WWI Nieuport II Bebe Norman Prince American Escadrill 1/48 Scale Airplane by Carousel 1

WWI Nieuport II Bebe Norman Prince American Escadrill 1/48 scale Airplane by Carousel 1. Each airplane comes with a history of the pilot. Norman Prince was the son of the wealthiest man in New England, with homes in Massachusetts and France. He took flying lessons under an alias to avoid notice of his father. When Germany invaded France in 1914, Prince imagined an ail-American squadron flying for France. He reached Paris in January 1915 and began lobbying the French for an all American squadron, and for himself to enlist as an aviator. Separately, William Thaw, who had enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in August and already begun pilot training, and Dr. Edmund Gros, an American physician in Paris, were working to the same end. The French resisted, because many Frenchmen wanted to join Aviation Militaire. Eventually French authorities realized an American squadron could mobilize American sympathy for France. Prince enlisted in the Foreign Legion in March and was sent to flying school. He earned his brevet on 1 May 1915, and was assigned to pilot Voisin bombers. On 16 April 1916 N.124, the Escadrille Americaine (name changed to Lafayette Escadrille in December 1916) was formed at Luxeuil, on the quiet Vosges front. The first seven Americans were Prince, Thaw, Victor Chapman, Elliot Cowdin, Bert Hall, James McConnell, and Kiffin Rockwell. All were wealthy, educated idealists except for Hall, who was an adventurer. They were commanded by Capitaine Georges Thenault. Training began with a single Nieuport 11, which Prince promptly wrecked, possibly because of his poor eyesight. On 19 May the Escadrille was sent to Bar-le-Duc, near Verdun, the bloodiest battle of 1916. Prince became frustrated when other pilots scored victories but he did not. On 1 August he went "balloon hunting" with Le Prieur incendiary rockets, while Hall flew cover. Prince flamed an observation balloon despite heavy ground fire which damaged both Nieuports, but the balloon was not confirmed despite Hall's corroboration. Prince was credited with a German Aviatik on 23 August. On 9 September Prince shot down a Fokker. The Squadron returned to Luxeuil on 14 September. He scored again on 10 October. The British and French planned a large bombing raid on the Mauser factory at Obendorf, Germany, on 12 October, and Prince was one of five pilots from the Squadron flying escort. Prince and Raoul Lufbery attacked four Fokkers, and each of them scored a victory. Returning at dusk, Lufbery landed safely but Prince failed to see the telegraph wires which caught his Nieuport's wheels, and caused a crash which fatally injured him. Three days later, he died for France.