Posted on 06/03/2017 8:30:49 PM PDT by buckalfa
In 1922, four years after her American son was killed in action in World War I, Sallie Maxwell Bennett received a letter from Emil Merkelbach, a German officer who had fought against her son in the battle that ended his life.
"You will look upon my writing, no doubt, as something unusual, and rightly so, for it is indeed not exactly usual for a former enemy of his own accord to report about his opponent in the World War. I was myself a German officer in the World War."
Emil Merkelbach was the leader of a German balloon squadron stationed in occupied northern France in August 1918. Balloons were used by both the Allied and Central powers during the war as a way to observe enemy targets at a greater distance and from behind the front lines, allowing armies to more accurately aim their long-range artillery. Antiaircraft machine guns defended the balloons from the ground and patrolling airplanes protected them from the air. Armies' reliance on balloon observations, and the firepower employed to protect them, made balloons both an important and dangerous target for fighter pilots like Louis Bennett Jr., Mrs. Bennett's son.
Louis, a Yale student from a prominent West Virginian family, had organized the West Virginia Flying Corps in early 1917 with the idea of training pilots to join the U.S. Army as part of a proposed West Virginia aerial unit. However, when the War Department rejected this idea and required that Louis go through the standard Army training program, he decided instead to join the British Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force or RAF) in October 1917 with the hope of fighting on the front as soon as possible. He left his studies at Yale in the middle of his Senior year and, after attending flight school in Canada and additional training in England, was eventually stationed in northern France in the summer of 1918.
During the ten days he served in combat before being killed in action, Louis shot down three enemy planes and nine balloons, four of which he shot down in one day. These feats not only earned him the distinction of being named a flying ace, and West Virginia's only World War I ace, but also placed him among the top of all World War I flying aces. Merkelbach saw Louis's impressive skill and total fearlessness first-hand on the battlefield, which he remembered years later and which eventually prompted him to write to Mrs. Bennett.
Merkelbach wrote: "[I] had an opportunity to admire the keenness and bravery of your son; for this reason I should like to give you the following short description [of Louis's final battle]. . . . I had been up several hours observing, and was at a height of 1000 meters. Over the enemy's front circled continuously two hostile airplanes. . . . I immediately gave the command to my men below to haul in my balloon. . . . When still about 300 meters high, I saw [another] German balloon . . . plunge to earth burning. At the same moment I saw the hostile flyer (Louis) come toward my balloon at terrific speed, and immediately the defensive fire of my heavy machine rifles below and of the anti-aircraft guns began; but the hostile aviator did not concern himself about that. . . . [He] opened fire on me. . . . I saw the gleaming fire of the missiles flying toward me, but fortunately was not hit. The hostile machine was shot into flames by the fire of my machine guns. The enemy aviator tried to spring from the aeroplane before the latter plunged to the ground and burned completely." Merkelbach ordered the ambulance corps to attend to the "brave and severely wounded enemy." Louis was unconscious and severely burned. Both of his legs were broken, and he had a bullet wound in his head. He died just hours later in a German field hospital on August 24, 1918. The Germans buried him with military honors in an unmarked grave.
Back home in West Virginia, four days after her son's death, Mrs. Bennett received a telegram from the Secretary of the British Air Ministry informing her that Louis was missing in action. She immediately wrote to her contacts in Europe offering a reward for more information and promising that she would spare no expense to locate the body if he had been killed. Having lost her husband to unexpected illness only weeks earlier, Mrs. Bennett spent a desolate and difficult two months waiting for word of her son. While she continued to work her contacts in Europe to try to locate Louis, she received a number of conflicting accounts from members of his squadron, some stating that he had been taken as a prisoner of war, some stating that he had been killed.
In the midst of all of this, she was also struggling to help settle her late husband's estate and became gravely ill with the "Spanish flu" that was sweeping the globe in a deadly pandemic. Finally, at the end of October 1918, she received official confirmation from the American Red Cross that Louis had been killed in action two months earlier. Although conflicting reports stated that he was buried in either France or Belgium, at last she knew that he was gone.
Mrs. Bennett spent the next several months attempting to travel to Europe to locate Louis's grave, first using her influential contacts to obtain a passport and, once in England, to gain permission to travel to France. Finally, in March 1919, with the help of the U.S. Army, the American Red Cross, and the local villagers, she found herself standing at his unmarked grave, number 590, in a military cemetery in Wavrin, near Lille in northern France. She had finally found her son.
