Norman Prince
Date: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: World War; 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives; 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations; Prince; Norman; 1887-1916

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Title: Norman Prince

A volunteer who died for the cause he loved

Author: George Franklin Babbitt

Contributor: Frederick Henry Prince

Release date: September 26, 2023 [eBook #71732]

Language: English

Original publication: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71732

Credits: Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NORMAN PRINCE ***

NORMAN PRINCE
An American Volunteer who died for France

Norman Prince

NORMAN PRINCE

A VOLUNTEER
WHO DIED FOR THE CAUSE
HE LOVED

WITH MEMOIR BY
GEORGE F. BABBITT

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1917

COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published December 1917

To the
LAFAYETTE FLYING SQUADRON
(formerly the Escadrille Américaine)

—those gallant young Americans who led
the way their country was later to follow

“Under the little crosses where they rise
The soldier rests; now round him undismayed
The cannon thunder, and at night he lies
At peace beneath the eternal fusillade
That other generations might possess
From shame and menace free in years to come,
A richer heritage of happiness;
He marched to that heroic martyrdom.”

CONTENTS

I. | Memoir | 1
II. | His Own Story | 15
III. | Letters | 25
IV. | From His Father | 49
V. | A Comrade’s Tribute | 60
VI. | His Brother’s Service | 65
VII. | From the French Envoys | 68
VIII. | Messages of Condolence and Appreciation | 71

ILLUSTRATIONS

Norman Prince | Frontispiece
As Master (pro tem.) of the Pau Draghounds | 6
With His Favorite Plane | 10
Portrait as Exhibited at Allied Fairs | 18
With His Superior Officer Lieutenant de Laage de Mœux | 26
Application to ride a Breguet de Chasse | 30
Memorandum of the Bringing-down of his First German Machine | 38
Cover of a French Periodical | 46
Norman Prince, Frederick Henry Prince, Jr., and Frederick Henry Prince | 50
Concours Hippique | 54
Camp Norman Prince | 62
Frederick Henry Prince, Jr., with his Nieuport | 66
Decorations | 72

NORMAN PRINCE

I
MEMOIR

It is fitting that the record of a young life of high aspiration, of fine achievement, and, finally, of supreme self-sacrifice on a world’s battlefield, should be permanently preserved, not only for the satisfaction of those near relatives and friends who deeply mourn its tragic and untimely end, but for the sense of pride and rapture of soul which the contemplation of such a record everywhere inspires. Grievous as it is to see a young and happy life cut off at the threshold of a promising career, there is compensation as well as consolation for such a fate when the fine fervor of youth, thoroughly imbued with a loyal and patriotic spirit, has won for its possessor the well-deserved plaudit of living and dying a hero. Such was the fate and such the reward of the subject of this memoir.

Norman Prince was the younger of the two sons of Frederick Henry and Abigail (Norman) Prince. He was a grandson of Frederick O. Prince, an eminent citizen of Massachusetts and a Mayor of Boston, and of George H. Norman, a distinguished citizen of Newport, Rhode Island. He was born August 31, 1887, at Pride’s Crossing, Massachusetts, receiving his early education under private tutors in this country and in Europe and completing his preparation for college at Groton, where he passed five happy and helpful years. He was graduated, with honors, at Harvard College in the class of 1908, taking the academic course in three years and receiving a cum laude with his degree of Bachelor of Arts. Entering the Harvard Law School immediately after his college graduation, he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws three years later. He was admitted to the bar and subsequently began the practice of law in Chicago, coincidentally devoting much of his time and attention to the study and practice of aviation at a time when flying was popularly regarded as a mere sport rather than a practical utility in this country. This was a diversion from his more serious work at the start, but foreseeing the ultimate possibilities of aeronautics for practical purposes, and becoming an enthusiast in its scientific development, he neglected the practice of his intended profession, and being enabled to provide the necessary funds for experimenting with various types of flying machines, he tested their comparative advantages for aerial navigation. He possessed an exceptionally quick intelligence and applied himself with zeal and diligence to subjects that interested him.

From his early boyhood Norman had been passionately fond of manly outdoor sports, more particularly those connected with equestrianism. He loved hunting, polo, and kindred activities, and he thus developed qualities of sportsmanship that proved useful to him in his later experience in aviation. His courage and enthusiasm enabled him to undertake aerial flights that appalled less intrepid amateur navigators, but which were a joy and an inspiration to him from the beginning. Among his associates in amateur sports he had the reputation of being absolutely fearless. “I never knew a pluckier fellow,” said one of his schoolmates, recalling the days of their earlier companionship.

At the outbreak of hostilities in Europe his love of the strenuous life, combined with his intensely patriotic instincts and his deep sympathy with the cause of the Entente Nations,—more particularly for France,—prompted him to go abroad and offer his services in their behalf. He adopted this course ardently and spontaneously, feeling that he was thus performing a duty that he owed to the cause of Liberty and Righteousness throughout the world.

One of the finest chapters in the history of contemporary life is that which records the loyalty and patriotic fervor of so many young Americans, who at the beginning of the World War, before their own country had abandoned its attitude of neutrality, volunteered for military service on the side of the Allies, in the fighting ranks of the foreign legions, especially in the aviation service, which called for efficiency and courage in individual combat that recalled the heroism and devotion of the ancient days of chivalry. The inspiring example of these early American volunteers may be said to have given the first impulse to the popular uprising which ultimately led to our country’s active participation in the war.

Having passed many of the earlier years of his youth in France, Norman saw and appreciated his opportunity to testify to the sincerity of his love for what he affectionately called his “second country.” He took passage abroad in December, 1914, four months after the outbreak of the war, arriving in Paris early in the following January, when he promptly offered his services to the Government as a volunteer in the French army to serve until the end of the war—“jusqu’ au bout,” as he emphatically put it when he took the oath of allegiance. He began his preliminary training in the military aviation school at Pau, and on receiving his certificate of proficiency, he served for a short time in the aerial defense of Paris and was then sent to the Western battle-front, where, as is told in the subsequent pages of this memoir, he distinguished himself by his skill and bravery in many air raids against the enemy, winning at once the confidence and admiration of his commanders and comrades.

