Victor Chapman'S Letters from France, With Memoir by John Jay Chapman, first published in 1917, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

As the First World War ground into its third year in 1916, America still remained uncommitted to intervention in what some in that nation regarded as a purely European affair. This was not the course pursued by many American men, having enlisted in the British, Canadian, and French ranks since the start of the war. The Lafayette Escadrille, or American Squadron, was formed in 1916 from French and American aviators and would grow in fame and victories throughout its two year existence. Victor Chapman enlisted in the French Foreign legion in 1914, as soon as he possibly could; however, he would transfer after much rough soldiering to the French air arm. As a founding member of the famous squadron, one of the Valiant 38, Victor Chapman flew some of the most dangerous missions of all the French pilots as they sought to establish their reputation. The toll of danger never affected his unflappably high spirits, but his luck ran out in June 1916 over the skies of Verdun. His letters are filled with his and his fellow pilots exploits, written in fine style and with great detail. Highly recommended. Author — Chapman, Victor Emmanuel, 1890-1916. Editor — Chapman, John Jay, 1862-1933. Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, The Macmillan company, 1917. Original Page Count – 198 pages. Illustrations – 8 Illustrations.

Excerpt from Victor Chapman's Letters From France: With Memoir Victor Emmanuel Chapman, a member of the Franco-American Aviation Corps, was killed at Verdun on June 23, 1916, and fell within the German lines. He was in his twenty-seventh year; was born in New York, spent two years at the Fay School, went for several years to St. Paul's School, Concord, lived abroad for a year in France and Germany. On his return, he spent a year at the Stone School in Boston and then went to Harvard, where he graduated in 1913; immediately after graduation he went to Paris and studied architecture for one year in the atelier of M. Gromort, in preparation for admission to the Beaux Arts. This made him a Beaux Art student, - for the ateliers are a part of the school, - and thus it came about that in 1914 he joined the Foreign Legion. Victor spent a year in the trenches at a point in the lines where there were no attacks, but where inaction and the continual "sniping" severely tried the nerves. Kohn, an accomplished Polish mathematician was shot, as he and Victor were leaning over the talus. He died in Victor's arms. For over one hundred consecutive days Victor was in the front trenches as aide-chargeur to a mitrail. He was slightly wounded once, and one half of his squadron were either killed or seriously hurt. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.