Lieutenant James Knowles, Jr. was a World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 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...

 credited with five aerial victories. He was one of the final aces in the war.

Knowles was a Harvard student who was accepted into the U.S. Army Air Service in April 1917. In June 1918, he reported to the 95th Aero Squadron for duty as a Spad XIII pilot. Between 25 July and 8 November 1918, he shot down three German 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...

s and two 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 planes; one of the latter victories was shared with Sumner Sewall

Sumner Sewall

Sumner Sewall was a U.S. Republican politician and airline executive who served as the 58th Governor of Maine from 1941 to 1945. He began his aviation career during World War I as a fighter ace.-Biography:...

 and three other pilots. He came out of the war as an ace with the Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Croix de Guerre, and the Aero Club of America Medal.

Sources of information