As Master (pro tem.) of the Pau Draghounds

At the beginning of his active service in France Norman conceived the idea of bringing the American aviators, together with some of those of the foreign legions, into a single squadron, not only that the Americans might thus be associated in closer comradeship, but also that their achievements might become more distinctive and thus redound to the glory of their native country as well as to that of the Allies. This laudable purpose, which was inspired wholly by Norman’s initiative, was realized by the organization of the American aviators into a body which was at first known as the Escadrille Américaine and which subsequently became the famous Lafayette Flying Squadron. Originally carrying the Tri-color, this Squadron was permitted to carry the Stars and Stripes after the entrance of the United States into the war. It thus became the proud distinction of this Squadron that it was accorded the honor of carrying the first American flag that appeared on any of the battlefields of the World War. These aviators soon became famous for their skill and daring in their aerial raids over the German lines, and they were repeatedly cited in army orders, individually and collectively, for their fine courage and unflagging spirit of self-sacrifice. In one of these official orders General Pétain, Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies on the Western front at the time, took occasion to say that this American Squadron had aroused the profound admiration of the commanders under whose direction it had fought, as well as of all the French aerial squadrons fighting beside it and aspiring to rival it in valor and achievement. It was for his fine individual conduct on this famous battle-front that Norman won successively the Croix de Guerre, the Médaille Militaire, and the Croix de la Légion d’Honneur. Coincidentally, he successively achieved the ranks of sergeant, adjutant, and lieutenant. He had up to this time engaged in 122 aerial engagements with the enemy ’planes and was officially credited with five Boches brought down in battle, not to mention four others not officially recorded. Few of his comrades had rendered more active service. He was as ambitious as he was intrepid and resourceful.

On the morning of Thursday, October 12, Norman and other members of his Squadron were assigned to convoy a French bombarding fleet in an aerial raid on Oberndorf, a German arms and munition center located in the Vosges near the plains of Alsace. While circling over the town, they came in close contact with a formidable array of German aircraft, and a terrific encounter ensued in which shot, shell-fire, and skillful manœuvering disabled many of the machines on both sides. It was at the conclusion of this battle in the air that Norman’s Nieuport machine struck an aerial cable while he was endeavoring to make a landing in the dark within the French lines near Luxeuil. In this collision his machine was overturned and wrecked and he was thrown violently to the ground. On being rescued by his comrades, it was found that both his legs were broken and, as was subsequently found, he had sustained a fracture of the skull. He was carried to the neighboring hospital at Gerardmer, where for a time he manifested the undaunted courage that he had always shown under adverse conditions, cheerfully requesting the attending surgeons who were setting the bones of his broken legs to be careful not to make one shorter than the other! The skull fracture was not discovered until later, and it was as a result of this latter injury that Norman died from cerebral hemorrhage on the following Sunday morning, October 15. His comrades gathered around his bedside when he became finally unconscious, in the vain hope of detecting symptoms of renewed vitality, but he passed away peacefully as in a sleep. Those of his near relatives who had been summoned from Paris arrived at his bedside too late to find him alive.

With his Favorite Plane

The dead hero was given all the honors of a military funeral, which was held in the Luxeuil aviation field, where the body rested on a caisson draped with the American and French flags. The services, which were conducted by a French regimental chaplain, were attended by a large representation of the Allied military divisions, including French and English officers of high rank, as well as a full representation of the American Escadrille and pilots from the neighboring aviation camps. During the funeral, instead of the customary firing of cannon as a salutation to the dead, a squadron of aeroplanes circled in midair over the field in honor of the departed aviator, showering down myriads of flowers. The body was borne to a neighboring chapel, there to rest until the end of the war, in accordance with the military regulations governing the temporary disposition of the remains of those dying at the battle-fronts.

A memorial service, held on the following Sunday in the American Church in Paris, was described by those present as one of the most impressive ever witnessed in that sanctuary. The American colony came in full numbers to testify their admiration and appreciation of their fellow-countryman’s valor and sacrifice. The President of the French Republic, the heads of the executive and legislative branches of the Government, the Army and Navy and the Diplomatic Corps were represented by their most distinguished members, and the emblems of mourning contributed to a scene that was as beautiful as it was significant and memorable.

This is but the bare outline of the biography of a rare spirit whose loyalty to his ideals and the high chivalry of whose devotion to the cause of Liberty, Civilization, and Humanity have made his name one to be remembered and his memory cherished with those of his patriotic comrades and fellow-countrymen who fell for the same cause “in the sunny morn and flower of their young years.”

It deserves to be noted here that in all of Norman’s spoken or written messages, telling of his experiences in France, there is nowhere to be found a note of doubt or discouragement or a word denoting any lack of confidence in the ultimate triumph of the cause for which he was fighting. The Allies might meet repeated reverses, and tremendous sacrifices of blood and treasure might have to be made, before a decisive victory could be achieved, but he never doubted the final outcome of the war. His faith in this respect was as firm and unflinching as were his courage and natural optimism in all human affairs. His sense of consecration was unceasingly vibrant. He deeply regretted that his own country was not yet actively enlisted on the side of the Allies and that he was not permitted from the beginning to represent his Government as well as his country in the fighting lines, but this disappointment did not diminish his enthusiasm as an American volunteer soldier giving his services for a cause that he believed to be that of his country and of the world. In one of his letters he wrote enthusiastically:

“Everything goes well. Before the end of this war we shall have aeroplanes with at least 800 or 1000 horsepower flying from Soissons to Petrograd, setting fire to the four corners of Berlin.”

The death of his comrade Victor Chapman touched him deeply. “Poor Victor!” he wrote. “He was killed while fighting a German aeroplane that was attacking Lufberry and me. A sad but glorious death, facing the enemy in a great cause and to save a friend!”

Norman Prince’s heroic sacrifice is finely described in the ode written in memory of the American volunteers fighting for France, by Alan Seeger, the young American soldier-poet, who finally gave his own life for the cause of the Allies on the battlefield of Belloy-en-Santerre;

“Yet sought they neither recompense nor praise,

Nor to be mentioned in another breath

Than their blue-coated comrades, whose great days

It was their pride to share—aye, share even to the death!

Nay, rather, France, to you they rendered thanks

(Seeing that they came for honor, not for gain),

Who opening to them your glorious ranks

Gave them that grand occasion to excel—

That chance to live the life most free from stain

And that rare privilege of dying well.”

II
HIS OWN STORY

Some of Norman’s experiences in the French aviation service were of an exceptionally thrilling character, showing the peculiar perils of aerial warfare. At the time of his last home visit on a short furlough, he was invited to relate some of these at the Tavern Club in Boston. His story, as modestly and frankly told by him on that occasion, is best given in his own words:

“I sailed for Europe in the latter part of the year 1914 in order to do what I could to help the cause which I believed, and still believe, to be that of my own country, as well as that of the Allied Nations.

