He was selected by his commander as an example of his finest type of
soldier, being “alert, ingenious, speedy,” and “heedless of personal
danger.”]
Thus did Jim McConnell—honest, tender, courageous Jim, Irish Jim—glory
in the glory of his friends and mourn their loss. His good humor
and native wit remained to the last, but the deaths of those so dear
to him were deepening his character. There are touches of tense
seriousness in the book—a tragic note at times. It was hard to see
those brave fellows go one by one, and so steadily. And you never
could tell which of your remaining friends was to go next. Then of
a sudden came Jim’s turn. There are a few letters which describe
Jim’s death as tenderly as Jim wrote about Chapman and Rockwell and
Prince. The affection, loyalty, and undying gallantry of the group is
quite evident. In one of these letters, dated March 21, 1917, to Paul
Rockwell, Edmond Genet tells of the last flight:
“On Monday morning, Mac, Parsons, and myself went out at nine o’clock
on the third patrol of the Escadrille. We had orders to protect
observation machines along the new lines around the region of Ham. Mac
was leader, I came second and Parsons followed me. Before we had gone
very far Parsons was forced to go back on account of motor trouble.
“Mac and I kept on, and up to ten o’clock were circling around
the region of Ham, watching out for the heavier machines doing
reconnoitering work below us. We went higher than a thousand meters.
About ten, for some reason or other of his own, Mac suddenly headed
into the German lines toward Saint Quentin—perhaps for observation
purposes—and I naturally followed close to his rear and above him. At
any rate we had gotten north of Ham and quite inside the hostile lines,
when I saw two Boche machines crossing toward us from the region of
Saint Quentin at an altitude higher than ours—we were then about 1,600
meters up. I supposed Mac saw them too. One Boche was far ahead of the
other, and was in position to dive at any moment on Mac. I saw the
direction Mac was taking, and pulled back climbing up, in order to gain
an advantageous height over the nearest Boche. It was cloudy and misty
and I had to keep my eyes on him all the time, so naturally I lost
track of Mac.”
The letter goes on to tell how the writer got back—to find Mac had not
returned.
“The one hope that we have is that some news of Mac will be brought by
civilians who might have witnessed his flight over the lines north of
Ham. We likewise hope that Mac was merely forced to land inside the
enemy lines on account of a badly damaged machine, or a bad wound, and
is well, but a prisoner. I wish, Paul, that I had been able to help
Mac during his combat. The mists were thick, and consequently seeing
any distance was difficult. I would have gone out that afternoon to
look for him, but my machine was so damaged it took until yesterday
afternoon to be repaired. Lieutenant de Laage and Lufbery did go out
with their Spads, around the region north of Ham, toward Saint Quentin,
but saw nothing of a Nieuport grounded or anything else to give news of
what had occurred.”
[Illustration:
© _Underwood & Underwood._
Captain James Norman Hall,
An American ace who was captured and made a prisoner of war by the
Germans.]
Four days later Genet wrote:
“The evening before last definite news was brought to us that a badly
smashed Nieuport had been found by French troops. Beside it was the
body of a sergeant-pilot which had been there at least three days
and had been stripped of all identification papers, flying clothes
and even the boots. They got the number of the machine, which proved
without further question that it was poor Mac.
“Mac has been buried right there beside the road, and we will see that
the grave is decently marked with a cross. The Captain brought back a
square piece of canvas cut from one of the wings, and we are going to
get a good picture we have of Mac enlarged and placed on this with a
frame. I suppose that Thaw or Johnson will attend to his belongings
which he had asked to be sent to you. In the letter which he had left
in case of his death he concludes with the following words: ‘Good luck
to the rest of you. Vive la France!’
“All honor to him, Paul. The world, as well as France, will look up to
him just as it is looking up to your fine brother and the rest who have
given their lives so freely and gladly for this big cause.
“The Captain has already put in a proposal for a citation for Mac, and
also one for me. Mac surely deserved it, and lots more, too.”
McConnell was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm.