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 Lafayette Escadrille was created before the United States gave up its neutrality and joined France and Britain in the war against Germany. Once the United States formally entered the war, the Lafayette Escadrille was absorbed into the U.S. Army.
Early life
Born on 2 October 1887, in the small town of Celle-Lévescault, France to the parents of Monsieur Paul Louis Thenault and Madame Eugénie Gabrielle Louise Bathilde Thenault. His parents were married on 1 September 1886 at Église Notre-Dame de Vaux Church, Vaux commune, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France. His siblings were Louis Roger Thenault, Edmée Isabelle Thenault, and Marcel Emile Thenault.World War I
Standing 5-ft, 8-in, he was a giant in the eyes of his fellow Frenchmen and a respected leader amongst the American volunteer pilots. Identified as N.124, the Lafayette Escadrille was assigned to Groupe de Combat 13 under the overall command of Commandant Philippe Féquant. During 1916–1917, this Groupe de Combat 13 took part in such engagements as the Battle of the Somme, the Second Battle of the Aisne, the Battle of Verdun, and in the Battle of Passchendaele. In early 1918, it operated in the region between Soissons and Reims.Captain Georges Thenault credits Adjudant Norman Prince for conceiving in November 1914 the idea of bringing together his countrymen with some of those of the French Foreign Legion in a squadron of flyers. Support soon came about from civilian and military representatives of France and the United States. These representatives added expertise and government networking resolving over time the method of recruiting and financing, and successfully encountering the French officialdom. Five influential men instrumental in providing this organizational support included:
- French Foreign Affairs Ministry Official Messr. Maximilien Jarousse de Sillac : career diplomat and conservative French supporter for world peace; assigned as the French Preparatory Commission secretary for the Third Hague Conference that never took place due to the World War
- Dr. Edmund L. Gros, M.D. : Chief Surgeon & Director of the American Ambulance Corps headquartered in the American hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine, western suburb of Paris, France; resident of 23 Ave. du Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France.
- Mr. Frederick Hobbs Allen : Harvard graduate, 1883 with LLB. and AM.; established law firm Allen & Cammann ; member of the American Legion and Sons of the American Revolution; residing in Paris when war erupted and became a member of a committee to assist the American embassy in the emergency, and was a chairman of a subcommittee appointed to repatriate American citizens when his advice was requested. He provided U.S. legal guidance that avoided international technicalities confronting American citizens desiring to fight in a foreign war prior to U.S. entry in April 1917.
- Colonel Thomas Bentley Mott, US, Artillery Corps, American Expeditionary Force : graduate of USMA, 1886; served as the senior U.S. Army military attaché to the American embassy in Paris, France, 1914–1921. His support came from being a U.S. Army liaison officer for General John J. Pershing on the staff of Marshal Ferdinand Foch.
- Brigadier General Victor Paul Bouttieaux, French Army : A recipient of the highest honor bestowed by France – Officer of the Legion of Honour, he was influential within the French Army staff as Aviation Chief of the French 1st Army, reporting directly to the Chief of Staff – General Marie-Georges Demange concerning balloons, airships, and aircraft. In this capacity he commanded six aviation squadrons.
"There were Americans fighting in the Foreign Legion, but their identity was lost in this body; they were simply units in a tremendous group. Dr. Gros and his associates dreamed of some other form of service in which Americans might participate as Americans, even though the flag of the United States might not officially be carried into the war. The idea was constantly before them, and, when they found that among the Americans already in France and already anxious to help as best they might, were men who had learned the art of flying in this country, the plan for a special American flying corps was conceived and developed."
Final approval for this plan was given by Major General Auguste Edouard Hirschauer – Chief of French Military Aeronautics for the Ministry of War.
It started with a group of American volunteers in Paris, France, where they met to discuss how would one be able to enter the French Aviation Service to fly combat missions against the Germans. They met Monday evening, 17 April 1916, at a Paris restaurant to celebrate the final and definite organization of the Escadrille Americaine.
They became the first group to enter the French Aviation Service under the guidance of a distinguished French pilot, Captain Georges Thenault. The Escadrille N.124, first called the Escadrille Americaine, then the Escadrille des Volontaires, and finally the Escadrille Lafayette, was formed on Wednesday, 15 March 1916, under the command of Captain Georges Thenault. Into this squadron came more American volunteers who were at one time automobile mechanics, ambulance drivers, and members of the French Foreign Legion. They became an elite corps of volunteers administratively assigned to this squadron. Thus, began the association called the Franco-American Flying Corps – later to be known as the Lafayette Flying Corps.
The Lafayette Escadrille was from the beginning a chasse, or pursuit, squadron. Originally provided with the thirteen -meter Nieuport 11, armed with a single Lewis gun on the top plane, it changed successively to the Vickers-armed fifteen -meter Nieuport 17, SPAD S.VII with a single Vickers machinegun, and the SPAD S.XIII with the twin-Vickers machinegun.
Marshal Philippe Pétain, Commander-in-Chief of the French forces, commended the Lafayette squadron, composed of American airmen, for its courage, spirit and sacrifice. In the French general orders of 31 Aug 1917, the Marshal said:
"The squadrilla, composed of American volunteers who have come to fight for France in the pure spirit of sacrifice, has fought incessantly under the command of Captain Georges Thenault, who formed it for an ardent fight against our enemies. In very severe combats it has paid the price of serious losses, which, far from weakening, have increased its morale. The squadrilla has brought down twenty-eight enemy aeroplanes. It has aroused the profound admiration of commanders who have had it under their orders, and also of French squadrillas which are fighting beside it and have desired to rival it in valor.
Between 20 October 1917 to early February 1918, the process of releasing the American volunteers from the Lafayette Escadrille so that they could become commissioned pilots of the United States Army Air Service was slow. This was mainly due to the required bureaucratic civil and military endorsements that took place between the French Bureau of the Minister of War and to the American Expeditionary Force, Chief of Staff Major General James William McAndrew, U.S.A.
On Monday, 18 February 1918, under the provisions of a curious and interesting agreement between the French and American armies, the Lafayette Escadrille became the 103d Aero Squadron – originally known as 103d Pursuit Squadron – United States Army Air Service. During its tenure, the Lafayette Escadrille had officially confirmed by the military authorities, 199 German aircraft. Of these volunteer pilots, five died of illness; six by accidents in the aviation schools; fifteen were taken prisoners; nineteen were wounded in combat; and, fifty-one were killed over the front lines. The French government recognized the American volunteers for their heroic achievements in the skies over France with the following: four Legions of Honor, seven Medailles Militaires, and thirty-one citations.
After the disbandment of the LaFayette Escadrille, Captain Thenault accepted orders as chief pilot at the French School of Aerial Acrobacy & Combat at Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, remaining there for the duration of the war.
Interwar years
Following the end of World War I, Captain Thenault continued military service in the Armée de l'Air – literally Air Army, and found time to compile his personal diary notes into a historical work pertaining to the famous LaFayette Escadrille. Captain Thenault wrote his book at his home located in Vaux-en-Couhe Vienne France. Between 1919 and 1921, Thenault purposely wrote this book to place on record the exploits and sacrifices of those daring American volunteers who served under his command and who gave so noble a response to the "deed of LaFayette" whom they chose as their namesake.Captain Thenault's book gained widespread American public recognition. In May 1922, he accepted an assignment that began an eleven-year diplomatic service in the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. This started with the position of Assistant Military Attaché for Aeronautics and later evolved into the position of Military Attaché for Aeronautics at the French Embassy in Washington DC. Thenault's travel to the United States began under a French diplomatic passport to the French embassy in Washington DC aboard SS France departing from Port of Le Havre, Saturday, 15 July 1922, and arriving Port of New York, Saturday, 22 July 1922.
Late fall 1922 plans were announced of Captain Georges Thenault to wed Mlle. Paule Dumont in Washington DC – daughter of the French embassy's Military Attaché for Aeronautics Colonel George A. L. Dumont, French Air Army. The wedding was to have taken place in the fall of 1922.
Then in the fall of 1925, the engagement of Ms. Sarah Spencer to Commandant Georges Thenault was announced in Washington DC society circles. She was the daughter of Oliver Martin Spencer of Chicago and of Mrs. Katherine "Danny" Spencer, and a grandniece of the Honorable William J. Stone of Ripley County, Missouri.
A number of U.S. Army Air Service and French Aviation Service aviators who won their spurs during the World War periodically made visits to the French embassy, attending conferences, luncheons and dinner engagements in Washington DC. One of the well-known visitors at the time was Captain René Fonck, French Aviation Service. He arrived in the United States at the Port of New York aboard the steamship RMS Olympic, on Tuesday, 6 October 1925. Captain Fonck was in Washington DC for two reasons: upon the invitation from the defense attorney for Colonel Billy Mitchell, U.S. Army Air Service; and, to attend the international air race at Mitchell Field, Long Island, for the Schneider Trophy. Colonel Mitchell invited Captain Fonck on his behalf to reveal the truth about French aviation against the Riffs, and to testify the French Aviation Service had broken down against the Riffs because the fliers were placed under the command of infantry and artillery officers who had no flying experience.
Promoted to commandant in 1923, Thenault completed his six-year tour as military attaché in spring 1928, went to France and later returned to the United States reporting to the French embassy in Washington DC, Friday, 27 July 1928, as Military Attaché for Aeronautics – replacing newly promoted Brigadier In this assignment Commandant Thenault sought to strengthen bonds of friendship between the United States and France by traveling through a number of cities visiting aircraft factories, conferring with aeronautical experts, and inspecting Army air stations in order to keep his government informed of American progress in the aircraft industry.
In response to request of U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Edward Pearson Warner, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics established on 1 March 1928, a special committee on the nomenclature, subdivision, and classification of aircraft accidents, for the purpose of preparing a basis for the classification and comparison of aircraft accidents, both civil and military. A plan was devised for the division of the immediate causes of aircraft accidents into four major classes and for the further subdivision of these major classes as seemed desirable, together with proposed definitions of these classes and subdivisions, was submitted for consideration at the first meeting, and discussed further at additional meetings. The meeting conducted on 22 May 1928 was attended by Wing Commander Thomas Gerard Hetherington ; Lieutenant Yoshitake Miwa ; Major Georges Thenault. At this particular meeting the method of analyzing aircraft accidents according to immediate causes was explained and the value of a uniform system for reporting accidents was discussed. This significant meeting resulted in the establishment of a procedure for the international exchange of information regarding aircraft accidents. The method of analysis was shortly adopted for use by the United States Army Air Corps, the Bureau of Aeronautics of the Navy, and the Aeronautics Branch of the United States Department of Commerce.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1933 following successful completion of duties as military attaché for aeronautics at the French embassy in Washington DC, he returned to France and continued his military services with the French Air Army.