“Reaching France I offered my services to that Government as an aviator. They were promptly accepted and I contracted an engagement to serve France until she had achieved victory. Seven other Americans enlisted with me at the same time as aviators, and we proceeded from our dépôt, where we were clothed, to the flying school at Pau in the south of France in the Pyrenees, where conditions for flying are exceptionally good, there being hardly any wind in that region. The school at Pau at the time was the largest flying school in the world. While we were there about three hundred young men were in training, and at last accounts, there were over five hundred pupils practicing in aviation, using at least two hundred modern machines. We remained there a month. As a rule it takes about forty-eight days to turn out a military aviator, qualified and fitted to obtain the civil and military licenses required. In order to obtain the latter it is necessary to make a successful flight of about four hundred miles across country. I had already acquired a fair knowledge of the science of aviation at home and had made numerous flights in different machines, so that the training at Pau came comparatively easy to me, but it was necessary for me to become thoroughly acquainted with all the rules governing the French military aviation service, as well as to make myself familiar with the French machines in order to meet the full requirements of the training. When we were through this school we received our brevets militaires and we had ridden every kind of air craft used in the French Army.

“All licensed aviators, as turned out, are sent to the reserve station for aviators near Paris. In our case, after spending a week or two there, we were found fit for more active service, and we were suddenly sent to the front in the north of France, arriving there in time for the May attacks near Arras and Artois. Our perilous experiences in aerial warfare were soon to begin. After one reconnoitering tour we were sent out to bombard munition dépôts, railway centers, and aviation fields in the rear of the enemy’s lines, from ten to forty kilometres distant from our base. I have a vivid remembrance of my first bombarding expedition. The action took place at a point not far within the enemy’s lines. I was sent with two or three members of my squadron to bombard a station where ammunition was being unloaded. It takes about forty minutes for a machine heavily loaded with bombs to get to a sufficient height to cross the lines. The minimum height at which we crossed was about seven thousand feet. I saw my comrades cross ahead of me and noted they were being heavily shelled by the enemy. Accordingly, I decided to go a little higher before crossing. When I found I had only sufficient gasoline left to make my bombardment and return to my base, I started over. I was soon to experience what I may call my baptism of fire. The impression made upon me by the terrible racket and the spectacle of shells aimed at me and exploding near by made me shiver for a moment. Though I was confident and unafraid, my limbs began to tremble. Still I kept straight on my course. I would not have changed it for the world. My legs were so wobbly from nervous excitement that I tried to hide them from my observer, who was an old hand at the game. I confess to a feeling of relief when I reached the point where our bombs were to be thrown over. Having discharged this duty I was glad to return to my starting-point with the motor running at slow speed, and knowing that I was soon to be out of range of the enemy’s deadly fire.

“In this bombardment my machine was made almost entirely of steel tubing with a 140-horse-power engine, capable of carrying a load of bombs weighing from four to seven hundred pounds. As an arm of defense it carried a machine gun. This is the type of machine that has made most of the long raids on the enemy. I soon became accustomed to the duty I had to perform and to flying with the spectacle of shells bursting all around me, at the same time keeping on the lookout for the ’planes of the enemy. We made seventeen bombardments during the ensuing month of June and we got to be old hands at this kind of warfare. It is never quite agreeable to be shelled up in the air or elsewhere, and those who make the boast of liking it do not tell the exact truth.

“To illustrate how well the French military aviation service is organized and supplied with machines, let me tell you of my experience at the front in Lorraine, where one day I had the misfortune to break one of the wings of my machine. Instead of stopping to have it repaired, all I had to do was to turn it into a supply station near by where it was at once dismantled and sent to the rear. I was then promptly supplied with a new machine. A change of aeroplanes by an aviator in action in France is like a cavalryman changing his horse. If there is anything the matter with the animal, even if it is only a corn, a new one is at once forthcoming. There is no suggestion of parsimony or niggardliness in giving out the supplies necessary for efficient fighting.

“On another occasion, when we were making a raid on the railway station at Douai, which was about twenty-five kilometres within the enemy’s lines, we started with a squadron of some twenty machines. There happened to be that day a great many German machines out. Somehow or other they knew we were coming. We had four or five brisk engagements with them. Our planes had only machine guns with which to defend themselves, while the Germans used regular fighting machines. This aerial engagement resulted in four of our machines coming back riddled with bullets, my lieutenant being hit in the leg.

“I was fortunate enough that day to escape the range of the German flying machines by going farther north and passing through the clouds, though I was shelled from a long distance all the way. I succeeded in dropping my bombs on a railroad station, one of which I saw explode in a bunch of freight cars in the railroad yard. As I was returning within our lines the Englishmen, by mistake, opened a brisk fire on me which necessitated my going up into the clouds again. I proceeded due west until I ran out of gasoline and I then descended in the dark near the headquarters of the English. It was my good fortune to land safely and on my arrival at my post I was brought before the English commander, who asked me to tell my story. Mine being one of the four machines out of twenty that had reached Douai in the raid, I was awarded a citation and given the right to wear a War Cross—my first decoration.

“My squadron spent a month in the east and during this time I went farther into the enemy’s territory than I had been before. I think the longest distance was when we made the raid on two localities over one hundred kilometres within the enemy’s lines in Bocherie, as we called it. During this month General Joffre came to review our four squadrons of bombarding machines. With him came the President of France and the King of the Belgians. These distinguished visitors witnessed the departure of a squadron of some ninety of our machines on a bombarding raid loaded with bombs and flying four abreast. They were highly complimentary in their salutations to us Americans.

“During this month in Lorraine I experienced the hardest knock I had received up to that time. One day six German machines, fully equipped, bombarded Nancy and our aviation field. To retaliate, my squadron was sent out to bombard their field on the same afternoon. We started with thirty machines to a designated rendezvous and fifty minutes later, after getting grouped, we proceeded to our ultimate destination. I had a very fast machine, and reached the German flying field without being hit. When about to let go my bombs and while my observer was aiming at the hangars of the Germans my machine was attacked by them—one on the left and two on the right. I shouted to my observer to drop his bombs, which he did, and we immediately straightened out for home. While I was on the bank the Germans opened fire on me with their machine guns which were even more perilous than their shells. My motor stopped a few moments afterwards. It had given out and to make matters worse a fourth German machine came directly at us in front. My observer, who was an excellent shot, let go at him with the result that when last seen this German aeroplane was about four hundred feet below and quite beyond control. The other Germans behind kept bothering us. If they had possessed ordinary courage, they might have got us. Flying without any motive power compelled me to stand my machine on end to keep ahead of them. As we were nearing the French lines these Germans left us, but immediately batteries from another direction opened fire on us. As I was barely moving I made an excellent target. One shell burst near enough to put shrapnel in my machine. It is marvelous how hard we can be hit by shrapnel and have no vital part of our equipment injured. I knew I was now over the French lines, which I must have crossed at a height of about four hundred metres. I finally landed in a field covered with white crosses marking the graves of the French and German soldiers who had fallen the previous September at this point. This was the battle the Kaiser himself came to witness, expecting to spend that night in Nancy.

