The Lafayette Flying Corps is a name given to the American volunteer pilots who flew in the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) during World War I. It includes the pilots who flew with the bona fide Lafayette Escadrille squadron. Numbers The estimations of number of pilots range from 180 to over 300. The generally accepted number of pilots who successfully completed French flight training is 209. Of these, 180 served in combat. More than 50 Flying Corps personnel (including members of the Lafayette Escadrille) initially served in the Ambulance Corps of the American Field Service. AFS Surgeon-General Col. Edmund L. Gros, M.D. is credited with initiating the corps. Casualties and honors Sixty-nine Corps members died during the war, 42 of them in action against the enemy. The rest were results of disease, accidents, wounds, and suicide. The planes weren't very sturdy, and sometimes guns jammed, too, just when they were needed. The Corps is credited with 159 enemy kills. It amassed 31 Croix de Guerre, and its pilots were awarded seven Médailles militaires and four Légions d'honneur. Eleven of its members were deemed flying aces, claiming five air kills or more. The core squadron suffered nine losses and was credited with 41 victories. Note There is frequent confusion between the terms Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps, exacerbated by the inaccuracies in the movie Flyboys. Member list Members Wainwright Abbott John Russell Adams Sidney Thayer Allen Walter K. Appleton, Jr. Alan Newton Ash (died in service) Arthur Mills Aten Jules James Bach Paul Frank Baer Benjamin Hester Baird Horace Clyde Balsley (Lafayette Escadrille) Leif Norman Barclay (died in service) Charles Chester Bassett, Jr. Henry Augustus Batchelor James Henry Baugham (died in service) Frank Leaman Baylies (died in service) James Alexander Bayne (died in service) Philip Phillips Benny (died in service) Leo E. Benoît (alias Ernest L. Benway) Charles John Biddle Julian Cornell Biddle (died in service) Stephen Sohier Bigelow (Lafayette Escadrille) Charles Raymond Blake Arthur Bluethenthal (died in service) Pierre de Lagarde Boal Ellison Converse Bogos William Vernon Booth, Jr. (died in service) Clarence Marsh Bosworth Edgar Jean Bouligny Algernon Boyesen Lester Strayer Brady Ray Claflin Bridgman (Lafayette Escadrille) Jasper Cornish Brown Stafford Leighton Brown (died in service) Everett Timothy Buckley Thomas Bradley Buffum Eugene Jacques Bullard, the world's second black military pilot (93 Spad Squadron) Richard Nixon Bullen William Graham Bullen Philip Nelson Bush Louis Leslie Byers Andrew