John Jacob Niles

Bert Hall

In the book One Man's War: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille, Bert Hall recounts how after he was taken off the front lines due to the mumps, he was to recover in the south of France, versus Paris where he had an apartment and female acquaintances. At the train depot he encountered a wounded soldier who was to recover in Paris, versus the south of France where he was from. So they mutually exchanged their destination "tags", Bert gave him all his cigarettes, and then shook his hand very gently. In this he admitted that he circumvented the French Army, and that he "always did object to doing things by the numbers anyhow". He also tells of forcing a German Albatross down in French territory, and contrasts his own personal style versus his mechanic, Leon Mourreau, who also deserved credit as gunner in his early two seat Nieuport: " ... my mechanic came in for no small part of this catch, and he deserved it too. But he was a modest fellow, and not nearly as good a talker as I was. Talking up one's exploits had its advantages, even in a big caliber war. And finally, Bert Hall persistently refers to his fellow pilots and commanders in glowing and respectful terms, with rare exceptions. And if some were envious and sought to discredit his achievements, he did not reciprocate.

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