“Thousands fell that day, but the Kaiser did not make his triumphal entry. Looking back on this latter experience of mine I think myself most fortunate in having been able to return to the French lines without a scratch. I got home safely because the German aviators lacked either courage or skill or both. They had me with my engine dead, four against one, and twenty kilometres within their lines.”

Portrait as exhibited at Allied Fairs

Alluding to the occasion of the telling of this story, William Roscoe Thayer, who presided at the dinner, said when the tidings of Norman’s death came from France: “I shall never forget that Christmas night at the Tavern Club when Norman sat next to me and told me many details of his service and then arose and gave that wonderfully simple, impressive story. To have had such a service and to die fighting for the cause which means the defense of civilization—what nobler career could he have had? I can think of no one who more thoroughly enjoyed the life of continuous peril which he led. The honors which it brought him showed that France recognized as heroism that which he took as a matter of course.”

III
LETTERS

The following letters of Norman Prince, although chiefly of an intimate and personal character, are here published as a part of the record of his experiences in the service of France and as further testimony to his tenderly affectionate nature and his constant thoughtfulness and solicitude for those he left at home.

With his Superior Officer Lieutenant de Laage de Mœux

Havre, Jan. le 29, 1915.

Dear Mamma,—I have just put foot ashore in France after a disagreeable crossing, 2nd class. Here in Havre there are troops and troops always passing. French troops, chiefly of the reserve; thousands of English troops in khaki, Belgian troops without uniform. They all say, not at all in a boastful way, that they will be back home again by the end of the year. Will they?

Dear Mamma, I hope you are well and that papa has not taken too much at heart my leaving home at this time. I believe I can find a place to do some efficient and useful work for the cause to which I am so deeply devoted. My love to you all. I shall write often.

Affectionately your son,

Norman.

Esc N. 124, Secteur 24, May 15, 1915.

Dear Governor,—Arrived en escadrille par la voie des airs to replace a disabled pilot until the Escadrille Américaine is formed.

I saw the battle lines and heard for the first time the never-ending boom of guns. This is war in dead earnest and right at hand. Will write more fully later.

Affectionately,

Norman.

V. B. 108-B. 103, May 20, 1915.

Dear Freddy,—Arrived here at the Front last Tuesday piloting two Voisins appareils de bombardement. On the way we bombarded observation balloons, railway centers, poudrières, aviation camps and other locations of Boche activity—but not towns or cities or other localities where the lives of helpless women and children might be endangered. We are in the section where all the French advances have lately been made. The vertical guns of the Boches are particularly annoying to us. They have got two out of six of the pilots of our Escadrille since our arrival. One got down within our own lines; the other fell within the lines of the Boches—whether he was killed or not we do not know.

(Eight miles from the German trenches.)

Been here a week and have become quite accustomed to being shot at. We go out every day and the salutations we get from the Boches are rapid and continuous when we are over their lines. The Boches here have more vertical guns to aim at us—more to the mile of front than anywhere else. There are hundreds of French aeroplanes grouped here because it is in the twenty miles north of Arras and south of the English where all the recent French advances have taken place. Attacks and counter attacks by day and night, and the bang of artillery in the near distance never ceases. We often go out at the same time as the infantry attack behind the artillery fire, the artillery of both sides banging away at the trenches, batteries and at us,—the avions in the air. It is a wonderful spectacle and something frightful as well—until we get used to it!

N. P.

Paris, September 6, 1915.

My dear Grandmamma,—I am in Paris on a few days’ leave and just had luncheon with a friend who is leaving to-night for Rome and I have asked him to mail this letter to you on his arrival.

For the last four months I have been at the front—two months in the North near Arras during the attacks of May and June. After that we were stationed for a month near Nancy in the East. Now we have returned to the north again where there is increasing activity. I am happy and in the best of health. I sleep under canvas on a stretcher bed and eat in the shed of an old farm house near by. I have nothing to complain of. I like it. There are ten American pilots with us in the French service and twelve others in training with their number constantly increasing. Some day soon we will all be united in one escadrille—an Escadrille Américaine—that is my fondest ambition. I am devoting all my spare energies to organizing it and all the American pilots here are giving me every encouragement and assistance in the work of preliminary organization. As I have had so much to do in originating and pushing the plan along, perhaps I shall be second in command.

I would enjoy tremendously a letter. My address now is

Sergeant-Pilote Prince
Escadrille d’Avions Canon
3me Groupe de Bombardement
Secteur Postal 102.

I hope you are in Rome, not in Treviso, which must be dans la Zone des Armées.

Your affectionate grandson,

Norman.

Application to ride a Breguet de Chasse

Cⁱᵉ Gˡᵉ Transatlantique, À bord, January 4, 1916.

My dear Mamma,—Just a line before the pilot leaves us to tell you that Freddy and I appreciate your sorrow in having your two boys go to the war. However, the greater the sorrow, the greater the joy will be when they return!

Nothing was forgotten. Freddy and I have the same stateroom and I shall immediately start to make him fit. I tell him that in order to join the Flying Corps, one cannot weigh more than 75 kilos.

Your most affectionate son,

Norman.

G. D. E. Div. Nieuport Secteur 92A, February 19, 1916.

Dear Governor,—Enclosed is a letter from Freddy. Notice that he says the discipline at Pau is very strict.

I am a schoolboy again. I am training to fly the very fastest appareil de chasse—quite a different instrument from the avion canon which weighs three times more than these small chasing appareils.

I am busy pushing matters, in regard to the formation of the Escadrille Américaine. There is a possibility that St.-Saveur, now a captain in the aviation, may command us. Although but a short time on the front he has done finely as a pilot. We are all disponible to go to the front and are only waiting for a captain, the personnel—(chauffeurs, secretary, cook, etc.) our avions and the motor cars. Orders for our formation will be issued, I hope, next week. The weather has been very rainy and windy here for a week, which is to be expected, during the month of February. We are losing no time, however.

Those Lewis guns, if there is any way of getting hold of a dozen, would be much appreciated by us here. The more you can get for us the better, but I realize that it may be impossible even for you to get hold of any.

How are the horses? Don’t overdo the schooling!

I hope you and Mamma are enjoying Aiken. The main thing is to care for your health.

With love to Mamma, who, I trust, is not too anxious about Freddy and me.

Your affectionate son,

Norman.

Esc. N. 124. Secteur 24, June 26, 1916.

Dear Mamma,—Oliver Wolcott, who has been cantoned near by with the American Ambulance, is going home to serve with the militia and is to take this letter with him.

No news of Freddy this past week. The training is so thorough at these aviation schools that he risks but little while there. Probably he won’t get to the front for another month.

Poor Victor Chapman! He had been missing for a week and we knew there was only a very remote chance that he was a prisoner. He was of tremendous assistance to me in getting together the Escadrille. His heart was in it to make ours as good as any on the front. Victor was as brave as a lion and sometimes he was almost too courageous,—attacking German machines whenever and wherever he saw them, regardless of the chances against him. I have written to Mr. Chapman—a rather difficult letter to write to a heart-broken father. Victor was killed while attacking an aeroplane that was coming against Lufberry and me. Another unaccounted for German came up and brought Victor down while he was endeavoring to protect us. A glorious death—face à l’ennemi and for a great cause and to save a friend!

Your affectionate son,

Norman.

Escadrille N. 124, Secteur 24, June 29, 1916.

Dear Mamma,—Enclosed is a photograph of Victor Chapman and myself, taken two days before his death. It is a print of what is probably the last photograph taken of him. I have sent one to Mr. Chapman.

We are too busy and short of pilots at our Escadrille to think of taking a permission at present. Tout va bien. Bonnes nouvelles de Freddy.

Your affectionate son,

Norman.

July 2, 1916.

Dear Mamma,—A few lines to tell you that tout va bien. This letter will be taken over and mailed in New York by an American Ambulance driver who dined with us last night.

To-day I am de garde all the morning—that is to say, from dawn to noon. I must be by my avion ready to start as soon as any Boches are signaled. None have been so far this morning—worse luck!

Your affectionate son,

Norman.

Esc. 124, Secteur 24.

Esc. N. 124, Secteur 24, July 6, 1916.

Dear Governor,—Enclosed is a letter which speaks of Freddy. The Escadrille is running well. St.-Saveur lunched at our popole last week and wished to be remembered to you and Mamma; de R⸺, who was on our team at Bagatille, was here for lunch to-day with R⸺; both wish to be remembered; de P⸺ came last week looking very fit and will write to you shortly.

The aviaphone for my helmet arrived in good shape and I have lent it to my captain, as I am riding at present a single-seated aeroplane.

Your affectionate son,

Norman.

Memorandum of the bringing-down of his first German machine

Deauville, Sept. 2, 1916.

Dear Mamma,—I am down here with friends, passing part of my permission. It is very pleasant and refreshing, the change. One soon gets enough of Paris in summer and in wartime. Here no one pays the slightest attention to the war. There are few militaires—mostly civiles from Paris and their amies. Good bathing,—golf in the afternoon—many good-lookers, making the plage rather good fun.

Freddy is nearly through at Pau. He is now at the acrobacy school learning to do stunts in the air. It is a part of the training of a chasse pilot. I gave him some pointers before he left and told him to do the least possible with the old machines which are quite out of date and clumsy.

Monday I return to Paris and Tuesday back to the Front, my eight days permission expiring on that day.

I was fortunate enough to run across a German the other day who didn’t see me approaching. If you read the communiqué aérien of the 23d or 24th you will find mention of my Boche,—“un avion désemparé est tombé dans la forêt de Spencourt.” Undoubtedly they will give me this time the Médaille Militaire,—the chicest decoration in France. The chief pleasure of having it will be the satisfaction of having earned it many times and that my receiving it may please the governor and you.

A bientôt, dear Mamma. Thanks for the socks and the handkerchiefs.

Most affectionately,

Norman.

Escadrille Américaine, par Luxeuil-les-Bains,
Haute-Saône, September 24, 1916.

Dear little Mamma,—I am so afraid you will worry more than ever when you hear of poor Kiffen Rockwell’s death. I know how anxious you must be with the two of us over here. Keep very busy, ride a lot, go out to dinners and get as many other distractions as possible so that you will not have too much time to think of us. As far as danger to us goes, we are trying to take as few chances as possibly consistent with playing the game.

Everybody tells me that Freddy is showing himself to be an excellent pilot. Unfortunately he has not yet fully decided to come with our Escadrille. He would prefer to go to another which is commanded by St.-Saveur. I dare say he might be happier if he did not come with us, but à point de vue of safety it seems to me he would be better off with us. I could be a lot of assistance to him, telling him all I have learned this spring hunting Germans, and he would have an excellent mechanic in Michel, who by the way, has been Rockwell’s mechanic while waiting for Freddy’s arrival; and further, he could have my machine to ride, which is the dernier cri in appareils de chasse, with two machine guns. He would otherwise get one as safe, but not so good for knocking down Boches. He would have only one gun.

Did I write you that I had knocked down another Boche two days before leaving the Verdun district? I enclose a clipping giving the communiqué officiel, with mention also of my Boche who fell at Dieppe.

Dear Mamma, I must stop writing now. We are going out to try to avenge Rockwell. Don’t worry! I am doing my duty as safely as I know how. With much love to you both,

Most affectionately,

Norman.

To his Mécanicien

Cher Michel,—En cas qu’un accident m’arrive—c’est à dire que je suis tué, blessé ou que je reste chez les Boches—je vous prie d’écrire quelques lignes à ces dames, les adresses desquelles sont écrites sur les enveloppes (ci-incluses).

Dis leur que je t’avais dis d’écrire préférant qu’elles sachent ce qu’il m’est arrivé plutôt que de rester dans l’angoisse au sujet de mon sort.

Signe ton nom en mettant que tu avais été mon mécanicien dévoué depuis mon arrivée sur le front.

Mes effets, papiers, lettres, etc., le tout, il faut mettre de suite dans mes valises et les remettre personnellement à mon frère.

Ci-inclus deux chèques comme cadeau en récompense du boullot que vous et André ont fait si soigneusement sur les appareils de Bibi et qui m’ont permis à gagner la Médaille Militaire.

Ces chèques sont payables, à ma mort ou dans le cas que je reste chez les Boches, à défaut de ce que cela m’arrive—(espérons-le) à la démobilisation de vous deux.

