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The Yankee Squadron was a group of
mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...
American military aviators who flew for the
Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...
during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
.


History

In November 1936, representatives of the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...
(Spanish Republicans, or Loyalists) began a campaign to hire American pilots to fight in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. They used a New York lawyer to find American pilots. ''Time'' magazine reported on December 21, 1936, that six U.S. fliers were on the ocean liner ''
SS Normandie SS ''Normandie'' was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line ''Compagnie Générale Transatlantique'' (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, transatlantic crossing, ...
'', headed for Spain, to join their leader,
Bert Acosta Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Span ...
. They were to be paid $1,500 a month, plus $1,000 for each Aviación Nacional plane destroyed. ''Time'' reported that the six men were: " lariously celebrating in the ship's bar of the ''Normandie'' with their first advance pay checks from Spain's Radical Government ... en route last week for Madrid to join Bert Acosta, pilot of Admiral Byrd's transatlantic flight, in doing battle against Generalissimo
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
's White planes." British and French pilots were given two weeks of training, but the Americans were expected to fly as soon as they arrived. Another American flyer, Hilaire du Berrier, was already in Spain by time they arrived. Frederic Ives Lord became their squadron commander, and he tried to convince the Loyalist authorities that the planes they were given were too dilapidated to fly. When the commandant insisted that the planes were safe, Lord took him up for a test flight, and at two thousand feet up one of the four wings broke off. The commandant motioned Lord to climb higher so they could escape by using their parachutes. Lord wanted to try to land with the remaining lower wings intact. He landed the plane safely but was arrested at the airfield. An airplane mechanic intervened and explained that his loss of the wing was accidental, and was not intentional. The pilots went to
Valencia, Spain Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
to complain to the Second Spanish Republic air ministry, but nothing changed. Acosta, Schneider and Lord planned to escape from
Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...
to
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
, France by motorboat after they had been refused a promised Christmas leave. Their plan was discovered and the pilot of their boat was arrested and executed. The pilots were then jailed for 18 hours. They then returned to the United States.


Return to United States

Four of them resigned and returned to the United States in January. The
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reported that "the flyers protested they were given nothing but unarmed sports planes with which to fight, while
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
pilots were assigned "regular American army planes." The Spanish Air Force had no US-built planes; the main fighters used by the Republicans during the war were the Soviet-built
Polikarpov I-15 The Polikarpov I-15 () was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (', "gull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet ...
and I-16. The latter was often mistaken for the Boeing P-26, but was not related to it. The flyers said both the socialist and fascist air forces in Spain were staffed almost entirely by foreigners. The fliers later told the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' that they had quit because "'it would be suicide to continue' and because their actions 'might not be in tune with the spirit of neutrality'... While other airmen – British and French – were afforded a two-week courtesy for training, American fliers were just shown to loyalist hangars, given a plane and ordered to do their stuff. 'We were flying old crates,' Acosta said, 'while other nationalists were given modern ships. But for the protection afforded us by Soviet pursuit planes we would not be alive now to tell you this tale.'" Eddie August Schneider explained his motives in flying for the Republic: "I was broke, hungry, jobless ... yet despite the fact that all three of us are old-time aviators who did our part for the development of the industry, we were left out in the cold in the Administration's program of job making. Can you blame us for accepting the lucrative Spanish offer?" The flyers had their passports confiscated, and they were to be returned when they attested that they had never withdrawn their allegiance to the United States. The flyers claimed that they were not paid what was promised them by the Spanish government. Acosta and Berry started legal proceedings against the Spanish steamship ''Mar Cantabrico'' to try to collect the back pay that was due each of them. The consul general for the Spanish government, Luis Careaga, arrived in the US and paid some of the money, and declared that they were now paid in full. Their lawyer, Lewis Landes, claimed Acosta and Berry were still owed $1,500 and Schneider $1,200.


Members

* Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (1895–1954), co-pilot on ''
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
'', the third candidate for the
Orteig prize The Orteig Prize was a reward of $25,000 offered in 1919 by New York City hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first Allies of World War I, Allied aviator, or aviators, to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Se ...
(1927). * Gordon Berry (1898–?), he is sometimes listed as "George F. Berry" or "Gordon K. Berry" or "Gordon O. Berry". He was a 39-year-old flying and drinking companion of Bert Acosta, who served in the RAF towards the end of World War I. He was from New York. * Frederic Ives Lord (1897–1967), a.k.a. Frank I. Frederick Lord * Eddie August Schneider (1911–1940) * Eddie Semons, sometimes listed as "Edwin Semons" or "Edwin L. Semons". He may have helped recruit other pilots. File:Bertrand Blanchard Acosta in jodhpurs and goggles circa 1923.png, Acosta File:Lord 03 c1920.jpg, Lord File:Eddie August Schneider on September 10, 1930 in Detroit with two pens in pocket 600 dpi 100 quality (crop).jpg, Schneider


See also

*
Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...
* Frank Glasgow Tinker, fighter pilot for the Spanish Republican Air Force *
Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion (), the major component of what came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Named after United States Presid ...
* XV International Brigade


References

{{Reflist, 2


External links

*
Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
International Brigades Spain–United States relations Military units and formations established in 1936 Military units and formations disestablished in 1937