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Name: James Dudley Beane
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
Croix de Guerre		 James Beane [USA]
Country: United States
Rank: Lieutenant
Service: French Air Service
United States Air Service
Units: Spa69 (FAS)
22nd Aero (USAS)
Victories: 6
Born: 20 January 1896
Place of Birth: New York, New York, USA
Died: 30 October 1918 Killed In Action
Place of Death: Near Bantheville, France
Cemetery: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, France Image
Plot B Row 45 Grave 39
 
 
From Concord, Massachusetts, James Dudley Beane attended Concord High School where he was remembered for the variety and ingenuity of his pranks. He entered the war as an ambulance driver with Section 9 of the American Field Service.1 In 1917, he joined the French Air Service and served with Escadrille Spa69. He transferred to the United States Air Service in February 1918 and was assigned to the 22nd Aero Squadron. Wounded in action on 30 June 1918, he lost two fingers from his left hand and was out of action for six weeks. When he returned to duty, he scored 6 victories flying a SPAD XIII before he was killed in action near Bantheville on 30 October 1918. His Distinguished Service Cross was awarded posthumously.

1 Abram Piatt Andrew, Friends of France: The Field Service of the American Ambulance (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916) 34.
 
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to James Dudley Beane, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Bantheville, France, October 29, 1918. When Lieutenant Beane's patrol was attacked by eight enemy planes (Fokker type) he dived into their midst in order to divert their attention from the other machines of his group and shot down one of the Fokkers in flames. Four other Fokkers then joined in the battle, one of which was also destroyed by this officer.
General Orders No. 46, W.D., 1919
 
French Croix de Guerre
He instantly made his mark in the Squadron by his courage and spirit in fighting. On 30 June 1918, in the course of patrol duty, James Dudley Beane was attacked by several enemy planes, and although seriously wounded he succeeded in extricating himself and in bringing back his damaged machine. He showed in this circumstance much skill and great coolness.
Croix de Guerre citation
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 26 Sep 1918 0730 22nd SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Charpenty
2 28 Sep 1918 0840 22nd SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII 1 Ivoiry
3 09 Oct 1918 1435 22nd SPAD XIII DFW C 2 Aincreville
4 10 Oct 1918 1402 22nd SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII 3 Bayonville
5 29 Oct 1918 1610 22nd SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Ramonville
6 29 Oct 1918 1620 22nd SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII 4 Aincreville
1 Shared with Capt R C Bridgeman
2 Shared with Lt Arthur Brooks, Lt Clinton Jones
3 Shared with Lt J C Crissey
4 Shared with Lt Remington Vernam
 
Books
Franks, Norman. American Aces of World War 1. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2001
Franks, Norman and Frank Bailey. Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918. London: Grub Street, 1992
Guttman, Jon. SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War 1. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2002
 
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