Captain Field Eugene Kindley (13 March 1896 – 2 February 1920) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with twelve confirmed aerial victories.

Early life

Field Eugene Kindley was born at Pea Ridge in northwestern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Kindley's mother died when he was two years old and his father took a position in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, leaving Kindley to be raised by his grandmother in

Bentonville, Arkansas Bentonville is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adjacent to the east. The city proper had a population of 54,164 at the 2020 Unite ...

until the age of seven. Kindley joined his father in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, where he lived until 1908, when he moved to

Gravette, Arkansas Gravette is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,547 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Northwest Arkansas region. Geography Gravette is located in nort ...

to live with his uncle. After completing his education he moved to

Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's southeastern region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,826. Coffeyville is the most pop ...

where he became a partner in a motion picture theater.

Military service

During his stay in Coffeyville, Kindley enlisted in the

Kansas Army National Guard The Kansas Army National Guard is a component of the Army National Guard and the Kansas National Guard. Kansas Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks and insignia are used and Natio ...

. Kindley volunteered for a transfer into the aviation branch of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...

. He attended the School of Military Aeronautics at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

. Kindley established himself as an unlucky and somewhat untalented flier, with a series of accidents, mechanical failures, and landing mishaps. He became part of the first group of American pilots to be transferred to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for combat training in 1917. In the spring of 1918, he completed training and commissioned as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in 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 warf ...

. On his first flight, he was assigned to ferry a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

from England to the western front, but crashed on the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...

. Kindley was sent to hospital to recover. After his release, Kindley was assigned to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

's No. 65 Squadron, and scored his first aerial victory on 26 June 1918 over

Albert, France Albert () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is located about halfway between Amiens and Bapaume. History Albert was founded as a Roman outpost, in about 54 BC. After being known by various f ...

shooting down the Pfalz D.III of Lt. Wilhelm Lehmann, commander of Jagdstaffel 5. The citation for his first DSC reads: The second DSC citation reads: In July 1918, the

formed the 148th Aero Squadron and assigned Kindley to the unit. Kindley shot down a German Albatros D.V near

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

and earned the unit its first kill. Kindley was the appointed commanding officer of the 148th and promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. While with the 148th he scored 11 confirmed kills. His fourth kill on 13 August 1918 was the Jasta 11 Fokker D.VII of

Lothar von Richthofen Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the ''Red Baron'') and a di ...

, brother of " The Red Baron,"

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of th ...

. Lothar von Richthofen, one of Germany's finest fliers with 40 confirmed air-to-air victories, was seriously wounded and never flew in combat again. Kindley scored four more victories in early September. Then, during missions in late September 1918, Kindley earned the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), Distinguished Service Cross with

Oak Leaf Cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

and the British Distinguished Flying Cross. On 24 September, he led a flight of Camels in a successful attack on seven Fokkers near

Bourlon Wood The Bourlon Wood Memorial, near Bourlon, France, is a Canadian war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Canadian Corps during the final months of the First World War; a period also known as Canada's Hundred Days, part of the Hundred Day ...

, France. Three days later, Kindley earned the Oak Leaf Cluster to the DSC by dropping bombs on and strafing German infantry, destroying a German observation balloon, taking out a German machine gun nest, shooting down an enemy airplane, and scaring two Fokker biplanes away from fellow fliers even after his ammunition had been exhausted.General Orders No. 7, W.D., 1919 111-SC-24284 - NARA - 55208175-cropped

Postwar military career and death

In 1919, Kindley was offered a contract by a New York-based motion picture company to re-enact his war service. The company offered him $60 per day for two weeks which was an extremely high wage. Kindley refused the job because he thought it might interfere with his army career. In early 1920, Kindley was the commanding officer of the

94th Aero Squadron The 94th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service fighter squadron that fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I.. The squadron was assigned as a Day Pursuit (Fighter) Squadron as part of the 1st O ...

.Editors, "Capt. Donaldson Commanding 94th Squadron", Naval and Military Aeronautics, ''Aerial Age Weekly'', Aerial Age Company, Inc., New York City, 15 March 1920, Volume XI, Number 1, page 23. Kindley died in a crash at

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-use airport, Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he ...

near

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas during a demonstration flight for General

John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was an American army general, educator, and founder of the Pershing Rifles. He served as the commander of the American Expeditionary For ...

. A control cable snapped on the

S.E.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...

Kindley was flying. It stalled and fell from an altitude of . Kindley is buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in

. With his death, command of the 94th Aero Squadron was taken over by Captain J. O. Donaldson.

Honors

A city park in Gravette is named for Kindley, as is the high school in

Kindley Air Force Base Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as ''Kindley Field''. History World War II Prior to American entry into th ...

, also known as Kindley Field, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

airfield in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, was named in his honor, as was Kindley Field in the Philippines, a small auxiliary airstrip on

Corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

. The Kindley home has been acquired by the Gravette City Museum. Kindley's personal effects are on display at the Arkansas Air Museum in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

. A

F.1 said to be Kindley's and claimed to be the only surviving Camel in the United States, was used during the filming of ''

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 war film , WW I film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and was one of the last movies filme ...

,'' released in 1966, and had been on loan to the Aerospace Education Center in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. Aerospace Education Center permanently closed 1 Jan. 2011. Arkansas Aviation Historical Society inducted Kindley into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1982.

References

Bibliography

* ''American Aces of World War I.'' Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kindley, Field E. 1896 births 1920 deaths Accidental deaths in Texas American World War I flying aces Aviators from Arkansas Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States People from Coffeyville, Kansas People from Gravette, Arkansas People from Prairie Grove, Arkansas Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force personnel of World War I United States Army officers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1920 Military personnel from Arkansas Royal Air Force officers United States Army Signal Corps personnel United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I