A question for Russell Smith...

[rainbase]

...and some of the other artists, in general.

Russell, I've been working like a fiend on my "Great War In The Air" site and just this week started adding a favorite links area.
Great War In The Air - Links

As you can see, I generally like to create my own links button (in this case, sort of a business card shape).

I LOVE your work and would be thrilled to include a link to your studio. Now, I know better than to simply pirate a detail from one of your painting ands create the link, so I was wondering do you have a standard piece you allow for this purpose? I generally get a goodly amount of web traffic and would hope to send as many folks your way as I could. For me, this whole endeavor is a labor of love, but who knows, maybe it will drum you up a little extra business.

The same goes for any of you great people here at The Aerodrome. I would love to add all you cool sites, studios and online stores. If you have logos that will work in the format I'm using, let me know. Otherwise if you trust me to create the graphic myself I'll be more than happy to.

Thank in advance for any cooperation, friends.

[Russell Smith]

Be glad to, Jan. I used to have a link banner that I sent to those who wanted to swap banners. I can't find it right now, but I'm sure it needed to be updated anyway. Let me put together a new one and send it to you. Give me your email address so I'll know where to send it.

Russ

[rainbase]

Thanks Russell, I'll look forward to that. My email is now rainbase@yahoo.com

Plus, as I said... anyone else who'd like to get their WW1 site added to my directory, just let me know.

[Sreiko]

Hi,

as well you mentioned the rest of the people on the Aerodrome and I am one of them and also have my web site:

Let Let Let - Warplanes: Aviation Enthusiast Web Site

Feel free to search it and see what could be of interest for you. All art there is mine so use it with proper credit.

Cheers

[rainbase]

Thanks Sreiko. You site is great also. I will be delighted to add this to my directory. I'll do that tonight when I get home. Cheers!

[Bonehead]

Russ,

Oooh, oooh, I have a question too!

This is a little off the subject here, but all of the hype hereabouts concerning the book "The Stand" suggests that your painting for the cover art includes "new information" about what Luke was wearing on his fateful day.

I sculpted a figure of Luke a few years back and my research pointed to him wearing an overall. The graves commission report about the exhumation of Luke's body stated that he was wearing a "flier's combination" (paraphrased) and an Elgin watch (funny how the huns missed that!). Unless the Germans (who were less than "pleased" with Luke) or the Frenchmen who actually buried him re-dressed him in whatever overall they had laying around (which seems pretty unlikely) it seems logical that what he was wearing in his grave was what he was wearing when he was killed. The fact that his watch was still intact suggests that any inspection (or looting) of his body before his burial was not thorough, further supporting the conclusion that his clothing was probably not tampered with.

Having done some research of my own on flight gear over the years, the source of the overall seems to have been typical for AEF pilots in front line service during WWI: American pilots were generally issued the same flight gear that was issued to other pilots of the aircraft they flew.

For pilots of SE5as and Sopwith Camels, the appropriate British flight gear was usually issued: The familiar British knee length leather coats with British helmet, or later Sidcot suits (overalls). The pilots of Nieuport 28s or Spads received the appropriate French flight gear. In the period in question this consisted of a bulky overall or "flyer's combination" which came with a cloth belt and fur at the collar and sometimes the cuffs as well. I was able to get a look at a real one that was displayed in the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park in San Diego. It was a pale brown or tan color canvas like cloth with fur collar (the hair was worn off) and closure buckles at both arm and leg cuffs.

So, this long winded message gets to the point: The graves report said he was wearing an overall. This matches with numerous photos of AEF Spad pilots in France who clearly wear French issue overalls and also matches with an actual example in the Aerospace museum.

Your painting shows him in a hip length leather jacket, breeches and puttees. This is typical of the flight gear that would have been worn stateside during WWI. In fact, there are a couple of photos of Luke during his training days that seem to show him wearing something similar.

So, what is the basis for this outfit that does not seem to fit in with my own research (as perfunctory as it may be)?

Just wondering......

Cheers!!

Mike Good

[Russell Smith]

Hi Mike. Well, first of all, this is a question better suited for Stephen Skinner, the author of THE STAND. Stephen provided me with all of the information regarding Luke's probable attire that afternoon.

I will say that, from what I've seen, the overalls were optional flight gear, and my impression is that it was something that they opted more during cold weather operations. Again, though, I'll let Stephen field this one.

Russ

[Polovski]

Great idea Rainbase, do WW1 flight sims qualify for your links page? If so I can send you a logo for Over Flanders Fields ?

[rainbase]

Originally Posted by Polovski

Great idea Rainbase, do WW1 flight sims qualify for your links page? If so I can send you a logo for Over Flanders Fields ?

Yes. yes of course my friend. I can see I may end up splitting my links into seperate pages by (movies, artists, games, etc) to keep everything loading fast.
Send me what'cha got. Please!

