Victor Chapman
Encyclopedia
France
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...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pilot remembered for his exploits during 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...
.
Growing up
Chapman's mother Mina Timins died in 1898, when he was eight. He and his father John moved to France soon after. In France, Chapman obtained dual-citizen status as a French and US citizen. Chapman was interested in the arts and in writing. He often found inspiration to write while he was in the middle of battles, and many of the letters he sent to his father were written in these circumstances.His father re-married when Chapman was a teenager. Chapman returned to the United States in his late teens to attend Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. After graduating, Chapman returned to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, spending time in France and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. During this period, he became interested in architecture, becoming an expert in the field.
Fighting in the war
When World War IWorld 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...
broke out, his father and stepmother moved to London, England. However, Chapman decided to stay in France, joining 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...
on August 30, 1914. Serving in the 3rd march regiment of the Legion, he was sent to the trenches, where he found little of interest. Even as there were battles all around him, he could not help but feel indifference towards what was going on. He became friendly with four men during his days on the trenches: a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
fighter who was known only as "Kohl", and Americans Alan Seeger
Alan Seeger
Alan Seeger was an American poet who fought and died in World War I serving in the French Foreign Legion. A statue to his memory and to...
, Henry Fansworth and David King. The trio of Americans watched as Kohl was killed by a bullet while walking with his friends.
After Kohl's death, Chapman and two other friends, (Norman Prince
Norman Prince
Norman Prince was a leading founder of France's Lafayette Escadrille with Bill Thaw, Elliott C. Cowdin, Frazier Curtis, and Greeley S. Curtis, Jr....
and Elliot Cowdin), were given an opportunity to fly in a fighter airplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
. Chapman the became enamored with aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and he requested transfer to the Aéronautique Militaire, the army's air arm. He then attended flight school for a short period before being certified as a pilot.
Chapman flew many missions for the 1st aviation group and was commissioned a sergeant. On 17 June, 1916, he was flying over the Verdun
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
sector of battle when he was attacked by four German airplanes. During the engagement, Chapman suffered a critical head wound, most likely from an attack by then four-victory German flier Walter Höhndorf
Walter Höhndorf
Leutnant Walter Höhndorf was a pioneer aviator, test pilot, airplane designer and constructor, and fighter ace during World War I. He was credited with twelve aerial victories.-Early life:...
. However, Chapman landed his airplane safely, with Höhndorf getting his fifth victory as a result. Luckily Chapman's head-grazing gunshot injury was not fatal: he was operated upon and was on his way to a full recovery when he found out that friend Clyde Balsley had been wounded in a separate incident. Balsley apparently and unknowingly crossed into German territory, to pick some oranges
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
from a tree when he was injured by enemy fire.
On June 24, Chapman heard of the story and immediately filled a basket with oranges, which he intended to take to Balsley. Flying to the location where Balsley was recuperating from his wounds, Chapman was attacked north of Douaumont
Douaumont
Douaumont is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.The village was destroyed during World War I. Today the Douaumont ossuary, which contains the remains of more than 100,000 unknown soldiers of both French and German nationalities found on the battlefield, stands...
by German flying ace Leutnant Kurt Wintgens
Kurt Wintgens
Leutnant Kurt Wintgens was a German World War I fighter ace. He was the first military fighter pilot to score a victory over an opposing aircraft in an aircraft armed with a synchronized machine gun. Wintgens was the recipient of the Iron Cross and the Blue Max.-Background:Wintgens was born into a...
, and close friend of Höhndorf. With Wintgens flying a Halberstadt D.II
Halberstadt D.II
The Halberstadt D.II was a biplane fighter aircraft of the Luftstreitkräfte that served through the period of Allied air superiority in early 1916, but had begun to be superseded in the Jagdstaffeln by the superior Albatros fighters by the autumn of that year.-Design and development:The D.II was...
that day against Chapman's Nieuport 16
Nieuport 11
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Angelucci, Enzio, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. New York: The Military Press, 1983. ISBN 0-517-41021-4....
, Wintgen soon gained the upper hand and Chapman was killed when his airplane crashed.
Awards and medals
Chapman earned many medals and commendations during his military career. A book containing the letters that he wrote his father, called Letters from France, further enhanced his celebrity status after his death. In his memory, the composer Charles Martin LoefflerCharles Martin Loeffler
Charles Martin Loeffler was a German-born American violinist and composer.- Birthplace :Throughout his career Loeffler claimed to have been born in Mulhouse, Alsace and almost all music encyclopedias give this fabricated information. In his lifetime articles were published dissecting his...
, a friend of Chapman's father, composed his quartet Music for Four Stringed Instruments.