Edwin C. Parsons
Encyclopedia
Edwin Charles Parsons aka Ted Parsons, was a Rear Admiral
of the United States Navy
, and former French Foreign Legion
naire, flying ace
, Hollywood aviation technical advisor
, FBI Special Agent
, and author.
, Parsons graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy
in 1910 and after attending the University of Pennsylvania
, moved to California where he learned to fly at Dominguez Field, Carson
, in 1912, then spent 1913-1915 in the Mexican Army's Aviation Corps. At one point, Pancho Villa
wanted him to train airmen; however, Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico
scotched Parsons' interest.
Parsons was brevetted by Villa as a Captain at a salary of $200 per month, payable in gold. Parsons' attempt to teach some of Villa's cavalrymen to fly foundered on their lack of mechanical ability. Parsons also is reported to have been responsible for purchasing and later flying a Curtiss Model D
two-seated pusher
, as well as fetching needed parts from El Paso
. Parsons departed as the Mexican Revolution
ary movement split between Villa and Venustiano Carranza
.
at the end of 1915. He served with the United States Ambulance service before enlisting in the French Foreign Legion
. In 1916, he became a pilot in the Aéronautique Militaire (French Air Service) and, beginning in January 1917, he flew with the famed Lafayette Escadrille
. He was credited with one victory and flew many times as Raoul Lufbery
's wingman.
He later elected to stay in the French air service instead of transferring to the USAAS
when his unit was Americanized in February 1918. He was assigned to the French squadron SPA3 in 1918 where he was credited with an additional 7 victories for a total of 8 victories confirmed.
Parsons was a tangential figure in a spectacular performance on 9 May. It was sparked by a disagreement between René Fonck
on one hand, and Parsons and his friend Frank Baylies
on the other. Although Fonck's three dozen victories spoke for themselves, the American duo believed that the Frenchman's attitude in his actual speech was atrocious. Perturbed by Fonck's highhanded lectures on aerial success, the two Americans bet Fonck a bottle of champagne that one of them would shoot down an enemy plane before Fonck. Baylies took off despite hazy weather and shot down a Halberstadt CL.II
. Back at the airfield, rather than pay off the bet, a sulky Fonck badgered the Americans to change the terms of the bet to whoever shot down the most Germans that day would win. Lingering fog kept Fonck grounded most of the day. It was well into the afternoon before it cleared enough for him to take off at 1500 hours. Between 1600 and 1605 hours, he shot down three enemy two-seater reconnaissance planes. A couple of hours later, he repeated the feat. Understanding the importance of reconnaissance planes, with their potential to direct intensive artillery fire onto French troops, Fonck concentrated his attentions upon them; six shot down within a three hour span proved it.
Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically. Unconfirmed victories are denoted by "u/c" and may or may not be listed by date.
as a Special Agent from 1920–1923, but left to form his own unsuccessful private detective agency.
With the help the film director and former World War I aviator William A. Wellman
, Parsons was hired by Paramount
as a technical consultant, working on the Oscar-winning Wings
(1927), and on Howard Hughes epic Hell's Angels
(1930), amongst others. Parsons also worked as a screen writer, occasional actor, and technical director. He wrote articles for magazines, as well as authoring a book. He also wrote and narrated a radio series about his experiences, Heroes of the Lafayette.
in 1934, during World War II Parsons was an instructor at Pensacola Naval Air Station, and served aboard an aircraft carrier and a seaplane tender, and took part in the Solomon Islands
campaign, earning the Bronze Star among other decorations. He joined the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander and ended the war as a Rear Admiral.
The French government awarded him the Légion d'honneur in 1961. He died at 75 in 1968, the last of the Lafayette Escadrille
flying aces, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
.
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, and former French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
naire, flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
, Hollywood aviation technical advisor
Technical advisor
A technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...
, FBI Special Agent
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
, and author.