Despite his distinguished combat service, Louis Bennett Jr. never received any service awards from either the British or American governments. In an attempt to right this wrong Mrs. Bennett spent the rest of her life honoring her son's memory, eventually erecting memorials in three different countries. The first memorial was completed in 1919 when she rebuilt the church in Wavrin, France where Louis was buried. The church and town had been utterly destroyed by the retreating German army, and Mrs. Bennett rebuilt the church in dedication to her son's memory on the one-year anniversary of his death. The rebuilt church was also her way of thanking the local curate and villagers who had not only helped her locate Louis's grave, but had helped her smuggle his remains out of the military cemetery, in direct violation of French law, so he could eventually be laid to rest in West Virginia. The memorials continued in 1922 with a stained glass window in Westminster Abbey overlooking the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. Dedicated to Louis and to all members of Royal Flying Corps who died in World War I, the window features Archangel Michael, the patron saint of airmen, looking down at Louis, who is depicted as an angel holding a shield. In 1923 she donated a 16th-century Flemish tapestry in honor of Louis to St. Thomas's Church in New York City, where he had been confirmed as a boy.
In 1922 Mrs. Bennett donated the family's mansion and extensive collection of books to Lewis County as a war memorial and public library in honor of her deceased husband and son. The Louis Bennett Public Library opened in 1923 and is still in operation today. Mrs. Bennett also had the local airport renamed in Louis's honor and established a memorial organization that met every year in Weston on the anniversary of Louis's death to honor his memory. On Armistice Day in 1925, she unveiled The Aviator, a seven-and-a-half-foot-tall bronze sculpture sitting on a granite base. Sculpted by Augustus Lukeman, the sculpture features Louis in uniform with wings on his back and is dedicated to all Americans who lost their lives in World War I. The pedestal bears the inscription, "And thus this man died, leaving his spirit as an example of able courage, not only unto young men, but unto all the nation."
Although never given an official award for his service, Louis Bennett Jr.'s courage and skill clearly inspired those around him to honor his memory in their own way: from the enemy German army that buried him with full military honors, to his mother who memorialized him across multiple countries, and finally to Emil Merkelbach, an enemy officer, who was inspired to write a glowing, respectful letter in memorial four years after they had fought on the battlefield.
"I hope that the foregoing lines, a memorial to your son, will be received by you living—he was my bravest enemy. Honor to his memory. With respect, Emil Merkelbach"
The correct name of the author is Patri O’Gan.
Apologies for having fat fingers and the damnable auto correct feature.
Very inspiring story. Thank you for posting this tribute to a mother’s love.
The heroics of the aviator and the chivalry of the German display a bygone era whose loss we should mourn. Our current culture and society pales in comparison. How sad. Great article. It highlights how far we’ve gone and how much we’ve lost.
I salute both men for their actions, but am most grateful for our airman’s actions.
HEY PRESIDENT TRUMP: I *know* you have staff who follow this site (FreeRepublic). Seen too many things mentioned by Freepers that then end up in your and/or your administration’s speeches.
If anyone deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor, Mr. Louis Bennett Jr. does.
And it is NEVER too late to grant that recognition. (I’d say honor, but he clearly Mr. Bennett Jr. had more than enough honor such that more could not be granted.)
I also understand you are dealing with a lot of international issues (e.g., attacks in London, Paris Convention, ISIS, etc.) as well as U.S. issues, but this just would not take much time. Task it to some staffer to shepherd the process of awarding the grant and then just sign off. BtW these things matter.
PS I *REALLY* like typing the words “PRESIDENT TRUMP!”
“It highlights how far we’ve gone and how much we’ve lost.”
Yes.
Thomas Frank Durrant VC (17 October 1918 – 28 March 1942) was a soldier in the British Army during the Second World War and a posthumous English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. His award of the Victoria Cross was unique in that it is the only award given to a soldier in a naval action and it was on the recommendation of the enemy commander.
Sargent Durrant's manned a machine gun on his motor launch, H M Motor Launch 306, and kept reloading and firing at a German destroyer until he passed out from loss of blood. He was taken prisoner, and held with other British prisoners taken during the action.
