World War 1 aviation

[Corley_C]

Per Pand's request,

                       We were talking about ROF and I had told him about my great grandfather James or ''Jim'' Corley. He was first assigned as an artillery spotter at the beginning of the war, then when aircraft became a viable option for spotters, he was sent to flight school in France. By the end of his tour of duty he had 3 victories and probably played an even more pivotal role spotting for friendly artillery and troops. When he came back to the states he was probably suffering from what we know now to be PTSD, he turned to liquor pretty heavily from what i've heard. He continued to fly, and drink. Thus, one night he decided to buzz a local baseball game in the early 1930's and had his wings taken away. He had 2 boys who both served in WW2, my Grandfather Thomas Corley who was an enlisted man since he was younger and wasn't through college, and my great uncle Jimmy Corley who was an officer since he had been through college. Jimmy, James' eldest son was co-pilot to a B-17, he was killed in a training operation in England in the 1940's. He was only 23 years old. My grandfather went into the Navy and served as a landing craft operator in the pacific when he was 17 years old. He wouldn't learn of his brother's death in the European theater until close to the war's end. 
                       Below is Jame's map case, which has a compass and some small pockets. Also, his last combat flight plan from his WW1 era sectional chart. I also managed to find some pictures of him online but can't post them due to a 5 attachment limit. Please excuse the glare in some of the pictures since we have them framed at our house. I have no idea what plane he was flying, I will try and get a picture of the news paper article from when he came back.

[Pand]

Absolutely awesome!  Thanks for sharing that with us Corley!   

[Corley_C]

You're welcome, excuse the typos as I was trying to get in game with everyone as fast as I could.