November 11, 1918

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the ending of the First World War.

My grandfather, Edward McNamara from Lexington Massachusetts served with the 101st Regiment (Medical company), 26th Yankee Division in the first world war.  He seldom talked about it, and when he did it was a terrible memory which haunted him.  But  I will always remember his smile when he told me how at 11:00 A.M. on 11th November the guns stopped and he and his friends knew they would live, knew they had survived.  

And as this date is now called Veterans Day I say thank you to my father in law, Aldrich Stevens  who served in the  3rd Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) in the Second World War.  He joined the Rangers in North Africa, and took part in the invasion of both Sicily and Italy.  He could not take part in the Anzio  landing because of his wounds so missed the Battle of Cisterna.  Like my grandfather he too was haunted by the memories of what he saw, experienced and especialy those he lost.   

I remember their sacrifices and hope both have found peace.

David Endicott Putnam's Spad

  More Wings of War repaints...

  Possibly the best known yet unknown ace from the great war.

   I have a weak spot for flyers from the early age of aviation from the Wright Brothers through the First world war. This is especially true for local pilots or events that occurred in the New England states.  My poor family gets driven to distraction by my trips to local sites.  Had to visit Gordon college as it was the home of Norman Prince who was one of the founders of the Lafayette Escadrille. Visited the site of the home of Frank Leaman Baylies of New Bedford.  I had to visit the site of the crash where Hariott Quimby died.  But my favorite pilot was David Endicott Putnam.

 Putnam was a local man from Massachusetts with a family history that dates back to before the Revolutionary war.  He left Harvard before graduation  (he was awarded  a posthumous degree in 1920) and worked his way across the Atlantic on a cattle boat to join the French Foriegn Legion on May 1917.  He transferred to the French Air Corp, passed flight school and was assigned to fighter squadrons in December 1917.  After successfully flying with the French he transferred to the American Air Corp in June 1918.  He commanded the 134 and later the 138 squadrons.  At the time of his death he was the top American ave with 13 confirmed victories.  He had many more unconfirmed because of the very strict standards the French used to confirm victories.  When asked if it bothered him so many of his victories went unconfirmed, he said "The Germans know what I did.". He was killed in action in September 1918.  He is buried in France at the LaFayette Escadrille memorial.

"The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to David E. Putnam, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Lachaussee, France, September 12, 1918. After destroying one of the eight German planes which had attacked him, Lieutenant Putnam was turning to our lines, when he saw seven Fokkers attack an allied biplane. He attacked the Germans and saved the biplane, but was himself driven down, shot through the heart.
General Orders 71, W.D., 1919"

   In researching Putnam's aircraft I wanted to represent his Spad XIII.  Based on black and white pictures, and modern art from modelers I came up with the color scheme.  The squadron insignia is copied from the actual one removed from his plane after his death which is in display at the Air Force museum at Dayton Ohio. The ribbon is his command strip as squadron commander. 

   It was a fun research project and I now have a very unique air craft.

Wings of War: Jasta 19

  I enjoy playing the Wings of War World War One air plane game.  It is a very enjoyable game, can be picked up very quickly and provides a fun game. The model planes which they make are first class and very economical. And you can get almost anything you want air craft wise.

  I tend to play with my son a lot when he is home from school.  Our style of gaming is very different, which means I usually end up being shot down.

  One thing I have done to add to the fun is repaint and customise some of the planes.  This is helped by Dom's Decals which makes excellent decals for the Wings of War Planes.  My first efforts were to customize were the famous Fokker DR1 Triplane. Great looking plane, almost iconic.  I decided to paint them as Jasta 19 which is well documented photographs wise and colorful with the distinctive yellow and black tail.  I repainted the tsils, added he decals and voila I have smart looking group hunting the skies.

War game afternoon with Jim

In range!

Once a year, my friend Jim has us all over his house for a day of games, grilling food side, watching movies and more games.  It is a fun day and one I look forward to all year.  Many of the folks there I do not most of the years so that makes it doubly special.  It's a nice time to get together with friends and roll dice and play games.

I think we are safe here.....

   This year was a world war affair. Jim is a big buff on the War, with a fantastic book collection and he also does WW1 reenactments. So he is really into this period.   His collection of figures is outstanding with not only British, French and Germans but also Russians, Check legion and Germans in Africa.  He has numerous buildings, trenches, tanks and a armoured train. Jim's games are in 25mms and are big skirmishes.  So when one games with Jim you do not know what or where you will end up. I am not a big fan of skirmish games and especially modern games (anything after 1900) but Jim's games are fun and entertaining.   Unfortunately I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures until the end so I am only sharing little details.

I fired my mortar at the Germans and ......

There used to be a big group of Germans here.....

The first game consisted of a Russian attack on a Austrian stalled train.  Which just happened to have a Austrian grand duke aboard.  A squad of Germans made an appearance late in the game to help their allies.  The Austrians died almost to a man to save the Duke, who finally got the train moving in time to make his escape!  The second game  was a big battle between French and Germans in a devastated town.  No quarter was asked or given.  Not sure how it ended as there were few troops left on the board at the end!  Throughout the day movies were played in the background including Dawn Patrol, Twelve o'clock high and Gunga Din.  Great fun!

Thanks Jim!  It was a great time and I had a ball.  Look forward to next year.

"Tanks", Jim! 🍻