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William Collins, Phelps' father, was the president of the
Alpena Manufacturing Company, which produced an automobile
called the Alpena Flyer, from 1910-1914. The son opened a
construction supply company in Alpena shortly before World
War I kicked off.
Phelps Collins was among dozens of individual young Americans who
sought to join the air service prior to the official U.S. entry into
the war. World War I was being fought in Europe for about three
years before the U.S. entered the war.
Collins and many other young men, mostly from well-to-do American
families, eventually found their way to Europe to fly with the
French military in a force that came to be known as the Lafayette
Escadrille -- a French unit filled with Americans who learned how to
fly at the front and quickly began to engage in aerial combat over
the trenches of the front lines.
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U.S. Army Air Service Capt. Phelps Collins is seen while flying with
the Lafayette Escadrille in France in late 1917 during World War I.
Collins was the first U.S. Airmen to die while in combat, flying
with a U.S. unit, during the war. (U.S. Army photo provided by Sgt. 1st Class Helen Miller)
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Collins was a natural pilot. He drew praise from his
fellow pilots, one of whom later claimed that when Collins
would take off for another combat patrol, all would gather
to watch him take off as he was such a natural.
Collins scored two aerial victories – shooting down an enemy
aircraft – while flying with the Lafayette Escadrille – and had
three more “probable” victories, none of which could be confirmed
using the victory rules of the day. Had all three of those probable
been confirmed, Collins would have earned status as an “ace” – a
term that was just beginning to capture the public imagination.
Some seven months after Collins began flying as a member of the
Escadrille, the U.S. Army began to arrive in France in significant
numbers. As it did so, U.S. flying squadrons were created and
Collins and others were transferred to the U.S. units.
On March 12, 1918, the pilots of the 103rd Aero Squadron received
an alert call that a flight of German bombers were headed to Paris.
A flight of four 103rd pilots, including Collins, were sent out in
SPAD VIII aircraft to intercept the enemy force. The 103rd pilots
would search in vain for the opposing force, never finding the
reported raid.
As the four American aircraft searched for the phantom German
raid, Collins' aircraft peeled off on its own. Aircraft of the time
were not equipped with radio, so Collins' intentions were unknown.
Did he think he saw an enemy aircraft? Was there a maintenance
issue?
Collins then flew in a circle for perhaps 30 minutes and then his
aircraft nosedived into the ground. According to the official
report, it is believed that Collins – exhausted from many months of
two or more combat sorties per day – flew too high and passed out
from a lack of oxygen.
With the crash, Collins became the first U.S. military pilot to
die while flying a combat mission with an American unit. The news of
Collins' death was big news back home Alpena, and across the nation
as America mourned an early aviation hero.
In 1931, when a new public airport was opened in Alpena County,
the field was named Phelps Collins Field. The field began to be used
for military training in the 1930s and was put to increasing use
during World War II. The field, managed by the Michigan Air National
Guard, has served as a training center since World War II.
By USAF Tech. Sgt. Daniel Heaton
Michigan National Guard
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
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