Lt. DeWitt Coleman, right, with co-pilot James Bahl,
died battling five enemy planes.
died battling five enemy planes.
Posted on 06/22/2008 8:31:58 PM PDT by Coleus
A World War I aviator from Tenafly who died during battle will be honored today on two continents. The Italian town of Vittorio Veneto will dedicate a room in a World War I museum to Lt. DeWitt Coleman, serving with the U.S. Army Air Service. That town's mayor is sending flowers to be placed on Coleman's grave at Brookside Cemetery in Englewood.
Members of the Presbyterian Church of Tenafly, which Coleman attended, will place the flowers and hold a small prayer service at the gravesite at 10 a.m. today. Tenafly Mayor Peter Rustin and several World War II veterans are expected to attend. "It's almost a simultaneous honoring between us and the people of Vittorio Veneto,'' said Lynn Hogan, the church office manager.
During the Battle of Vittorio Veneto on Oct. 27, 1918, Coleman, 25, and his crew were attacked by five Austro-Hungarian enemy fighters while returning from a bombing mission. Instead of avoiding the battle by landing their lumbering aircraft, Coleman, first pilot on a Caproni aircraft, chose to fight, according to the museum ceremony invitation. "Two of the enemy planes were shot down, thanks to the accurate aim of the encircled aircraft which continued to fight, even when it broke out in flames until, trapped and overcome by the powerful group of enemy planes, it fell and the entire crew perished in the accomplishment of their daring action,'' the invitation reads.
The battle was the final action fought on the Italian front. The Italian victory led to the Austro-Hungarian surrender. Coleman's body was sent to New Jersey three years later. A funeral was held on July 3, 1921, attended by Fiorello La Guardia, who had been Coleman's commander and later became New York's mayor. Coleman was posthumously awarded the gold medal for bravery from Italy – the highest Italian military decoration.
Vittorio Veneto, a town of about 29,000 in northeastern Italy, is honoring Coleman because it believes a strong bond with the United States was forged as a result of his bravery, said Hogan. His courageous acts saved Vittorio Veneto from the then-Austro-Hungarian regime, she said. "On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, we think that remembering a pilot officer like DeWitt Coleman, who offered his life in our skies ... is not only a duty towards history and its protagonists but also a loyal proof of esteem and brotherhood, which the town of Vittorio Veneto wants to seal as an everlasting exhortation to the value of peace,'' the invitation reads.
A room in the "Museum of the Battle" will be dedicated to Coleman with a corner devoted to his personal story, a summary of the fight and a sculpture that portrays his face, wrote Giorgio Marinello, a researcher who helped gather Coleman's history and assisted organizing the ceremony. Other soldiers and aviators who performed heroic actions are also remembered in the room. "He gave his life for the freedom of a land that wasn't his,'' wrote Marinello in an e-mail.
Tenafly Mayor Peter Rustin said while World War I is a distant memory now, it's important to remember "those that made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.'' "I don't think we should forget it. Remember the name they gave that war – the war to end all wars,'' he said.
I didn’t know American forces were involved on the Italian front.
“I didn’t know American forces were involved on the Italian front.”
Yes, and on Russian soil, too, killing communists!
I knew about the Russian intervention, but not the Italian front.
"Following the entry of the U.S. into the war it was realized that there was an insufficiency of aviation training facilities, both in the U.S. as well as in France. This condition coincided with the need for additional need for aircraft designed by European manufacturers. This dual need was partially addressed by having both the A.E.F. Air Service and the U.S. Navy have pilots trained in Italy."
"In exchange, Italy was going to provide aircraft for the American personnel to fly. The result was that the Italians provided training facilities for A.E.F. pilots. These pilots, following training, served both with Italian units or were transferred to the Western Front in France."
"The Caproni ca.5, or Caproni 600 hp, was designed in 1917 as a replacement for the old and effective Ca.3 bomber."
"During tests and early operational life, the type was found highly unsatisfactory. The Fiat A 12 powered version suffered constant problems for bad manufacturing standards and poor integration of the engines."
"The Isotta Fraschini powered version of the Ca.5 was reportedly less unsatisfactory, but still far below the required level."
Were the Italians on our side then and how many times had they switched sides? (Or am I thinking of the wrong war?)
The first US ace (Simon) and a Congressional Medal of Honor winner (Hammann) both flew on the Italian front.
The US Army ground forces were represented by the 332nd Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Div. (Also the 331st Field Hospital).
Here’s a book:
In Italy with the 332nd Infantry
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=C8CcceokGjYC&dq=332nd+infantry+italy&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=s44wKg-XX6&sig=Q5bjCoHviwhYrpY977VyXGwd67k&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPP1,M1
Wrong war.
Interesting, thanks. I remember seeing a website a while back dedicated to cataloging the mountain fortifications on the Italian Front. They were quite amazing feats of engineering. I’ve also read that manmade avalanches were used as weapons.
I’m much stronger on WWII than WWI, and I have spent little time studying the Italian front. (Just enough to know what to look for on the internet). If you happen across a link to the fortifications site again, a ping would be appreciated.
sure thing.
Those fliers were tough.
Not only flying planes of canvas that could break apart making the wrong turn, and flying in freezing temperatures, but many flew without parachutes in the early days, because commanders felt the pilots should try to bring their planes back down in one piece.
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