Squadron on the western front. He won the high esteem of his comrades for his courage and manly bearing, performing his duty with joyous enthusiasm and taking active part in twenty-two aerial engagements during the ensuing five months. When Norman fell at Luxeuil, it was a trying moment to Frederick, who had lost his only brother and the companion of his lifetime, but he promptly offered his services to France in his brother’s place and he fought with the Lafayette Escadrille until he came home on a short furlough. He subsequently returned to France to rejoin his Squadron with courage undaunted, and with unflagging faith in the ultimate triumph of the cause he loved and for which he was proud to be actively enlisted.
