Uncle Jack in World War I: Was He an Aviator?

While I look into the reference to granduncle “Jack” Bonn serving in a special detachment that went to Italy, let’s address the big question before us.

Was Orville P. Bonn (1896-1985) a pilot in World War I?

I believe the answer is no.  At least not officially.  The preponderance of evidence leads to that conclusion, but there is conflicting information – so the question remains in doubt.  In the absence of Jack’s personnel file, we have to piece together information from other sources as best we can.

Could Uncle Jack have shot down any German planes?  Almost impossible.

Could he have been shot down?  Highly unlikely.

These judgments contradict Uncle Jack’s many statements later in life that he was an Army pilot and was shot down in combat.  Based on his stories to the family, we all thought he was a World War I aviator and was injured by hot oil splashing in his eyes when shot down.  As mentioned in a previous post – here – some were even told that Jack was a flying ace, that he shot down two German planes but never got credit.

Jack’s claims to pilot status are also reflected in newspaper clippings in his scrapbook:

• 1921 –  “an Air Service pilot.”^[1]“Ten Years Ago,” Montevideo News, undated but referencing original 8 April 1920 story, newspaper clipping in Orville P. Bonn Scrapbook; privately held by Steven Jonnes, Ashburn, … Continue reading

• 1922 – “a former army airplane pilot.”^[2]“Airman is Dragged and Badly Bruised in Parachute Leap,” Milwaukee Journal, 19 September 1922, newspaper clipping in Orville P. Bonn Scrapbook; privately held by Steven Jonnes, Ashburn, … Continue reading

The source for these news reports is, of course, Jack himself.  So we have to be cautious.  The problem is unthreading what was fact from what was fiction.

His tall tales may have increased over time.  By 1937, one news clipping went so far as to say that Jack was:

“Shot down from the air, while over the front lines in the great war, crashing with his plane, lying unconscious on a hospital cot for four days with a broken neck…”^[3]“Author After Years of Death Defying is Sojourning Here,” unknown Tampa Bay area newspaper, 1937 (hand-written in margin), newspaper clipping in Orville P. Bonn Scrapbook; privately held … Continue reading

Here are some reasons I am skeptical of Jack’s narrative.

First of all, Uncle Jack’s unit – 34th Aero Squadron – was located in Tours, France, over 200 miles from the front line.  The squadron is officially designated by military historians as one that did not engage in combat.  It was an instructional squadron for reconnaissance pilots and observers at the 2nd Aviation Instructional Center (AIC) at Tours Aerodrome.  Note the location of Tours below, southwest of Paris.  The front line was northeast of Paris throughout the war.  The bold lines indicate where U.S. forces fought in 1918.

Second, aviators were almost always military officers, typically 1st or 2nd lieutenants.  Uncle Jack was never an officer.  He was an enlisted man whose highest rank was sergeant first class.^[4]Jack Bonn may have wanted to apply, but would have been stymied by the requirement for at least two years of college education.

There are also no references to Orville P. Bonn as a cadet.  Men in training to become pilots were called cadets, not yet officers.  Cadets were promoted to officer rank once they obtained their wings  – that is, pilot certification.  When Jack crossed the Atlantic Ocean in September 1917, he was part of a group of 25 Air Service enlisted men assigned to 3rd class accommodations in steerage while a much larger group of Air Service cadets were assigned to 1st class.^[5]Manifest, RMS Carmania, 18 September 1917, images 552 – 559, p. 42 – 49; “U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939,” digital images, Ancestry.com : accessed 5 … Continue reading

I say aviators were almost always officers because there were rare instances of enlisted men becoming pilots.  This was Jack’s claim.  Such men – referred to as sergeant pilots – usually served as pilot instructors, although some were trained for the explicit purpose of ferrying aircraft from French factories to U.S. squadrons.^[6]“Enlisted Pilots in World War I,” display at National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton, Ohio; digital image, Nationalmuseum.af.mil : 29 November 2023.  None saw combat as far as is known.  But even Sergeant Pilots had to undergo formal training and pass qualifying tests.

The timing of Uncle Jack’s promotions is relevant as well.  Orville P. Bonn was not promoted to Sergeant until 1 December 1918, almost a month after the war ended.  Even if he did become a Sergeant Pilot during his last six months in France, there was no opportunity for him to engage in combat.

Third, there is no aviator rating on his honorable discharge certificate.^[7]Orville P. Bonn, Honorable Discharge from U.S. Army, 1920, Carlstrom Field, Florida; original certificate inherited by Steven Jonnes from his mother Beverly Bonn Jonnes, Bonn’s niece, 2019; … Continue reading

Fourth, his known occupations tend to contradict the aviator narrative.

Orville P. Bonn received an official rating as an Aviation Mechanic, as documented on the back of his discharge certificate.^[8]Orville P. Bonn, Honorable Discharge, U.S. Army, 1920, Carlstrom Field, Florida.  Note where Aviation Mech. 1/23/20 is listed as a qualification or rating.

