James Norman Hall
James Norman Hall was a graduate of Grinnell College working as a social worker in Boston in 1914, when he went to London England for a vacation. He was still there when the European empires began their mobilizations and Hall convinced a recruiter that he was a Canadian, enlisting in the British Army and serving in combat in France. When he was found out he was discharged and sent home to the United States. He wrote of the experience in his first book, Kitchener’s Mob. In the meantime a group of American aviators had begun service with the French Air Force as volunteers, known as the Lafayette Escadrille.
Hall went to France under a contract with an American magazine to write about the group, but once there he decided to join them. The Escadrille was by then both a combat group and a service to train American volunteers to serve with other French units, and Hall remained for a time with the group, referred to as the Lafayette Flying Corps. While with the unit Hall met another American adventurer, Charles Nordhoff, with whom he would later write several books, including one telling of their experiences with the Escadrille called Falcons of France, and the famous Bounty Trilogy including Mutiny on the Bounty.
Hall was shot down and seriously wounded while flying for the French, but recovered and returned to service. Eventually he received the Croix de Guerre with five Palms, the Medaille Miltaire, and the Legion of Honor from the French for his service. After transfer to the American service Hall received the Distinguished Service Cross from General John J. Pershing. The number of his victories in the air is disputed because of differences in how the Americans and the French counted them (the French often awarded a full victory to two pilots involved in the destruction of one enemy plane, the Americans gave a half credit to each).
Hall’s experience as a fighter pilot was mixed, and when the United States entered the war he transferred into the American Flying Service. Thus his war service included combat on the ground with the British Infantry, in the air with the French Air Service, and in the air with the American Flying Service. One of the pilot’s assigned to Hall’s command with the American Service was Eddie Rickenbacker. One of Rickenbacker’s early kills was shared with Hall.
Shortly after Rickenbacker’s arrival with the Hat in the Ring squadron Hall was shot down again, over the German lines, and taken prisoner by the Germans. He suffered a broken ankle in the crash of his airplane. Sent to a prisoner of war holding area, he either escaped or was overlooked by the Germans as their armies began to disintegrate in the last days of the war. On November 16th he left the prison where he had been held in Germany and returned to France by train. For most of the rest of his life he resided in Tahiti, with visits back to the United States about once every two years.