The Captain of the German destroyer made it a point to go to the prison where he was held, seek him out, find his CO, and point him out, saying "that man deserves your Victoria Cross," which recommendation was accepted, and the award — the highest in Britain, equivalent of our Congressional Medal of Honor — was given him.
Here is his citation:
For great gallantry, skill and devotion to duty when in charge of a Lewis gun in HM Motor Launch 306 in the St Nazaire raid on 28 March 1942.Motor Launch 306 came under heavy fire while proceeding up the River Loire towards the port. Sergeant Durrant, in his position abaft the bridge, where he had no cover or protection, engaged enemy gun positions and searchlights ashore. During this engagement he was severely wounded in the arm but refused to leave his gun. The Motor Launch subsequently went down the river and was attacked by a German destroyer at 50 to 60 yards range, and often closer. In this action Sergeant Durrant continued to fire at the destroyer's bridge with the greatest of coolness and with complete disregard of the enemy's fire. The Motor Launch was illuminated by the enemy searchlight, and Sergeant Durrant drew on himself the individual attention of the enemy guns, and was again wounded in many places. Despite these further wounds he stayed in his exposed position, still firing his gun, although after a time only able to support himself by holding on to the gun mounting.
After a running fight, the Commander of the German destroyer called on the Motor Launch to surrender. Sergeant Durrant's answer was a further burst of fire at the destroyer's bridge. Although now very weak, he went on firing, using drums of ammunition as fast as they could be replaced. A renewed attack by the enemy vessel eventually silenced the fire of the Motor Launch, but Sergeant Durrant refused to give up until the destroyer came alongside, grappled the Motor Launch and took prisoner those who remained alive.
Sergeant Durrant's gallant fight was commended by the German officers on boarding the Motor Launch. This very gallant non-commissioned officer later died of the many wounds received in action.
We share deep cultural connections with the Germans, and the Russians too; one of these connections is the concept of valor, the concepts of bravery and self-sacrifice. These connections are so deep that even in the heat of war, responsible officers cannot help but admire these qualities even in the enemy, and feel obliged to see that it is recognized and rewarded.
Wikipedia source.
Extremely good Jeremy Clarkson documentary on the raid of St. Nazaire: THE GREATEST RAID OF ALL.
Mark
Too true.
Anyway good story and thanks for posting.
I’m so glad this story was posted. West Virginia has always sent more soldiers to battle than any other stare (percentage). Knowing that the memorial is in Weston will encourage me to go and visit Louis Bennett Jr’s statue.
After seeing some friends go through the MOH process for their Civil War Grandfather, I believe the process for posthumous award has to be sponsored in a Bill by a member or two of Congress, then the citation is usually added to an existing Bill, and has to be voted on by Congress. I know the day my friend accepted the MOH for his grandfather (from Bill Clinton in Jan. 2001), Teddy Roosevelt's family was there for the same ceremony, accepting the MOH for his actions at San Juan Hill, Cuba. It's a long, slow process, and with the way Congress drags it's feet today, who knows how long it would take.
Without it being said in the article, the only official memorial to this American flying ace fighting for the RAF in WWI was held by the German soldiers who wounded him, tried unsuccessfully to save him in hospital, then buried him with full honors in tribute to their worthy opponent. This is what civilization does to men, even in their endless battles. WWI began the century long fall of Western Civilization in its brightest moment, the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. How awful to be alive at its end watching educated savages extol tribal savages for raping, murdering and destroying the product of man’s progress—the beauty of art and skyscrapers, benevolence and good will to all men.
For all the savagery on the ground, it was like there was a code of honor, and chivalry, among those in the air. Regardless of which side it was. Almost as if the knights of old had surrendered their horses and in their place found winged steeds of metal and canvas and well-timed machine guns.
Amazing tale of a desperate WWII pilot’s encounter with a German flying ace
#6. I second your motion to get Louis Bennett Jr official US military recognition for his WW 1 service even if it was with the British forces. It could be done through an act of Congress.
We had our Flying Tigers in China before they were merged into Chennault’s forces and I think they were given awards by the Nationalist Government.
Time to honor our own “volunteers” who volunteered before it became an official act.
Sometimes. 50 years ago, I shot and captured a VC who was trying to escape us. I bandaged his hand and made sure that he was treated.
Later the same day, I was severely wounded and that same VC helped carry me to the medevac helicopter under heavy fire.
I would not have lived if he hadn't done that.
I’ve been to the library many times.
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