Moreover, Jack’s military uniform, preserved today at the Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, Arizona, looks like that of an aviation mechanic.  David Bonn, Jack’s nephew, and wife Jeanine, visited the museum last month and took additional photos.  You may compare Jack’s uniform on the left with an image of an Air Service mechanic’s uniform found on the Internet.^[9]Jack’s photo is courtesy of Jeanine Bonn; the image on the right may be found at ima-usa.com/products.  Many sergeant pilots began as aviation mechanics and may have continued to use their … Continue reading

 

Suddenly, Jack’s pre-enlistment employment at an automobile garage in Montevideo makes sense.

Good mechanics were in tremendous demand during World War I, far more than pilots.  Jack probably wanted to be a pilot, but the Army may have deemed him too valuable as a mechanic.

I assumed at first that Jack was an Aviation Mechanic throughout his three years in the military, but it appears he transitioned at some point to Aerial Gunnery.

The Plane News, an army newspaper, lists O.P. Bonn among the corporals in the Aerial Gunnery School at Tours Aerodrome who were promoted to sergeant.^[10]“US, Gorrell’s History of the American Expeditionary Air Service, 1917-1919, Series M, Volume 12, Page 34, O.P. Bonn cited in “Wing Slips at the 2nd AIC,” Plane News, 21 … Continue reading  The publication date is 21 December 1918.

“At last the Aerial Gunnery School received the credit due it in the number of promotions the personnel received.  Here (are) some of those who promoted …”

Again, the primary mission of the 2nd AIC was to train reconnaissance pilots and observers, with the 34th Aero Squadron being its main unit.  In order to teach the necessary skills, the 2nd AIC maintained separate schools for piloting, aerial observation, aerial gunnery, photography, and radio.

Below is a remarkable 20-minute movie of the 2nd AIC in 1918.^[11]www.dailymotion.com  The training activities of the Aerial Gunnery School are featured in minutes 8:55 – 12:42.

Reconnaissance aircraft typically were two-seaters.  The pilot sat up front and the observer in back.  The observer’s role was to take reconnaissance photographs but he also employed a machine gun attached to his cockpit for defensive purposes.  They were sometimes called observer/gunners.  Note the gunner behind the pilot in this image:

Unfortunately, we don’t know what function Jack performed at the Aerial Gunnery School.  He probably was involved in training observers on the use of aerial machine guns, or may have kept the machine guns in working order, or both.

Whatever role Jack played in aerial gunnery in France could be connected to his post-war position at Carlstrom Field, Florida.  Sergeant Orville P. Bonn is described as a Gunnery Clerk residing in Barracks 3, Carlstrom Field in the 1920 U.S. census.^[12]1920 U.S. census, De Soto County, Florida, population schedule, Arcadia, Carlstrom Field, Air Service, U.S. Army, ED 11, p. 2B, Orville P. Bonn; digital image, Ancestry (https://ancestry.com : 5 … Continue reading  The enumeration date is 13 January 1920, two months before discharge.  Three other men, all privates, are also described as Gunnery Clerks; I presume Jack was their superior.

I imagine this means Jack ran the weapons storeroom and managed the distribution of guns and ammunition, although he also could have been involved in training cadets on the use of weaponry.  Several men at Carlstrom are listed as aero mechanics, an indication that Jack was no longer performing those duties.  Two men are listed as sergeant pilots, again arguing against the theory that Jack was one.

One of Uncle Jack’s newspaper clippings provides additional insight.  The longest interview in Jack’s scrapbook is with the St. Paul Dispatch while barnstorming with a flying circus in 1921.^[13]“A Dive in Mid-Air,” St. Paul Dispatch, newspaper insert promoting a flying circus, June-October 1921, newspaper clipping in Orville Bonn Scrapbook; privately held by Steven Jonnes, … Continue reading  In it, Jack actually refers to himself as a Sergeant Pilot and states:

“(I) received unofficial training as a pilot before reaching France.”^[14]Ibid.

To my mind, the word unofficial is quite revealing.  Jack would never have described himself this way if he had officially earned his wings.

What is not in Jack’s scrapbooks or photo albums is also revealing.  No mention of earning his wings or qualifying as pilot.  No mention of aerial combat.  No details about how he was shot down.  Knowing Jack’s pride, I don’t think he would have been shy about sharing that information if it were true.

Based on all this, it seems pretty unlikely that Orville P. Bonn could have been an official Army pilot.  And yet, one piece of evidence directly conflicts with this narrative.  The right shoulder of Jack’s uniform displays an Enlisted Aviator badge!

I find it odd that Uncle Jack has the enlisted aviator and not the aviation mechanic patch on his uniform.  Anyway, I looked into the history of Enlisted Aviators.  They  were authorized by Congress in 1914 and 1916, although Army brass were mainly opposed to non-officers as pilots.

The enlisted aviator insignia itself was first issued in August 1917.^[15]War Department, Special Regulations No. 41, “Uniform Regulations,” 15 August 1917.  However, after Armistice Day, the U.S. Army changed course.  On 31 January 1919, it refused to recognize the enlisted aviator badge, claiming the position was never formally created!

