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“This is what makes all the boys think that Stuart is alive:
“A nose-dive perpendicular is used very often in combat, but is very dangerous, as it is very difficult for one to come out of and yet have their motor running; that reason might force him to land; also there was very little chance for him to get away from them by flying, as they were above, and the only sensible thing to do was to land; and as we were only three days in this secteur, the French think he might have been mixed up as to the direction for home; or that he was slightly wounded and could not turn his machine toward the French lines.
“I have tried every way possible to get information about Stuart. I have sent the numbers of his motor and machine to Major S. yros, who is trying to trace it through the Red Cross service.
“One of the French pilots of this escadrille, who is a very good friend of your boy, shot down a German biplane on 13th of December. The machine fell behind our lines. The pilot was dead before reaching the ground. But the observer was only slightly wounded, so the boys of that escadrille have asked the commander of the group if we could be permitted to go and talk to the German, as he may know something about the Spad that fell behind his lines the day before. We hope to know whether we will be permitted to do so or not, tomorrow.
“It takes two months before we receive the report from Germany officially. In the meantime you will read all sorts of reports in the newspapers. But I will cable or have Capt. Peter Boal do so, if I get any news that is true.
“The case of Buckley, the American who fell Sept. 5, was reported as being in flames from five thousand metres down, and fell in German territory. The observers reported that it landed on its back and burned completely. His parents were notified of his death; newspapers reported the terrible death he died. Well, Sir, on November 25 we received a letter from him, saying he was enjoying the best of health and was satisfied with his surroundings in the prison camp in Germany.
“So we are all hoping the same for Stuart.
“I have all Stuart’s personal things, and will give them to Capt. Boal the first chance I get.
“Mr. Walcott, it is beyond words for me to try and tell you how grieved we all are about Stuart, and how great a loss it is to the Escadrille, for him to be away. He was more than liked by every member and officer, and gave promise of doing great things, was always up in his machine trying to better himself in combat flying; there never was a minute that he was idle, if it was possible for him to fly. And never a more generous and kinder boy. Only the night before the patrol he last went out on, he gave me every care in the world, got up during the night to make sure I was comfortable and to do anything he could for my ankle.
“From one who has been with Stuart through all his training, and roommate on the Front,
“Yours respectfully, “E. J. LOUGHRAN.”
This letter was written before the cable dispatch of January 7, from the International Red Cross, which seems to establish definitely the fact that Stuart Walcott gave his life in support of the endeavor to “make the world safe for democracy.” In further and final evidence, a letter dated February 5, 1918, informed Dr. Walcott that the Red Cross agent in Paris had reported “Stuart Walcott’s grave has been found.” An accompanying map from Loughran shows that the spot where Stuart Walcott fell is on a hill a little South of Saint Souplet.
Benjamin Stuart Walcott was of New England ancestry. His earliest known American forbear was Capt. Jonathan Walcott of Salem, Mass., 1663-1699. Later, one of Capt. Jonathan’s descendants, Benjamin Stuart Walcott, served in a Rhode Island regiment during the Revolutionary War. On his mother’s side two ancestors served in the Continental Army and in the Revolutionary War.
“You spoke of my being independent after I graduate in the spring. If I go to Europe, as I want to, to drive an ambulance or in the aeroplane I will be doing a man’s work and shall be doing enough to support myself. If the work is unpaid, it is merely because it is charitable work and as such is given freely. If you want to pay my way, I will consider it not as dependence on you, father, but as a partnership that may help the Allies and their cause. I will furnish my services and you the funds to make my services available. If not, I will be willing to invest the small amount of capital which has accumulated in my name. I have been thinking of this work in Europe for over a year now, and am still very strong for it. I don’t know what the effect will be on myself, but if it will be of service to others, I think that it is something I ought to do.”
Being assured that the expenses would be provided for, he then began an investigation as to the best method of procedure to obtain training as an aviator. In a letter dated January 26 he said:
“Many, many thanks for sending me the book on the French Flying Corps by Winslow. I read half of it the night that it came and stayed up late last night to finish it. He gives a very straight, interesting and apparently not exaggerated account of the work over there, which has made it somewhat clearer to me, just what it is that I want to get into. Now I am even more anxious than I was before to join the service over there. The more that I think about it and the more that I hear of it, the more desirous I am of getting into the Flying Corps. If a man like Winslow with a wife and daughter dependent on him is willing to take the risk involved, I see no reason why I should not.
“You mention the Ambulance service in your last note. I have thought of that quite a little and would definitely prefer the aviation. The ambulance is worth while, I think, in that it gives one an opportunity to be of great service to humanity, but not so much so as the other. There will be a number of my classmates who will enlist in the American Ambulance this spring, but the air service appeals to me.”
He then made arrangements with the American representatives of the Lafayette Escadrille to go to France on the completion of his college year. On January 29 he wrote:
“I will get a physical examination in a few days. In regard to getting the training over here first, I do not think that it would be worth while. The instruction over there would be first hand, bright, for a definite purpose and on the whole superior to what I could get here. I could also be picking up the language and the hang of the country at the same time.”
On February 24 he received word that his papers presented with his application for admittance to the Franco-American Flying Corps assured him on their face of a welcome when he presented himself in Paris. He was informed that if he utilized his spare time in availing himself of any and every opportunity to familiarize himself with flying, it would shorten his stay in the Student Aviators School in France. On March 26 he wrote:
“I haven’t been able to find out anything definite about the school at Mineola. As yet, no change has been announced to my knowledge, in reference to hastening up the course in event of the coming of war. Over a hundred men have left college [Princeton] already to start training for the Mosquito Fleet, and the rest of them are drilling every afternoon. What do you think of the advisability of stopping college and going to some aviation school? Considering that it takes several months to become at all useful as an aviator and that war is practically inevitable now, I think it would be wise to get started right away.”
“I saw in the morning paper that the American fliers in France would be transferred to American registry immediately after the declaration of war. When you next see General Squier, I wish that you would sound him on the probability of a force being sent to France to learn to fly according to French methods. That is the one thing above all others that I want to get into. If there is any chance of that I do not want to get involved in anything else....
“It is quite certain that seniors who leave college now, to go into military work, will receive their degrees. I would not object to losing the work as it is not my present intention to keep on with theoretical chemistry and that is what I am devoting my time to this spring. From the standpoint of education alone, I think that my time could be more profitably spent in the study of aviation.”
Leave was granted by the University, and on April 6 Stuart Walcott was appointed a special assistant to Mr. Sidney D. Waldon, Inspector of Aeroplanes and Aeroplane Motors, Signal Service at Large. He immediately reported to Mr. Waldon and worked with him through April. May first he went to Newport News, Virginia. May 2 he reported:
“My first trip up was this afternoon with Victor Carlstrom. We were out 16 minutes and climbed 3,500 feet. It was all very simple getting up there--a little wind and noise and some bumps and pockets in the air--a glorious view of the Harbor. Then we started to come down. First, I saw the earth directly below through the planes on the left. Then the horizon made a sudden wild lurch and Newport News appeared directly below on my right. This continued for a little while and then we started down at an angle of about 30 degrees to the perpendicular, turning as we went. I later learned that Carlstrom had executed a few steep banks or sharp turns and then spiralled down. It ended with a very pretty landing, following with a series of banks to check speed. Flying from my first impression is a very fascinating game and the one I want to stay with for a while. I have signed up for 100 minutes in the air. While this hundred minutes will not make me a flier by any means I think it is well worth the while in that it gives me a little element of certainty in going abroad. I will know if all goes well that I am not unable to fly.”
“Two flights this morning, 25 minutes in toto. The greatest sport I ever had. Wonderful work. I did most of the work after we got up a safe distance.”
Having obtained a certificate of 100 minutes flight and passed the necessary physical examinations, he left for France, arriving at Bordeaux May 31, and soon reported at Avord for training.
... My work here is going well, although slowly. Those in my class ought to get out by October if nothing goes wrong. There are some 150 Americans learning to fly now in France, besides the ones the Government may have sent over--more than a hundred at this one school, and the oddest combination I’ve ever been thrown with: chauffeurs, second-story men, ex-college athletes, racing drivers, salesmen, young bums of leisure, a colored prize fighter, ex-Foreign Légionnaires, ball players, millionaires and tramps. Not too good a crowd according to most standards, but the worst bums may make the best aviators. There’s plenty of need for all of them.
There are lots of Frenchmen here also and a big crowd of Russians, mostly happy youngsters having a very good time. They’re always in a hurry to get up in the air and are continually breaking machines and their necks. The Americans have an endless streak of luck in being able to fall out of the air and collect themselves uninjured from amidst a pile of kindling wood which was the machine. As yet I haven’t done any piloting in the air, so can’t talk very wisely about the glories and thrills of slipping through the ephemeral clouds. All I have learned is that almost any kind of a dub can be a pilot, but that there aren’t a lot of very good ones. The idea is to get enough practice to become a good one before arguing with the elusive Boche at a high altitude.
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