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Bombing Military Aviator (BMA) badge of 1918-1919


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No one? Steve is spreading a rumor that there was purported to be a group shot showing several of the bomber wings in wear. Has anyone seen this image?

Steve-

Hope you can take a little friendly gibe naughty.gif

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IMPERIAL QUEST
No one? Steve is spreading a rumor that there was purported to be a group shot showing several of the bomber wings in wear. Has anyone seen this image?

Steve-

Hope you can take a little friendly gibe naughty.gif

 

I found one...and no it isn't Photo shopped... :o:lol:

 

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Croix de Guerre

Terry Morris's book "United States Army Air Service Wing Badges - Uniforms and Insignia 1913-1918 has a photo of Lt. Herbert E. Bishop wearing the Bomber Wing. It is figure 11 on page 13.

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Terry Morris's book "United States Army Air Service Wing Badges - Uniforms and Insignia 1913-1918 has a photo of Lt. Herbert E. Bishop wearing the Bomber Wing. It is figure 11 on page 13.

 

Good work Tom!

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I don't have the book in hand but I think that the Ellington Field year book for 1918 showed a few picture portraits of men wearing the wing. Could be wrong.

 

Dave

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Sorry guys to leave you hanging but you're going to have to wait a little longer. I'm down here in Fargo,ND as part of the relief effort for this region of the Midwest. We're looking at being down here a week. If the rest of the levees go, well, let's just say we're going to have our work cut out for us. We just may have to evacuate the city of Fargo tomorrow. If those levees break, this whole area will be under quite a few feet of water.

I promise you when the water recedes & the recover effort subsides, I'll post the photo. Believe me, it'll be well worth the wait!

 

-Chuck

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Good luck with it Chuck!! I heard on the news last night that they are thinking up to

41' to 42'. I really hope that isn't the case. The people there just can't catch a break!

JD

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Good luck with it Chuck!! I heard on the news last night that they are thinking up to

41' to 42'. I really hope that isn't the case. The people there just can't catch a break!

JD

 

 

Thank you JD! Good & bad news...the good is the fact we were relieved by another agency much earlier than anticipated. We will have our own problems here in Northern MN before too long. The bad news is Fargo still has quite the fight left on their hands. Popular consensus is she'll flood, just a matter of time. Everyone has their fingers crossed though...

 

OK....now that I'm back on the block for a little bit, I'd like to finally reveal my little surprise. Drum role please...

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Without much further ado, here is the 'surprise' you've guys have been waiting for....

 

It is a studio portrait of Lt. John A Richards of Savannah, GA. Richards served with the 11th Aero Squadron which was part of the 1st Day Bombardment Group. If I may quote from the book Organization & Insignia of the American Expeditionary Force 1917-1923 Dalessandro & Knapp:

"The Eleventh Aero Squadron was a day bombardment squadron assigned to duty in the First Day Bombardment Group, First Army, on September 5,1918. It had already reached the Front at Delouze on August 26th. The Eleventh was engaged in operations at St. Mihiel & the Argonne-Meuse first & second offensives. It made 32 bombing raids, engaged in 17 combats & received official confirmation for 13 victories. It ceased operations December 11, 1918. The squadron suffered 20 casualties of 10 killed, 1 wounded, 8 prisoners & 1 missing."

 

If these statistics are correct, Lt. Richards was the 1 "wounded" member of the 11th Aero Sqd. This exceedingly rare studio portrait is accompanied by a newspaper clipping from a Savannah paper which states (complete with spelling errors):

"Lieutenant John A Richards, who has been recently discharged from the service, is visiting relatives in Savannah. Lieutenant Richards was with the 11th aero squadron on the Marne and at St. Mihiel and the Argonne. The squadron, which consisted of nine men, fought and brought down 286 of the enemy aircraft, losing six out of the original number. Lieutenant Richards was formerly a Savannah boy and a student at the Massie School, later graduating from Georgia Tech and the Texas University. He received a great part of his training at Camp Texas and afterward, when fighting in France, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre & cited for bravery. During the fighting in the Argonne Forest Lieutenant Richards received several shrapnel wounds. He will return to his home in Atlanta after a visit to Drs. Taz and Angus Anderson & his brother, Mr. Edwin Richards. Lieutenant Richards brought home many souvenirs of the world ward."

That last sentence is a kicker. Makes me wonder where these 'souvenirs' ended up?

 

Research has indicated Lt. Richards was credited with two of the officially credited victories. Thanks to member 'NJaviators', I have information on these victories:

John A. Richards - Arrived 11th Aero 1 October 1918.

Credited with two victories. Both with pilot Lt. Alfred C. Cooper.

1) 10 October 1918 08h20 Pfalz near Dun sur Meuse at 12,000'

2) 04 November 1918 15h40 Fokker (Red nose, black and white fuselage/white tail) near Montmedy at 10,500'

 

Thank you Mike!!!!

 

Now for the Coup de grâce...

Take a close look at the bomber wings Lt. Richards is wearing. This has to be one of a small handful of such portraits showing the elusive wings in wear. I haven't seen them in print & several others only hinted at their existence. Well, here you go! Although the wings are a little out of focus, there is no evidence of a "U.S." being superimposed on the bomb when I take a look under a 10X loop. The bomb does exhibit two tail fins. The wings are long & appear to take up about 3/4 the width of the left breast pocket.

One other feature I'd like to point out is the studio impression on one of the folder leaves. It says " Naschke, Galveston".

 

Thank you guys for your patience. I hope you enjoy the photo.

-Chuck

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Wow....talk about anti-climax.....you got your drum roll....now come on Chuck, give - this isn't funny any more. mad.gif:dry:whistling.gif

 

 

Sorry about that Steve. I was in the middle of typing out the description when I got those two replies...

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The following pics are from a memorial book entitled "Granville" published in 1919. Granville was the first name of the aviator whose letters home encompass his wartime in the Air Service at Ellington Field, Texas. He started training as an aviator, then became a "Bomber" and was made an instructor at the Aerial Gunnery School For Bombers, San Leon, Texas which is south of Ellington Field. He eventually got orders for France and was enroute when the war ended and he returned to Ellington with influenza and died on December 4, 1918. He was from Minnesota and in the book his last name is not revealed. I had a look at my "Ellington Field 1918" history and can see a number of aviator bagdes which "might" be Bombing Military Avaitors but can't tell for sure. also scanned thru "Granville" to see if I could find anything about him designing the wing but did not-----Bob

 

Granville_Frontispiece.JPG

 

Granville_Frontispiece_Photo.JPG

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Thank you Bob for your input.

 

Even with the clear shot of the wings you see here on the book cover, it's still hard to make out the U.S. With the soft focus of the Richards image, it was even harder to make out anything resembling a "US". Thank you again for this post. It has been informative!

 

-Chuck

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  • 2 years later...

post-11441-1324745584.jpgHello Everyone,

I am new to the wing forum. I have an elderly collector friend who has a pair of WW1 Bombardier wings that he acquired from the family of a WW1 aviator in western North Carolina in the 70's or 80's. The two wings came with the patch shown. The name has long been lost, but I believe the wings to be genuine. I appreciate a consensus of opinion and estimated value for the group. Thanks in advance for any information given.

Sincerely,

Jefmil

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post-11441-1324745418.jpg

post-11441-1324745433.jpg

post-11441-1324745479.jpg

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Although I will be away for several days is there anyway you can post some higher res photos? Additionally what is the maker information on the reverse as I can not read it.

 

Thanks

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