Eagle Biography
William T. Badham
William T. Badham is one of four Americans to earn the title of "Ace" as an
observer during World War I. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on 27 September 1895. As
a young boy in Blount Springs, Alabama, he learned about war from Mary Gordon Duffy, a
celebrated dispatch rider for the Confederate States Army. After finishing preparatory
school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, he enrolled in Yale University where he
participated in golf and football. During his freshman year, he tied for the championship
in the Southern Invitational Golf Tournament but lost a sudden death playoff to his
friend, Bobby Jones. Graduating with a degree in Philosophy in 1917, Badham sought to
become a naval aviator, but failed the rigorous vision test. In May 1917, he was accepted
into the Army's Officer Training School at Fort McPherson, Georgia, and in November,
Second Lieutenant Badham was shipped to France as a casual officer. He then volunteered
for aerial gunnery officer duty with the French Army. After training, he reported to the
210th Observation Squadron of the Fourth French Army near Metz, where he flew Latour
and Breguet aircraft.
In May 1918, he transferred to the 91st Aero
Squadron, an American observation unit flying Salmson 2A2s at
Gondreville-sur-Moselle. His first mission ended in a crash landing in friendly territory
after taking heavy antiaircraft fire. Badham scored his first victory on 15 September and
on 23 October downed two more enemy aircraft for which General Billy Mitchell later
awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross. On 29 October, he scored the last of five
victories gained over the battlefields of Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. First
Lieutenant Badham remained with the 91st until January 1919 when he transferred to the
Army of Occupation.
Shortly thereafter, he returned to America. Following release from
active duty, he soon made the first of many trips to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to pursue
his love of painting. In 1922, he returned to Birmingham and founded a chemical
business. In 1947, he invented a process for refining naphthalene from crude tar oils.
For many years he spent much of his time painting and traveling with his wife, Margaret
W. Tyson. Retiring as President of the Naphthalene Products Company in 1960, he spends
the summer and fall months high atop Lookout Mountain in the village of Mentone,
Alabama. This year he published a three-language memoir, which contains reproductions of
many of his landscapes--a fitting tribute to this aviator turned artist.
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The 91st Aero Squadron was one of the outstanding Air Service units of World
War I. During the Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives of 1918, the 91st
flew deep into German-held territory to provide reconnaissance for the "
doughboys" fighting in the mud and trenches below. In addition to the
hazards of heavy antiaircraft fire and enemy pursuit aircraft, crews faced
complex duties. The observer had to navigate, direct the pilot, and operate
cameras, radios, and signaling devices--all while maintaining situational
awareness and using a pair of Lewis machine guns to defend his Salmson.
William Badham, despite the hazards posed by enemy aircraft, freezing
temperatures at 5,000 meters, and fight with no parachute, excelled in his
duties and became one of only four Air Service observers to become an ace.
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