James Knowles

Name:

James Knowles, Jr.

Country:

United States

Rank:

Lieutenant

Services:

United States Air Service

Units:

95^th Aero (Kicking Mule)

Victories:

Born:

27 December 1896

Place of Birth:

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Died:

20 February 1971

Place of Death:

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

The son of James and Laura Knowles, James Knowles of was one of two aces who attended Phillips Academy, Andover. He was a student at Harvard University (class of 1918) when the United States entered the war. He enlisted in the United States Signal Corps, Aviation Section, on 19 May 1917 and received preliminary training at the School of Military Aeronautics at Ohio State University. Sailing for France on 23 July 1917, he completed flight training at Tours and Issoudun before being promoted to 1st Lieutenant on 20 November 1917. Following gunnery school at Cazaux in March 1918, Knowles—like Harold Buckley, the other Andover ace—was assigned to the 95th Aero Squadron on 27 June 1918. Flying the SPAD XIII he scored his first victory on 25 July 1918, shooting down a Fokker D.VII near Beuvardes. By the end of the war he had flown 96 sorties and scored four more victories to become one of the highest scoring aces in his squadron. He was transferred to Air Service Headquarters at Tours on 15 January 1919 before he returned to the United States on 13 March 1919. Knowles was discharged from the army on 23 March 1919 and accepted a commission as Captain with the Air Service Officers' Reserve Corps on 8 December 1919. In 1920 he graduated from Harvard.

Boston Herald Traveler, Boston, Massachusetts, Tuesday, 23 Feb 1971, page B27

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to James Knowles, Jr., First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Montfaucon, France, October 9, 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the enemy's lines First Lieutenant Knowles observed three enemy Fokkers attacking one of our balloons. He unhesitatingly attacked, and in a bitter combat that lasted for five minutes he succeeded in bringing one of the enemy planes down in flames and driving off the others.

General Orders No. 127, W.D., 1918

French Croix de Guerre

An excellent pursuit pilot, very aggressive and never losing an opportunity to attack the enemy. On 25 July 1918, he brought down an enemy two-seater which was protected by six scouts.

general order of the Army

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	25 Jul 1918	1835	95^th	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Beuvardes
2	26 Jul 1918	0700	95^th	SPAD XIII	Rumpler C ¹	Villeneuve-sur-Fère
3	04 Oct 1918	0650	95^th	SPAD XIII	Rumpler C	Villers-Doullancourt
4	09 Oct 1918	1630	95^th	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Cunel-Marvaux
5	08 Nov 1918	1537	95^th	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Stenay

1	Shared with Lt G W Puryear, Lt C S Gill, Lt Waldo H Heinrichs, Lt Sumner Sewall

Books

American Aces of World War 1: by Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey (Illustrator) / Paperback / Osprey Publishing (September 25, 2001)
Over the Front: by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)

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