Where are the German moving towards in attempts to take Paris in the movie flyboys?

Answer 1

You know, I watched that movie, even though it was not easy, a few months ago. It really upsets me when Hollywood turns its attention toward an actual historical event but then completely fictionalizes the entire thing. There are so few major motion pictures produced which get beyond car chases and T & A, and here the producers had a chance to tell an absolutely fascinating story, one far more interesting than the imaginings of every screenwriter in the movie business combined, and they churn out that load of crap.

I looked forward eagerly to seeing this movie, because the first squadron member to shoot down an enemy airplane was from the neighborhood where I grew up. He was also the first of the squadron to die in combat. His name was Kiffin Rockwell, and he and his brother had both gone to France. Kiffin was the first American ever to shoot down a plane.

One of the few historically accurate aspects of this wretched piece of film is that the Escadrille Lafayette did have two lions as pets - Whiskey and Soda. They were cubs though, not full grown.

The actual Lafayette Escadrille ("Lafayette Squadron") had a short history, because they were transferred to the US service after the US entered the war. Other Americans did continue to fly and fight in the French service under the general title of the Lafayette Flying Corps. Many more fought in the British Air services. Thus, by the time of the events loosely depicted in the movie, which appeared to be the German drive on Paris in 1918, there was no longer a Lafayette Escadrille in the French Air Service.

Beginning in March 1918 the Germans began their "Win the War" Offensive, in a bid to finish the war with a victory before the Americans could make their weight felt on the battlefield. There were five separate major attacks involved, over several months. In May the Germans attacked northeast of Paris and achieved major breakthroughs, and Paris was indeed threatened. The French, bled white and wracked by mutiny in the ranks, had no reserves with which to close this serious rupture in the line. American divisions of WWI were huge, almost three times the size of those of any other nation. The practically green US 3rd Division, at Chateau Thierry and along the Marne River, and to its left, the equally green US 2nd Division at Belleau Wood, stopped this onslaught of some of the finest troops in the German Army, saved Paris, and prevented the Germans from winning the war. You couldn't get a French or British person to admit this today with a gun to their head, but at the time everyone understood what these Americans had achieved, and freely admitted it.