En cas qu’un de vous devient civil avant l’autre, celui devenu civil prends son chèque et le présente à la Banque—où il sera payé.

Bonne poignée de main!

Norman Prince.

Esc. N 124, par Luxeuil-les-Bains, le 6 Septembre, 1916.

From his Mécanicien

Secteur 16, le 25 Octobre, 1916.

Monsieur et Madame Prince:—

Excusez-moi si je suis un peu en retard pour vous donner quelques détails sur le malheur qui nous frappe en la perte de Monsieur Norman.

Il m’avait laissé, juste huit jours avant sa chute fatale, quelques enveloppes avec adresses écrites par sa main pour que je vous écrive quelques mots ainsi qu’à quelques amis si quelque chose lui arrivait. Je vous joins du reste la lettre qui est un véritable souvenir.

Pauvre Monsieur Norman, les boches n’ont pas pu avoir raison de lui et n’ont pas eu ce plaisir là.

Il a trouvé la mort après tant de combats affrontés, tant de dangers, et il en est sorti avec les honneurs à son avantage.

Son dernier départ a été le 12 Octobre, avec son avion de chasse Nieuport monté avec deux mitrailleuses et avec lequel il avait abattu un boche le 10, deux jours avant: il est parti à 2 heures faire la protection d’un groupe d’avions de bombardement très en avant dans les lignes ennemies. Il a abattu un avion de chasse ennemi à 3 hrs. qui venait attaquer le groupe et lui barrer la route. Comme toujours, faisant son devoir avec conscience, il a attendu que tous les avions ont repassé les lignes avant de rentrer lui-même et à la dernière minute il pense à atterrir dans le champ d’aviation le plus près vu que la nuit commençait à tomber.

Il était prêt à faire un atterrissage des plus normal, malgré l’obscurité, quand le malheur a voulu qu’il touche un cable qui était au bordure du champ, et dont il ne pouvait soupçonner la présence et son avion est venu s’écraser sur le sol.

Il a été relevé et aussitôt transporté dans un Hôpital sans une plainte et sans perdre un instant ses sens, causant avec un de ses camarades d’escadrille.

Il avait deux jambes fracturées, la droite à la cuisse et la gauche au-dessus la cheville. Il a été opéré aussitôt, non sans recommander aux docteurs de bien s’assurer de ne pas faire une jambe plus courte l’une que l’autre, car il faisait beaucoup de sport.

On lui a arrangé ses deux jambes et tout était fini à minuit.

Le lendemain il causait avec tout le monde et tout faisait espérer les meilleurs résultats d’une prompte guérison, il passe une bonne nuit et le matin du 14 à 6 heures est frappé d’une embolie cérébrale (au moment où personne ne s’y attendait nullement) et n’a repris connaissance.

Je suis resté jusqu’à ses dernier moments auprès de lui, et je n’ai pas eu la chance de le voir reprendre ses sens une seconde.

Ce que je puis dire c’est que rien n’a été négligé et qu’il a été très bien soigné. Il paraissait très heureux.

Il en était à son avion cinq boches abattus officiellement et en avait quatre autres en réalité mais non confirmés—plus un ballon captif d’observation qu’il avait attaqué et enflammé: et les nombreux bombardements du début sur voisin où il était toujours le premier prêt à partir et des fois le seul qui allait droit au but.

Malgré tous les dangers parsemés sur sa route et après avoir pris tant de soins et d’attention il nous est enlevé (il ne comptait que des amis sincères et dévoués) et juste au moment où il était arrivé au but: Médaille Militaire, Légion d’Honneur et Croix de Guerre qu’il avait si noblement gagnées.

C’est une grande perte pour l’armée Française et aussi pour nous, car il nous rapportait avec son amitié l’honneur du devoir et la bravoure du bon soldat.

Il a été ramené à Luxeuil, où un service funèbre a été célébré au milieu de ses amis; il a été accompagné par ses nombreux camarades avec toutes les honneurs.

Après avoir appris la maladie grave de Monsieur nous sommes restés quelques jours sans nouvelles causé par le déplacement de l’escadrille, et nous avons été très heureux, Monsieur Frédéric et moi, quand il a reçu une cable lui annonçant que Monsieur Prince allait mieux et que tout danger était écarté.

Á present Monsieur Frédéric est avec nous, et vous pouvez compter sur moi pour que je fasse tout ce qu’il me sera possible pour lui, et espérant que l’on aura le bonheur de voir la signature de la paix en bonne santé, je termine.

Monsieur et Madame, si vous désiriez d’autres renseignements, je me ferais un devoir de vous les donner, et c’est avec plaisir que je vous donnerai tous les renseignements possibles.

Recevez, Monsieur et Madame, mes respectueuses salutations.

Votre dévoué serviteur,

Michel Plaa Porte,
Mécanicien Escadrille, N. 124, Secteur 16.

Cover of a French Periodical

IV
FROM HIS FATHER

Memories of my younger son Norman are so tender and fragrant that his bereaved father may well feel some hesitation in recording them for publication lest they may seem to those who never enjoyed intimate relations with him to have been inspired by absorbing parental pride and affection rather than by less partial and disinterested judgment. If there may be any warrant for this impression it will be readily allowed that the sacrifice of this young life in a great cause and the commingled pride and sorrow occasioned by such a martyrdom furnish adequate occasion for the warmest eulogy. To know Norman well was to love him and admire his fine traits of mind, heart, and soul.

I hardly know when our real companionship began. When he was yet a little boy, just emerging from the nursery, Norman was wise and resourceful beyond his young years. He was always reading and he was persistently inquiring about things worth knowing. His youthful self-reliance is amusingly illustrated by an incident when he was but about eleven years of age. He asked for a private tutor to teach him Latin, and he felt so sure of the kind of an instructor he wanted that he took upon himself the somewhat responsible task of obtaining one without advice or assistance. Having found one willing to accept the position Norman at once proceeded to put him through a preliminary examination to test his professional capacity.