Early life
Born in Holyoke, MassachusettsHolyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
, Parsons graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in 1910 and after attending the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, moved to California where he learned to fly at Dominguez Field, Carson
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
, in 1912, then spent 1913-1915 in the Mexican Army's Aviation Corps. At one point, Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
wanted him to train airmen; however, Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico
Columbus, New Mexico
Columbus is a village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,765 at the 2000 census. The town is named after 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus.-History:...
scotched Parsons' interest.
Parsons was brevetted by Villa as a Captain at a salary of $200 per month, payable in gold. Parsons' attempt to teach some of Villa's cavalrymen to fly foundered on their lack of mechanical ability. Parsons also is reported to have been responsible for purchasing and later flying a Curtiss Model D
Curtiss Model D
|-See also:-External links:...
two-seated pusher
Pusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
, as well as fetching needed parts from El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
. Parsons departed as the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
ary movement split between Villa and Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
.
World War I
Thus Parsons was an experienced combat pilot when the war began. He went to FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at the end of 1915. He served with the United States Ambulance service before enlisting in the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
. In 1916, he became a pilot in the Aéronautique Militaire (French Air Service) and, beginning in January 1917, he flew with the famed Lafayette Escadrille
Lafayette Escadrille
The Lafayette Escadrille , was an escadrille of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.-History:Dr. Edmund L...
. He was credited with one victory and flew many times as Raoul Lufbery
Raoul Lufbery
Gervais Raoul Lufbery was aFrench-American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both French aviation, and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, he is sometimes listed as a French ace and sometimes as an American ace, though all but one of his 17...
's wingman.
He later elected to stay in the French air service instead of transferring to the USAAS
United States Army Air Service
The Air Service, United States Army was a forerunner of the United States Air Force during and after World War I. It was established as an independent but temporary wartime branch of the War Department by two executive orders of President Woodrow Wilson: on May 24, 1918, replacing the Aviation...
when his unit was Americanized in February 1918. He was assigned to the French squadron SPA3 in 1918 where he was credited with an additional 7 victories for a total of 8 victories confirmed.
Parsons was a tangential figure in a spectacular performance on 9 May. It was sparked by a disagreement between René Fonck
René Fonck
René Paul Fonck was a French aviator who ended the First World War as the top Allied fighter ace, and when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, Fonck still holds the title of "all-time Allied Ace of Aces". He received confirmation for 75 victories ...
on one hand, and Parsons and his friend Frank Baylies
Frank Baylies
Lieutenant Frank Leaman Baylies was a World War I flying ace credited with twelve aerial victories.-Early life and ground service:Baylies was the son of Lydia Terry Paige and Charles S. Baylies. He volunteered for the Ambulance Corps in May 1916 and originally saw service on the Western Front and...
on the other. Although Fonck's three dozen victories spoke for themselves, the American duo believed that the Frenchman's attitude in his actual speech was atrocious. Perturbed by Fonck's highhanded lectures on aerial success, the two Americans bet Fonck a bottle of champagne that one of them would shoot down an enemy plane before Fonck. Baylies took off despite hazy weather and shot down a Halberstadt CL.II
Halberstadt CL.II
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Angelucci, Enzo . World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. London: Jane's, 1981. ISBN 0 7106 0148 4.*Gray, Peter and Thetford, Owen. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962....
. Back at the airfield, rather than pay off the bet, a sulky Fonck badgered the Americans to change the terms of the bet to whoever shot down the most Germans that day would win. Lingering fog kept Fonck grounded most of the day. It was well into the afternoon before it cleared enough for him to take off at 1500 hours. Between 1600 and 1605 hours, he shot down three enemy two-seater reconnaissance planes. A couple of hours later, he repeated the feat. Understanding the importance of reconnaissance planes, with their potential to direct intensive artillery fire onto French troops, Fonck concentrated his attentions upon them; six shot down within a three hour span proved it.
