Mémorial de l'Escadrille La Fayette - Marnes-la-Coquette, France
N 48° 50.200 E 002° 10.329
31U E 439251 N 5409629
[FR] Il a été construit de 1926 à 1928 pour commémorer la mémoire et le sacrifice des aviateurs américains de l’escadrille La Fayette. [EN] It was constructed from 1926 to 1928 to commemorate the pilots of the WWI Lafayette flying corps.
Waymark Code: WMRK2R
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 07/02/2016
Views: 4
[FR] La réalisation a été confiée à Alexandre Marcel, architecte du gouvernement. Le terre-plein central est couronné d’un arc de triomphe et flanqué de portiques donnant accès à la crypte souterraine. La décoration « art déco » retrace le sacrifice des aviateurs et l’amitié franco-américaine. On retrouve les effigies de La Fayette, et de Washington se faisant face, et au sol, une mosaïque de la fameuse tête de sioux, insigne de l’escadrille.
Le terre-plein central est couronné d’un arc de triomphe et flanqué de portiques donnant accès à la crypte souterraine. La décoration « art déco » retrace le sacrifice des aviateurs et l’amitié franco-américaine. On retrouve les effigies de La Fayette, et de Washington se faisant face, et au sol, une mosaïque de la fameuse tête de sioux, insigne de l’escadrille.
[EN] The Memorial sits on an incline and over looks a reflecting pool. It is composed of a triumphal arch flanked to its right and left by colonnaded gantries, which are in turn buttressed by smaller arches. The triumphal, or center arch, which is exactly one half the size of the Arc de Triomphe, dominates the construct, towering over the Memorial’s two bookend arches and gantries.
The “Screaming Sioux Warrior Indian Heads” are easily identifiable on each bookend arch and are the largest figures on the Memorial. Another immense Indian Head mosaic is located on the floor of the Memorial directly under the center arch.
The monument was constructed during the years 1927 and 1928. The French Government had donated the 4-hectare park, and funds for the construction were raised by public subscription in France and the United States. William Nelson Cromwell donated most of the funds for construction. After his death he left an additional trust fund of 1.5 million dollars for maintenance of the monument to the “Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Foundation” that he had founded.
Style: Art Deco
Structure Type: Other
Architect: Alexandre Marcel
Date Built: 1928
Supporting references: Not listed
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