Who was first American to shoot down an enemy aircraft in World War 1?

Answer 1

Second Lieutenant Samuel Junkin, 308th Fighter Squadron earned distinction as the first active-duty American pilot to shoot down a German aircraft over Europe on August 19, 1942. http://www.aviano.af.mil/Subfolders/World%20War%20II-new.htm Nice information, but wrong. I don't have a individual pilot's name but I can say for sure that a group of 80 American citizens, who went to Great Britain on their own, and volunteered to become RAF pilots, were flying Spitfires and Hurricanes in 1940, during the Battle of Britain. They were members of the two RAF Eagle Squadrons. So would you like to split hairs, about what air force they were a member of??? Or would you agree that they were AMERICANS and were shooting down German air craft, over England, in 1940, not 1942?

Answer 2

== == Don't have a name for you, but he would have been a American volunteer pilot, flying for the Royal Air Force. About 80 Americans traveled to Great Britain, long before the USA was involved in WW2, to volunteer their services to fight the Germans. They were tested and some were refused due to their lack of flight discipline, or poor flying skills. The rest were trained to RAF standards and graduated as Pilot Officers, and were then assigned to RAF fighter squadrons. Initially they were spread around the various defense squadrons, but eventually they were brought together and formed into two "Eagle Squadrons" that flew Hurricanes, operating from bases in southern England. During the Battle of Britain, in the summer of 1940, the RAF stood alone against the German air force, as it tried to destroy the RAF, in daily air battles over the English coastal areas. A typical day for a RAF fighter pilot would start at 3:30 am, at first light, and during the day he might fly as many as six patrols finishing at dark at 9pm. Day after day all summer long it went on until by the middle of September the Germans realized that they could not continue to loose so many planes every week and they shifted their plans to bombing the British cities at night. So Yes, an American, flying for the Royal Air Force would have shot down a German air craft, during 1940, long before the USA as officially "in the war".

Answer 3

The first American Airman shot down by enemy fire was Victor Chapman, on June 23, 1916 near Luxeuil-les-Bains near Switzerland. The US had not yet entered WWI and Chapman was one of about two dozen American pilots who volunteered to serve in the French Army, despite the fact that France, Germany and England had many more pilots than the US. The American volunteers were called the Lafayette Escadrille, after the Frenchman famous for helping fight the American Revolution. The US finally joined the war in October 1917. By March 1918 they had two squadrons of planes, the 94th and 95th. Famous pilots included Major Lufbery, a French-born American from the Lafayette Escadrille, and Eddie Rickenbacher, both famous aces before the war ended. On March 12 Captain Phelps Collins of the 103rd Aero Squadron crashed while on a combat patrol near Paris, the first member of the American Aviation Section to die in a war zone.

Answer 4

This may not be the answer you are expecting and it might be somewhat of a surprise. Just as in WW1, the first Americans to fly combat over Europe were those who joined up with the British RAF (or the French in WW1). Lance Cleo Wade was born in Texas with only the initials "LC". He joined the Royal Air Force and was sent to a squadron flying Hurricanes in Egypt. He scored his first kills when he shot down two Fiat CR-42s on the 18th November, 1941. He rose in rank to Wing Commander(Lt. Colonel) and was credited with 23 confirmed and 7 probable enemy aircraft. He was awarded the British Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Bars. He refused transfer back to USAAF. He was killed when his aircraft crashed on takeoff at Foggia airfield while visiting his old squadron in Italy in January 1944. He is buried at Reklaw, Texas, USA. There is probably a pilot shot down an aircraft on an earlier date that this. During the Battle of Britian(1940)the Americans were formed into Eagle Squadrons within the RAF. The first American to give his life in the Battle of Britain was Pilot Officer William M.L. Fiske of No. 601 Squadron. He died in hospital on 17 August 1940 after bringing back his damaged Hurricane to Tangmere. Link with a history of the Eagle Squadrons and transfer back into US Army Air Force: http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/eagles/es.html

Answer 5

Kiffin Rockwell He left US when the war began to join the French Army. Later, Kiffin was selected to train in the Air Force where he was top of his class---even though some other Americans had fling experience. He was a member of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of American pilots within the French air force.