Walter Lovell (September 9, 1884 – September 10, 1937) was a

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 ...

volunteer pilot and an American serviceman. He was born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

, to Wallace D. and Josephine (Hastings) Lowell. Walter attended Newton High School (now Newton North High School) and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree, class of 1907. He stayed in Boston and went into brokerage business after graduation.

American Ambulance volunteer

In January 1915, Walter Lovell departed for England on , and in February 1915, joined the American Ambulance Hospital Field Service, known also as the American Field Service, in

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 the spring of 1915, the French High Command authorized creation of foreign sanitary sections of the American Ambulance and allowed them to be sent to the Western Front as part of the French Army Automobile Service. Lovell was dispatched to

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

and after six months became second in command of the American Automobile Sanitary Section N° 2 of the Sanitary Service of the 73rd division displaying leadership qualities. His citation in May 1916 mentioned that he "has always given proof of a noteworthy spirit; has constantly set the example of courage to the other drivers, and has been an invaluable assistant to the commander of his Section". Ambulance service earned Lovell his first

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

for bravery and courage. In the summer of 1916, Lowell along with Clyde Balsley, Willis Haviland, Thomas Hewitt, Henry Jones,

James McConnell James Edward McConnell (1815–1883) was one of the first locomotive engineers of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). He was Locomotive Superintendent of the LNWR's Southern Division at Wolverton railway works from 1847 to 1862 and o ...

and

Robert Rockwell Robert Rockwell (October 15, 1920 – January 25, 2003) was an American stage, film, radio and television actor. He is best known for playing the handsome, but awkward biology teacher Philip Boynton in the radio and television sitcom ''Our Miss ...

applied for a transfer from American Field Service to

French Air Service 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 Army ...

French Air Service

From June 1916 till March 1917, he underwent training in different aviation schools in Buc, Avord and Pau, and finally was breveted on 1 October 1916 at Buc Aviation School. Lowell joined the Lafayette Escadrille on 26 February 1917, going on to become one of the unit's most dependable fliers and patrol leaders.Hall, James Norman, Charles Nordhoff, and Edgar G. Hamilton. ''The Lafayette Flying Corps''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920. During his ten-month stay at the Western Front of the World War I as a fighter-pilot, Sergeant Walter Lovell flew near daily

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier N ...

and

Spad VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

aircraft on different missions, mostly behind the enemy line, eventually becoming Lafayette Escadrille's adjutant. He scored only one confirmed victory – over Dun-sur-Meuse, in a close fight with an

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

– many, according to

James Norman Hall James Norman Hall (22 April 1887 – 5 July 1951) was an American writer best known for '' The Bounty Trilogy'', three historical novels he wrote with Charles Nordhoff: ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1932), '' Men Against the Sea'' (1934) and '' Pitca ...

and other fellow-pilots, remained unaccountable. Lovell left the Lafayette Escadrille on October 24, 1917, for General Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Force at Chaumont after his medical test indicated a hearing loss and color blindness, which kept him behind a desk for the balance of the war. In the Lafayette Escadrille, Lowell was not alone in his physical deficiency since the medical board discovered to its surprise that

Raoul Lufbery Gervais Raoul Victor Lufbery (March 14, 1885 – May 19, 1918) was a French and American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both the French Air Force, and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, ...

did not have a proper sense of balance, William Thaw, Charles Dolan and Dudley Hill had poor vision in one eye, and Henry Jones had flat feet, which did not stop them from becoming celebrated World War I fliers.

United States Army Air Service

After being accepted to the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

, Lovell was promoted to captain on January 1, 1918, and to major in August 1918, and went on to serve as a member of the French Aviation Mission in Paris and chief aviation instructor in the United States from July 1918 till 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 ...

Later life

Lovell resigned his commissions in January 1919 at Washington, D.C., and took residence in Paris, where he had married Helėne Du Bouchet on April 16, 1918, in the American Church on Rue de Berri. September 10, 1937, Lovell died after a three-month illness connected to brain abscess.Walter Lovell, War Flier, Dead, Lafayette Escadrille Member Succumbs in Bay Shore on 53d Birthday
''The New York Times'', September 10, 1937.

References

External links

''New England Air Museum''
New England Aviators: Walter Lovell, Captain, Lafayette Escadrille

Escadrille Americaine
''National Museum of the US Air Force''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovell, Walter 1884 births 1937 deaths Lafayette Escadrille Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Harvard College alumni Newton North High School alumni American Field Service personnel of World War I United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I