[stephen]

There are actually multiple reports regarding Luke's body and clothing. The first is not from Graves Registration at all, but from a liaison officer with the Red Cross who observed that Luke's watch was under his "combination" (not "flyer's combination"... that distinction was not made in either original document).

Of course, a "combination" certainly could be an overall suit, but it could also be anything else under the sun and no further description was left by the writer (even though the same investigator wrote two descriptions of the exhumation). His shirt and jacket comprised a "combination," a coat and uniform are a "combination," and an overall suit could be a "combination" in the sense that it combines a coat with pants. The word "combination" did not exclusively refer to a flyer's overalls.

So we really can't infer anything from that other than whatever Luke was wearing was not wildly unusual for an aviator.

While in training, Luke wore the same outfit on a daily basis, consisting of a heavy leather double breasted jacket with a wide collar, along with gloves, helmet and goggles. These went with him to France, where he bought a second pair of boots (which were later found in his trunk and returned to his family, where they remain today) and adopted an officer's uniform with aviator's emblems. Luke was pictured frequently stateside in the same flying gear regularly, so this is the only absolute standard that we have to go by... and Luke was certainly a creature of habit, even using the same pockets for the same items daily. Anything else we find must demonstrate that Luke switched from his habitual gear to something new.

The Frenchmen who retrieved the body on the morning of 30 September 1918 wrote of Luke's apparel using the common French term for normal daily dress, vetements ("clothing"), rather than the term for overalls, combinaisons. This indicates that Luke was still wearing the same flying gear that he'd always worn.

The Germans took an insignia from Luke's body, which they referred to as "stickpin" on the flyer's "breast." Of course, the winter-issue overall suit had no such emblem - the Germans were referring to the air service emblem on either the collar or upper left shoulder that was standard issue for aviator's uniforms. This also indicates that Luke was wearing the same gear he'd worn his entire career.

Luke's own correspondence with his family regularly reported his clothing acquisitions, yet not a word is mentioned about an overall suit. This does not mean that he did not have one, but it does mean that it required a departure from his character to have one and make no mention of it.

Further, Luke joined the 27th Aero in July, during the heat of summer, and would not have developed the habit of using overalls even if he'd had them. Had he survived into winter, perhaps he'd have switched to overalls permanently, but he was accustomed to flying in extremely hot weather. Lt. Tommie Lennon of the 27th, for example, is pictured in his personal photo album wearing his uniform in August and September, but switching to his overalls by late November. This is obviously not definitive, but its yet another indication that Luke was wearing the same gear he'd worn since training.

Additionally, Luke's work as a balloon buster usually kept him at low altitude. There was no need to prepare for high altitude temperatures because his flights, especially those in the last days of his life, were at low altitudes below 1500 meters.

Further, we know that Luke did not return to his home field at Rembercourt on the night of 28 September, and that his sortie that evening was in a new plane on short notice at 1700 hrs. He returned only briefly for a stormy, stressful meeting with Grant the following morning and stormed off the field in an instant of fury. So if he didn't have his overalls with him on the 28th - for a brief flight on short notice - then he probably did not have them at the time of his death the following evening.

And we know that his precious gold compass fell from his pocket during his death... what are the odds that he would take a possession of that value and put it in an outside pocket where it could easily be lost? Given Luke's constant habit of stuffing everything into the front left pocket of his uniform jacket, it seems incredibly unlikely that he would depart from that and put one of his prized possessions in an outer pocket. That leads one to the conclusion that he did, in fact, put his compass in usual pocket of his uniform and it dropped out during his crawl to Bradon Creek in the last moments of his life.

There are a host of other problems as well, including a reverse of the above... we can now demonstrate that Luke was indeed carrying a Colt on the day he died and he did, in fact, fire it in self defense. We also know that Luke preferred holster carry and was well known for holster carry throughout the 1st PG. But if Luke was wearing an overall while severely wounded and crawling in the last moments of his life, it would have been extremely difficult for him to draw his Colt under such circumstances. He would have had to unfasten his overalls, unfasten his belt, remove his overalls at least to his waist, and then draw his pistol, all while badly wounded and crawling on the ground under heavy enemy fire. That seems a tall order even for the talented Frank Luke.

And of course, the clincher is found in the records for his re-burial at the Meuse-Argonne cemetery on November 1, 1921, which explicitly state that Luke's body was clothed in a "U.S. uniform."

That would pretty much seem to close the case.

We have excellent photos and details of Luke's normal flying gear, and this material served as the basis for Russ' painting. If there are any errors in his depiction, they are entirely my fault, not Russ', because he relied on my research for his work.

However, while I cannot "prove" anything without a time machine, the evidence seems fairly conclusive that Luke was not wearing an overall on the evening of his death. Instead, he was wearing his uniform, a heavy leather jacket with a wide collar that reached to mid-hip, goggles, gloves and helmet.