” … although Uniform Regulations … provide for the insignia to be worn by enlisted aviators the grade itself has never been created and consequently there is no one in the service entitled to wear the insignia provided for such grade.”^[16]Lee Arbon, They Also Flew: The Enlisted Pilot Legacy, 1912-1942; Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992, p. 43; citing War Department memo, 31 January 1919, from Office of Director of … Continue reading

The quote comes from a history of sergeant pilots by Lee Arbon called They Also Flew: The Enlisted Pilot Legacy, 1912-1942.  The book documents all the sergeant pilots from both world wars whom the author was able to identify.  Orville P. Bonn is not listed.

Furthermore, I count 12 photographs in Jack’s albums that show him in uniform in Europe, 21 in USA, and 4 where the location is unclear.  None of the 37 photographs displays an insignia on the right upper sleeve.^[17]There are 27 more photographs of Jack during 1917-1920 that fail to show the uniform in a meaningful way.  The photo below can be dated to sometime between October 1918 and May 1919  in France, given the two service stripes on his left sleeve, indicating at least one year of overseas service.  Note the lack of an enlisted aviator insignia on the right upper sleeve.

How can we then explain the Enlisted Aviator insignia on Uncle Jack’s uniform?

I think there are four possibilities.  One is that he acquired the patch while still at Kelly Field before shipping to France.  Jack said he was unofficially trained as a pilot before the war, so it’s conceivable he acquired some flying time during the summer of 1917 and obtained the patch then, even though he was never qualified.  Things were chaotic enough in the early days of the Air Service that something of this nature could have happened.

Another possibility is that he qualified as an aviator after the war.  Jack served an additional nine months in the Army Air Service after his return to America on 26 May 1919.  In fact, while almost all his fellow servicemen were deactivated and sent home in June 1919, Jack reenlisted.^[18]Orville P. Bonn, Honorable Discharge certificate, 1920, Carlstrom Field, Florida.  We don’t know when Jack reenlisted.  It may have been at his two-year service mark in March 1919 or upon … Continue reading  His two stations were Mitchel Field, Long Island, for three months and Carlstrom Field in central Florida for six months.  Despite the Army ban on enlisted pilot insignia, Mitchel Field had a program in 1919 to accept training applications from enlisted men and Carlstrom Field was still training enlisted cadets in 1920.  For example, Sgt. Chester F. Colby applied at Mitchel Field in 1919 and received training at Carlstrom Field in 1920.^[19]Arbon, They Also Flew; Washington, DC: 1992, p. 49.  Theoretically, Jack could have followed the same path.  On the other hand, Jack was enumerated as a gunnery clerk at Carlstrom Field – not a cadet nor sergeant pilot – and there is no aviator rating on his discharge certificate.

A third possibility is that Uncle Jack applied to become an enlisted aviator while at Mitchel Field, but was rejected.  Or was accepted, but washed out during training.  In either case, he somehow acquired the badge.  There are reported instances of cadets wearing the insignia before receiving their wings.

A fourth possibility is that Jack acquired the patch later in life and “adjusted” his uniform against regulation.  His “aviator log book,” for example, was acquired about 10 years after the war and has no entries.

In my opinion, the first possibility makes the most sense, maybe the third.  My best guess is that Orville P. Bonn was familiar with flying and probably clocked at least a few hours as a pilot, either officially or unofficially.  The insignia came his way as a consequence.

He may have also acquired some time in the air in France as an observer/gunner, given his assignment to the Aerial Gunnery School.  There are several aerial photographs of the French countryside in Jack’s photo album.

I also think that Jack would have been more likely to engage in barnstorming after the war if he had at least some flight experience, either as a pilot or observer.  It’s hard for me to imagine someone suddenly volunteering to walk on the wing of an airplane with zero experience in the sky.

In summary, I believe that Uncle Jack’s stories that he was a World War I fighter pilot are fiction, something he spun to make himself look important.  This was a source of tension with his brother Bert Bonn, my grandfather.  One of Bert’s children remembers that her father, who rarely spoke critically of anyone, once said, “Jack exaggerates a lot of stuff.  He likes to make himself look good.”^[20]Susan Quella, telephone conversation with author, 2 November 2023.  My mother occasionally expressed doubts herself.

It’s a shame he exaggerated at all.  Even if he was not a qualified pilot and even if he was not an ace, his service, regardless of its nature, should be respected and honored.  An aviation expert told me:

 The 34th squadron’s excellent performance in flying and maintenance doomed it to become the basis for the 2nd Aviation Instruction Center (2d AIC), much to the disappointment of the men. They performed a vital and important mission with great skill.^[21]Steve Russell, account “regular122,” contributor at The Aerodrome Forum  (www.theaerodrome.com/forum), reply in thread “Ribbons on Granduncle’s WW1 Uniform,” 22 … Continue reading

Next: Was Jack really injured?