DAYTON, Ohio -- Exhibit featuring Maj. Raoul Lufbery, Lt. Alan Winslow and Lt. Douglas Campbell in the Early Years Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Maj. Raoul Lufbery, a member of the Lafayette Escadrille, transferred to the U.S. Air Service following the country's entry into the war. A famous combat flyer of the period with 17 confirmed victories with the French, he was assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron that had just arrived on the Front. His job was to train new pilots, including Eddie Rickenbacker. On May 19, 1918, he took off from his aerodrome at Toul in pursuit of an enemy plane near Nancy. During the ensuing battle, Lufbery's Nieuport 28 was hit by enemy fire and its pilot and a cushion plunged earthward. Lufbery fell into a garden at Maron and was instantly killed; the cushion landed on the bank of the nearby Moselle River.