List of aerial victories
See also Aerial victory standards of World War IAerial victory standards of World War I
During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...
Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically. Unconfirmed victories are denoted by "u/c" and may or may not be listed by date.
| No. | Date/time | Aircraft | Foe | Result | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 September 1917 @ 0940 hours | Nieuport Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:... |
Rumpler Rumpler The Rumpler Tropfenwagen was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamlined car . The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28... reconnaissance plane |
Destroyed | Neuilly | |
| 2 | 6 May 1918 @ 1715 hours | Spad Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés SPAD was a French aircraft manufacturer between 1911 and 1921. Its SPAD S.XIII biplane was the most popular French fighter airplane in World War I.-Deperdussin:... |
German two-seater | Destroyed | West of Montdidier | |
| 3 | 16 May 1918 @ 0945 hours | Spad | German two-seater | Destroyed | Montdidier | |
| 4 | 19 May 1918 @ 1220 hours | Spad | German two-seater | Destroyed | Montdidier | Shared victory with two French pilots |
| 5 | 20 May 1918 @ 0915 hours | Spad | German two-seater | Destroyed | Gratibus Gratibus Gratibus is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Gratibus is situated on the D240 road, some southeast of Amiens, by the banks of the river Noye.-Population:-External links:*... |
|
| 6 | 26 August 1918 | Spad | Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft... |
Destroyed | Morchain Morchain Morchain is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Morchain is situated on the D139 and D142 roads, some east of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*... |
|
| 7 | 26 September 1918 @ 1800 hours | Spad | German two-seater | Destroyed | South of Tahure | Victory shared with Pierre Pendaries Pierre Pendaries Sous Lieutenant Pierre Pendaries was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.-List of aerial victories:See also Aerial victory standards of World War I... and another French pilot |
| 8 | 1 October 1918 @ 1510 hours | Spad | German two-seater | Destroyed | Somme-Py | |
Between the World Wars
When the war ended, Parsons returned to the United States and joined the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
as a Special Agent from 1920–1923, but left to form his own unsuccessful private detective agency.
With the help the film director and former World War I aviator William A. Wellman
William A. Wellman
William Augustus Wellman was an American film director. Although Wellman began his film career as an actor, he worked on over 80 films, as director, producer and consultant but most often as a director, notable for his work in crime, adventure and action genre films, often focusing on aviation...
, Parsons was hired by Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
as a technical consultant, working on the Oscar-winning Wings
Wings (film)
Wings is a silent film about World War I fighter pilots, produced by Lucien Hubbard, directed by William A. Wellman and released by Paramount Pictures. Wings was the first film, and the only silent film, to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Wings stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and...
(1927), and on Howard Hughes epic Hell's Angels
Hell's Angels (film)
Hell's Angels is a 1930 American war film, directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon, and James Hall. The film, which was produced by Hughes and written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook, centers on the combat pilots of World War I...
(1930), amongst others. Parsons also worked as a screen writer, occasional actor, and technical director. He wrote articles for magazines, as well as authoring a book. He also wrote and narrated a radio series about his experiences, Heroes of the Lafayette.
World War II
Having joined the Naval ReserveUnited States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
in 1934, during World War II Parsons was an instructor at Pensacola Naval Air Station, and served aboard an aircraft carrier and a seaplane tender, and took part in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
campaign, earning the Bronze Star among other decorations. He joined the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander and ended the war as a Rear Admiral.
The French government awarded him the Légion d'honneur in 1961. He died at 75 in 1968, the last of the Lafayette Escadrille
Lafayette Escadrille
The Lafayette Escadrille , was an escadrille of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.-History:Dr. Edmund L...
flying aces, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
.
Publications
- Edwin C. Parsons, The Great Adventure: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille. Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1937.
- Also published as I Flew With the Lafayette Escadrille. E. C. Seale, 1963.
- Edwin C. Parsons, Flight into Hell: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille. J. Long, Limited, 1938.