Name: James Knowles, Jr. Country: United States Rank: Lieutenant Services: United States Air Service Squadrons: 95th Aero (Kicking Mule) Victories: 5 Born: 27 December 1896 Place of Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio Died: 21 February 1971 Place of Death: St. Louis, Missouri Notes Excelling in sports, Knowles was a student at Harvard University when the United States entered the war. He joined the Air Service on 7 April 1917 and received preliminary training at Ohio State University. Sailing for France on 23 July 1917, he completed flight training at Tours and Issoudun before receiving a commission on 20 November 1917. Following advanced air combat training at Cazeau, Knowles was assigned to the 95th Pursuit Squadron on 30 June 1918. Flying the SPAD S.XIII, he scored his first victory on 25 July 1918, shooting down a Fokker D.VII near Bouvardes. By the end of the war, he had flown 96 sorties and scored four more victories to become one of the highest scoring aces in his squadron. Before returning to the United States in March 1919, Knowles remained in France, working on historical records at Tours. Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) "For extraordinary heroism in action near Montfaucon, France, 9 October 1918. While on voluntary patrol over the enemy's lines, Lt. Knowles observed three enemy Fokkers attacking one of our balloons. He unhesitatingly attacked and in a bitter combat that lasted for five minutes, he succeeded in bringing one of the enemy planes down in flames and driving off the others." DSC citation Croix de Guerre "An excellent pursuit pilot, very aggressive and never losing an opportunity to attack the enemy. On 25 July 1918, he brought down an enemy two-seater which was protected by six one-seaters." Croix de Guerre citation Aces ╖ Aircraft ╖ Books ╖ Chat ╖ Forum ╖ Guests ╖ Links ╖ Medals ╖ News ╖ Search ╖ Vote Copyright ⌐ 1997,1998 The Aerodrome Page revised on 18 Nov 1997