Mémorial de l'Escadrille La Fayette - Marnes-la-Coquette, France - World War I Memorials and Monuments on Waymarking.com

[FR] Il se trouve dans le Parc de Villeneuve-l'Étang à Marnes-la-Coquette, en région parisienne.

Ces aviateurs sont les premiers pilotes de combat des États-Unis. Sur les 180 pilotes de l'Escadrille La Fayette, 68 ont perdu la vie au cours de la guerre.

Construit de 1926 à 1928 sous la direction de l'architecte Alexandre Marcel, il est inauguré le 4 juillet 1928, jour de la fête nationale américaine en présence notamment de Ferdinand Foch et de Paul Doumer.

Après des difficultés pécuniaires pour assurer l'entretien du monument dans les années 1990, une convention de partenariat a été signée en avril 2012 entre la France et les États-Unis, pour assurer la restauration du mémorial.

[EN] The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial commemorates the volunteer American pilots who gave their lives during World War I, under French colors, before the entry of the United States in the War. The Lafayette Escadrille became an active unit of the French Air Service on April 20, 1916, almost a full year before the US Congress declared war on April 6, 1917.

More than 250 American pilots fought with the French Air Service before the United States joined the war, either in existing squadrons with French pilots, or as one of the 38 pilots who flew in the all-American Lafayette Escadrille squadron. The Memorial commemorates the courage and the sacrifice of all these American pilots who came to France before April 1917, collectively called the “Lafayette Flying Corps”.

The idea for the monument came from a former pilot, Edgard Guerard Hamilton, who helped the Allies to locate the bodies of their dead after the war. He believed it would be a good idea for the American pilots to lay side by side in a memorial that would keep alive the memory of the engagement alongside the French.

This project received a warm welcome from French and American personalities who came together in 1923 to form the "Lafayette Escadrille Memorial" association to turn this dream into reality.

While significant donations were made by wealthy American families, smaller donations came from families all over France and the US.

The 68 members of the Lafayette Escadrille and the La Fayette Flying Corps who died in WWI, or after the war as a result of their wounds, are buried in the crypt located under the central arch of the Memorial. They lie in a broad semi-circle, each under a cenotaph bearing the pilot’s name and date of death. Their French commanders, Georges Thénault et Antonin Brocard, who died respectively in 1948 and 1950, wanted to be buried with their American comrades.

Date the Monument or Memorial was built or dedicated: 07/04/1928 Private or Public Monument?: Private Name of the Private Organization or Government Entity that built this Monument: "Lafayette Escadrille Memorial" association Geographic Region where the Monument is located: Europe Website for this Monument: [Web Link] Physical Address of Monument: Parc de Saint Cloud Marnes-la-Coquette, France Rate this waymark: Photo or photos will be uploaded.: yes

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/27/2018 Les_Alnelois visited it