Friedrich Wilhelm "Fred" Zinn was a volunteer American
aviator
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
of
German descent
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3,322,405
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who flew with French
Armée de l'Air
The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Arm ...
forces in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and an early pioneer of
aerial photography
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...
for wartime
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
and
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
.
Fred Zinn lived in
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...
. While visiting
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in August 1914, he joined the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
shortly after the outbreak of World War I. He was one of the group who signed the
American Volunteer Corps flag in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
on October 17, 1914, before departing for
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
.
He served on the
Western Front until February 1, 1916, when he was wounded for the second time during a German artillery attack.
Zinn transferred to the French Aéronautique Militaire on February 14, 1916. He served as gunner and bombardier with Escadrille F-14 from December 12, 1916, until October 21, 1917, often augmenting his bombing duties by taking reconnaissance photographs of enemy lines before returning to base.
Zinn was one of the first aviators to attempt to photograph enemy troop positions from the air to assist commanders on the ground. This had previously been done from manned balloons, but they were vulnerable to enemy fire and had to be kept behind the lines. By flying directly over enemy positions and taking photographs, Zinn provided French commanders with a far better view of the battlefield, and the techniques he and others developed soon became standard practice for both sides in the
trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
style conflict.
He was decorated twice by the French government for bravery for flying low over enemy lines on these reconnaissance missions.
Although not formally assigned to the American
Lafayette Escadrille
The La Fayette Escadrille (french: Escadrille de La Fayette) was the name of the French Air Force unit escadrille N 124 during the First World War (1914–1918). This escadrille of the ''Aéronautique Militaire'' was composed largely of Ameri ...
, Zinn was recorded as an observer for the Escadrille, presumably while taking aerial photographs.
After the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
entered the war in 1917, Zinn entered the
U.S. Army Air Service as a captain and was attached to American GHQ at Chaumont until the
Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
on November 11, 1918. He was one of a small number of Legionnaires who entered the war in August 1914 to survive over four years of active service and over three full years in combat units. Some French Foreign Legion units had close to 100% casualties in the intense trench warfare.
At the close of war, Zinn remained in Europe leading a team of what could only be called investigators, with the mission to research, locate, recover and identify American Airmen who were listed as Missing in Action. In Blaine Lee Pardoe's book, Lost Eagles: One Man's Mission to Find Missing Airmen in Two World Wars, which is about Zinn's mission after the war, he notes Zinn was highly successful and credits Zinn with being the "first person to conceive of the idea that missing men could be found, identified, and brought back to the arms of their country and to the hearts of their surviving families. He pioneered the concept of never leaving a man behind." This mission he carried through even after he returned home and to this day, his files in the National Archives are among the most requested. His success and methods were so well known that he was employed during World War II to find more missing American aviators.
Zinn returned to the United States after the war and continued flying, including a trip to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
where his biplane was required to fly only over the waters of
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
due to a perceived danger to citizens if it traveled over land.
See also
*
Lafayette Flying Corps
The Lafayette Flying Corps is a name given to the American volunteer pilots who flew in the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) during World War I. It includes the pilots who flew with the bona fide Lafayette Escadrille squadron.
Numbers
The ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zinn, Fred
United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I
American aviators
French Air and Space Force personnel
People from Battle Creek, Michigan
United States Army officers
Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion
University of Michigan alumni
1892 births
1960 deaths
Military personnel from Michigan