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Name: James Alexander Connelly, Jr.
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC - United States)
Médaille Militaire
Croix de Guerre		 James Connelly
Country: United States
Rank: Adjudant
Service: French Air Service
Units: Spa157, Spa163
Victories: 7
Born: 15 June 1894
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: 01 February 1944
Place of Death: Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, USA
Cemetery: Church of the Redeemer Cemetery, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA
 
 
The son of James Alexander and Mary (Riddle) Connelly, James Alexander Connelly, Jr. sailed from New York City for France in May 1917. He joined the 1st Regiment of the French Foreign Legion before transferring to the Lafayette Flying Corps. Receiving a Pilot's Brevet in November 1917, he was assigned to Spa157 on 15 January 1918. Flying the SPAD VII, he scored two victories before being reassigned to Spa163 on 27 June 1918. He served with this Escadrille until the end of the war, scoring five more victories. Post-war he was a businessman in Philadelphia. In 1925, he married Elizabeth Atterbury, daughter of railway magnate General William Wallace Atterbury. They divorced before his death in 1944. Connelly died of miliary tuberculosis in the Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Lafayette Escadrille Veteran Flyer Dies
By Associated Press
   BRYN MAWR, Pa., Feb. 1.—James Alexander Connelly Jr., 49, who was a member of the Lafayette Escadrille, engaged in 65 air battles and brought down seven German planes in the first World War, died Tuesday in Bryn Mawr Hospital.
   Connelly received 14 decorations from the American, French, and British governments. He was a native of Merion, Pa.
San Antonio Express - Wednesday, February 02, 1944
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, Wednesday, 2 February 1944, page 1
Death Certificate, 1944
WWII Draft Registration
US Passport Application, 1917
US Passport Application, 1917
 
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
Distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States at Suippes, France, on 6 September 1918, and in recognition of his gallant conduct, I have awarded him, in the name of the President, the Distinguished Service Cross.
J.J. Pershing, Commander-In-Chief, United States Air Service
 
Médaille Militaire
Voluntarily enlisted for the duration of the war, has become indispensable by greatness of his character, his qualities as a pilot, and his complete contempt for danger. On 6 September 1918, he reported his fifth victory by downing an enemy scout. Three citations.
Médaille Militaire citation
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 20 Apr 1918 Spa157 SPAD VII Balloon 1 Selles
2 05 Jun 1918 Spa157 SPAD VII EA 2  
u/c 01 Aug 1918 1150 Spa163 SPAD XIII Two-seater 3 Montspar
3 13 Aug 1918 Spa163 SPAD XIII Two-seater 4 St. Martin l'Heureux
4 15 Aug 1918 Spa163 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII 5 St. Marie-a-Py
u/c 15 Aug 1918 Spa163 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII 5 St. Marie-a-Py
5 06 Sep 1918 0830 Spa163 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII 6 Naravin
6 28 Sep 1918 1115 Spa163 SPAD XIII Balloon Challeronge
7 04 Nov 1918 1215 Spa163 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Suzanne
1 Shared with Sgt Jacob
2 Shared with Adj Viguier, Sgt Baugham
3 Shared with Lt Thomas Cassady, Sgt A A Cook
4 Shared with MdL E Fery, Cpl R Onillon
5 Shared with Lt Thomas Cassady, Sgt Penevynck
6 Shared with MdL J Morvan
 
Books
Guttman, Jon. SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War 1. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2002
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
 
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