williamthaw

Pioneer American aviator who fought for the French before the U.S. entered WWI. See notes under:

earlyaviators.com/ethaw.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thaw_II

This photo was depicted in The Sunday Oregonian, August 13, 1916 with the caption: "Lieutenant William Thaw, of Pittsburg, is one of the American aviators serving in the French army. He has been decorated for bravery and advanced to rank of Lieutenant." oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1916-08-13/ed-1/se...

Thanks for this information B-59. We'll add some of it to the record the next time we update.

See notes under:

earlyaviators.com/ethaw.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Thenault "Lieutenant Colonel Georges Thenault ... was the commander of the Lafayette Escadrille - the famed branch of the French air force in World War I composed of American volunteer pilots."

The Lieutenant would likely be Lt. Alfred de Laage de Meux. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Escadrille

artolog and swanq: thanks for the link to the other photos and the background information. We will update the record.

Elliott Cowdin, Norman Prince, William Thaw were among the American aviators who were part of the Lafayette Escadrille, an all-American squadron for the French air service: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Escadrille Thaw: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thaw_%28aviator%29 Prince (died 1916): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Prince

Elliott C. Cowdin: ralph.smith.angelfire.com/Flying_Corps/Pilots/ElliottCowd... They returned on December 23, 1915 on the Holland-America liner Rotterdam for an eight days' leave (according to New-York tribune., December 24, 1915, Page 2, with similar photo).

See also

Thanks to all of you for your great research. We'll straighten out the names in the caption and add some of the information to the record the next time we update.