Norman Prince, Frederick Henry Prince, Jr., Frederick Henry Prince

Describing this incident the tutor writes: “Norman came to me for work in Latin when I had no reasonable hours at my disposal for him. At my recommendation he sought the services of another tutor, but he soon came back to me in considerable perturbation. With his quick, incisive, convincing sentences he described Mr. Smith’s inefficiency in Latin, and declared his complete despair of ever getting his tutor over six books of Virgil in two weeks. Not to be caught again by the self-assurance of a tutor, he asked, ‘Can you really read Virgil, Mr. Woodbury, and if so how fast can you read it?’ Determined to keep within the speed limit and not to disappoint him, I said, restrainedly, that I thought I might read ten lines a minute. His eyes glistened with expectancy, but with caution he inquired, ‘Really, Sir? May I time you, Sir?’ With my consent he pulled out a stop-watch, and finding I could slightly better my estimate, he won me over by his irresistible arts of persuasion to give him the hours from seven to eight in the morning and nine to ten in the evening. These were unseasonable hours for so young a lad, but he never failed to be ready for work at the beginning and at the close of the day until his task was completed. Through his vivacity and his cleverness and his unfailing good nature he became very popular with the dozen or more fellows who were tutoring with me that summer. Between him and me there developed a friendship which to me was a source of great enjoyment and has now become a treasured memory.”

This incident serves to show that Norman’s precocity was mitigated by a well-developed sense of humor as well as a playful mischievousness. There was a merry twinkle in his eyes, denoting that he was not always to be taken too seriously in his search for knowledge.

A marked trait of Norman’s early youth was his dashing intrepidity. He began hunting when he was but seven and he never showed a sign of fear. I can see him now in my mind’s eye mounted on his spirited chestnut thoroughbred riding as straight and true as any of the older hunting men. An accident that happened to him and his brother Frederick before they went to school at Groton illustrates the fearlessness of both of them in their childhood. It was a morning appointed for a meet and the rain was falling in torrents, making the riding cross-country more than ordinarily dangerous, so that I deemed it prudent to tell my sons that perhaps it might be better for them not to join us that day. They dearly loved the sport, and I remember how the tears came to the eyes of Norman when he heard my gentle warning, though, as the event proved, he did not take it any too seriously. On my return home that evening I found Norman in the care of a surgeon with a broken thigh, while his brother had a broken collar-bone, the result of fast riding on the slippery turf. Regardless of the dangerous conditions against which they had been warned they had taken not only to hunting but to racing and by accident they had pulled into each other at the finish where both were violently thrown. As they lay stunned on the ground Frederick was the first to gain consciousness and he shortly heard Norman murmuring jokingly, “Fred, I think I’m dead. How do you feel?” Not even this playful disregard of parental counsel operated to check a certain degree of admiration for such an exhibition of calm nerve under painful circumstances. Norman’s interest in hunting and racing witnessed no abatement when he took to aviation, or even after he had experienced some of that stern joy that warriors feel. A post-script to one of his letters from the front in France made the naïve inquiry:

“How did my horse run at the Country Club meeting?”

Another marked feature of Norman’s personality was his gracious and attractive bearing under any and all circumstances. To his quick intelligence and dash he added a courtesy and graciousness of manner that charmed all those with whom he came in contact, whether at home or abroad, at work or at play, in the rough-and-tumble of life or in the drawing room. His savoir faire which seemed his by instinct, gave him a charm that was rare to meet.

Concours Hippique

About all the notable characteristics that marked Norman’s earlier youth remained with him as he grew older, showing a constantly progressive development. This was particularly the case as to his alert mentality and his remarkable capacity for acquiring knowledge easily and quickly. As a student he could hardly be called exceptionally studious in the sense of being closely attached to his text books, but what he lacked in studious habits he more than made up for by the facility with which he grasped any subject that invited his attention. This accomplishment of his was demonstrated in a gratifying way when he was at Groton preparing for college. He was given an opportunity to join his brother for a year of study abroad, but he asked that he might take his entrance examinations for college before going. The next examinations were only a week or two ahead, and Norman still had another year at Groton before his turn would come in regular course. Having obtained the requisite permission of the Groton and Harvard authorities thus to anticipate his work he underwent the examinations at once, though he was then but 15 years old. He passed them all without a condition and without any uneasy apprehension on his part, apparently.

Having achieved this triumph he went abroad, studying for a time in Germany and at Oxford, subsequently entering Harvard in the sophomore year. At college, as at school, he acquitted himself creditably and was graduated with high honors. He subsequently took the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the Harvard Law School in due course.

It was at this time that he became an enthusiastic devotee of aviation, and when an opening came for him to begin the active practice of the law, he preferred to give his attention to the science and practice of aerial navigation with the Wright brothers and with Starling Burgess at Marblehead. Knowing something of the perils of aviation, particularly during the early stages of its development in this country, and apprehending that its fascinations for Norman might prove more or less perilous, as well as tending to distract his attention from the more serious concerns of life, I sought by every means to dissuade him from giving so much of his attention to it, but his ambition to distinguish himself as an aviator made it difficult for him to pay due heed to my serious counsel, and I subsequently found that he had been experimenting for some time with flying machines in high altitudes under an assumed name in order to escape detection and an undesired notoriety.

Recalling these venturesome incidents in Norman’s early career as an amateur aviator, I sometimes think that perhaps fate had reserved him for the cause to which he finally gave his life and that the character of this service was that for which he had shown such a passionate fondness and aptitude, despite all obstacles and discouragements. Worldly success won by the ordinary plodding methods meant little to him. He aspired to hitch his wagon to a star. He cared nothing for the privileges of wealth, even though they might be within his reach, and he envied no man his success in whatever honorable lines he might elect for himself. His ambition was to achieve something worth while and he gave all his energies to the accomplishment of that purpose.

Considering these predominant traits of Norman’s character, as well as his achievements, I conclude that he could hardly have wished for a nobler fate than that which finally befell him on a battlefield of France.

Speaking for Norman’s mother I would say in her behalf:

“Light sorrows speak—great grief is dumb.”

A mother’s grief for the loss of a dearly beloved son is too deep to find adequate expression in words. Memories of Norman’s tenderly affectionate nature, of his fine character, his charming personality and his unfailing buoyancy and cheerfulness are so real, so vivid, and so abiding that it is difficult to realize that he has gone. Although he has indeed gallantly sacrificed his young life for a cause he dearly loved, his mother cherishes the firm faith that the fine spirit thus displayed by him remains undaunted and unquenched, and that it is still the blessed privilege of those near and dear to him to continue to enjoy this sweet belief.

A further measure of consolation has been found in the many and tender messages of sympathy that have come from near and far, testifying to the warm appreciation of Norman’s rare qualities as they were revealed in his life, and to the general admiration of his heroic self-sacrifice. These messages have helped to comfort and sustain the bereaved family.

Frederick Henry Prince.

V
A COMRADE’S TRIBUTE

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

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.

Frederick Henry Prince, Jr., with his Nieuport

VII
FROM THE FRENCH ENVOYS

On the occasion of the reception given by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston to the French Envoys who came to this country in an official capacity, the patriotic devotion and sacrifice of Norman Prince were gracefully alluded to by the Envoys who included in their number M. René Viviani, Minister of Justice, Marshal Joffre, Vice-Admiral Chocheprat and the Marquis de Chambrun, Deputy, and descendant of Lafayette. At the lunch in Faneuil Hall, given by the City of Boston, Vice-Admiral Chocheprat, in his reply to the Mayor’s address of welcome, paid a touching tribute to “Mr. Frederick H. Prince’s son Norman, the gallant young aviator who sacrificed his life for France, and the cause of the Allies.” Thereupon Marshal Joffre arose from his seat at the table and placing his hand over his heart made a bow to the young hero’s father, who sat by the Marshal’s side and who was acting as chairman of the reception committee.

Subsequently at the reception given to the Envoys at the Boston Public Library, M. Viviani, in concluding his graceful response to Governor McCall’s address of welcome, said:

“I salute that young hero, Norman Prince, who has died after having fought not only for France, but for America, because we have the same ideals of right and liberty.”

M. Henri Franklin Bouillon, French Minister of International Affairs, who made an official visit to this country later on, took occasion to express his admiration of this fine American aviator. Speaking subsequently at a public gathering in London of his observations in America he said: “I cannot better express to you the sentiment of the American people than by quoting that young American hero Norman Prince, who, in acknowledging a salute to the American aviators in Paris, said, ‘We have done what we have done; you must judge us by our hearts.’”

VIII
MESSAGES OF CONDOLENCE AND APPRECIATION

As Norman Prince was among the first of the American volunteers offering their services to France and to make the supreme sacrifice for her cause, it was but natural that his fate occasioned widespread and deeply sympathetic comment. The mournful tidings served in no small measure to bring home to the American people a more adequate realization of the fact that it was a World War that was waging on the European battle-fields and that the sooner this situation was recognized here the better for the cause of civilization everywhere. The messages of sympathy and appreciation were as numerous and universal as they were fervent and sincere. They found expression in the press, in the pulpit and in the forum, and the name of this hero came to be accepted as a fitting symbol of patriotism and self-sacrifice. Few of these messages were more tender and appreciative than those which came from Norman’s comrades in the aviation service in France. Commanders and subordinates were alike in this respect. A message from the comrades gathered at his bedside when he died said:

“Norman passed peacefully away this morning. He died like the brave man he was. He was more than a brother to us. We are all heartbroken.”

The French Government took formal and appreciative notice of the event, the representative of the French Army in this country sending this message to the family:

“The French Government transmits to you expressions of its deep and sorrowful sympathy on the occasion of your son’s glorious death. In my name as Military Attaché representing the French Army in the United States, I desire to say that his death has been for all his French comrades a cause of profound grief. It is with the greatest admiration that we have seen all these gallant young Americans risking and giving their lives for the cause of France. Their memory deserves to be kept in the hearts of our compatriots as is that of Lafayette in this country.

“We bow gratefully and respectfully before his grave.”

Representing the British Admiralty, Rear-Admiral Alfred E. A. Grant sent this message from London: “It was splendid of him to come over to fight for the Allies. You could have felt nothing but pride to have heard how his commanding officers speak of him—of his popularity with all his comrades; how gallantly and faithfully he performed his duties and how deeply his loss is regretted by all who knew him.”

DECORATIONS awarded to Norman Prince by the French Government

CROIX DE GUERRE (Red and green ribbon)

Star, won for being cited in L’Ordre du Jour of his Division for having been the only one of twenty-five aviators to reach Douai in 1915.

First Palm, won for being cited in L’Ordre du Jour of the French Army for having brought down an enemy avion.

Second Palm, for having brought down two enemy avions on the same day—at the same time receiving the

Third Palm, cited in L’Ordre du Jour for having brought down a fourth enemy avion, and for meritorious service in a raid on the Mauser ammunition works at Oberndorf—at the same time receiving the

MÉDAILLE MILITAIRE (Yellow and green ribbon)

CROIX DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR (Red ribbon)

Rev. Dr. Endicott Peabody of the Groton School wrote: “I must tell you how deeply Mrs. Peabody and I sympathize with you in Norman’s death. He gave his life in a great cause. That will be a comfort to you both, and he met his death with the courage that is characteristic of his family. Even with these considerations, I realize that your hearts must be heavy. It will please you to know that one of Norman’s classmates at Groton, who had followed his career in France with keen interest, has sent a contribution toward a memorial that he desires established at the school.”

Speaking for the Harvard Class of 1909 of which Norman was a member, its Secretary, Francis A. Harding, said: “On behalf of the Harvard Class of 1909, I wish to express the very deep regret which every Harvard man, and especially every classmate of Norman’s, has felt after reading the announcement of his death in France. To those of us who knew Norman intimately, the news of his death comes as a distinct shock, and every member of our class feels proud to have known and to have been affiliated with one who had the courage to give in such a noble way everything he possessed to the great cause in which he believed.”

From South Carolina Senator Tillman wrote: “Your son gave his young life in defense of what all of us know is a sacred cause. He was a twentieth century Lafayette, a modern knight errant whose statue will yet grace the capital of France. Prince? Yes, a Prince indeed—‘sans peur et sans reproche.’”

Many other thoughtful and tender messages came from others, friends and strangers, at home and abroad, testifying their commingled sorrow and admiration. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge telegraphed from Washington this tribute:

“Nothing could have been more gallant than his life—nothing finer than his death in a great cause, dear to his heart.”

An eloquent and fitting epitaph!

TO NORMAN PRINCE

From a Boston Boy, in France, American Ambulance Field Service, October 20, 1916.

Gone is the honored boy bird
He’ll fly no more for France,
His spirit though,—a silent word
That over all the Earth is heard,—
Commands her friends Advance!

His courage and devotion tried
Must all the world convince
He was, as all of us decide,
And France, for love of whom he died,
In name and deed—a Prince.

The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS
U. S. A

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NORMAN PRINCE ***

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Table of Contents

- CONTENTS
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- NORMAN PRINCE
- I MEMOIR
- II HIS OWN STORY
- III LETTERS
- IV FROM HIS FATHER
- V A COMRADE’S TRIBUTE
- VI HIS BROTHER’S SERVICE
- VII FROM THE FRENCH ENVOYS

- VIII MESSAGES OF CONDOLENCE AND APPRECIATION

- TO NORMAN PRINCE

- THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE