I'd never heard of him before, but came across his name in the Fall 2008 issue of the Delta Sigma Phi Carnation. One of my fraternity brothers, Jack Ballard, Arkansas '49, has written a book "Warbird Ace: The Great War Exploits of Capt. Field E. Kindley."
Most people have heard of the more famous Eddie Rickenbacker, but few of Kindley. He flew with the famous "War Birds" Americans who trained in England with the RAF before joining the US Air Service. He flew Sopwith Camels throughout his military service overseas and earned the US Distinguished Service Cross and British Distinguished Flying Cross.
I went to Wikipedia for more information.
Kindley was born in Arkansas, but moved to Coffeyville, Kansas where he was part owner in a motion picture theater. He enlisted in the Kansas Army National Guard and transferred to the aviation branch of the US Signal Corps. He attended the School of Military Aeronautics at the University of Illinois where he was a somewhat unlucky and untalented pilot, experiencing many mechanical break downs and accidents and landed in the wrong place a few times.
Despite this lackluster start, he was among the first Americans to go to England for combat aircraft training in 1917.. In 1918, he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the American Air Service.
A WAR FIGHTER
His first flight in a Sopwith Camel after that, he crashed into the White Cliffs of Dover and after recovering was assigned to the RAF's 65th Squadron and had his first air-to-air kill June 26, 1918, over France.
In July 1918, the US Army formed the 148th Squadron and he transferred to it and had its first kill. While with the unit, he had 11.5 kills, ranking him third highest American Ace behind Eddie Rickenbacker and Raoul Lufberg.
His fourth kill, August 13, 1918, was likely that of Lothar von Richthofen, brother of the famous Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, who was badly injured and never flew again.
He was killed after the war while demonstrating for General John J. Pershing at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas.
A Sopwith Camel F-1, said to be his and claimed to be the only surviving plane of that kind in the US, was used in the 1968 movie "The Blue Mac" an currently is at the Aerospace Air Museum in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Interesting Story. It Sounds Like He Was a Better Flyer in Combat Than He Was Otherwise. --Old Coot
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