Louis Bennett Jr.
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Louis Bennett Jr. (22 September 1894 – 24 August 1918) was an American pursuit pilot and a
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
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 ...
.Franks (1992) Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918 , Grub Street the Basement; First edition (May 1992), He died near Marquillies, France in combat on 24 August 1918.theaerodrome.com Louis Bennett Jr.
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Biography

Born in
Weston, West Virginia Weston is a city in Lewis County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,943 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County, and home to the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum ...
, he was the son of Louis Bennett Sr. and Sallie Maxwell Bennett. Louis Bennett's father, a prominent Lewis County politician, was the Democratic nominee for governor of West Virginia in 1908. Louis Bennett Jr. attended Cutler and St. Luke's preparatory schools in Pennsylvania before enrolling at Yale in 1913. In October 1917 he went to Canada and joined the Royal Flying Corps at
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario. After training, he was deployed to France where he was assigned to No. 40 Squadron, RAF. Like fellow American Frank Luke, Bennett was fond of shooting down balloons. During his brief but remarkable nine-day career, Bennett flew 25 sorties against the Germans, shooting down nine enemy balloons from an S.E.5a. On 24 August 1918, after destroying his last two balloons, his aircraft burst into flames when it was hit by ground fire. Bennett crashed but was pulled from his plane shortly before he died from his injuries. Bennett received no medals for his actions in combat, but Weston's airport was later named Louis Bennett Field in his honor.


See also

*
List of World War I flying aces from the United States The following is a list of flying aces from the United States of America who served in World War I Overview Even before the United States entry into World War I in April 1917, many Americans volunteered to serve in the armed forces of Great B ...


References


External links

* The
West Virginia & Regional History Center The West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC), is the largest archival collection housing documents and manuscripts involving West Virginia and the surrounding central Appalachian region. Because of name changes over the years, it is some ...
at
West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...
has a collection of material relating to Louis Bennett Jr. in the papers o
Sallie Bennett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Louis Jr. 1894 births 1918 deaths American World War I flying aces People from Weston, West Virginia American military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from West Virginia Royal Air Force personnel of World War I