Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-02-25
'COHORT OF The DAMNED
Remarkable Body Of French Air
Fighters
Made UP OF MENTALLY UNBALANCED

| Where Men Became too Wild to Re
gard Discipline, They Were Sent Z
a Special Organization, the Member
Of Which Were Allowed to be a,
I, Reckless as They Wanted to Be.
! This picturesque name was given b,
the French to a group Of their avia
tors formed Of men whose minds hat
become somewhat unbalanced in thei
work. These fliers were totally unabl
to maintain discipline, but were brav,
to the point of recklessness, and in
stead Of transferring them to another
branch Of the service, as was done b.
the British in similar cases, the French
military authorities grouped them, iso
lated the group, and allowed its mem
bers to fight in their own way, with
rather picturesque results, as narrated
by Douglass Reid, in Popular Mechan
les Chicago, January. Now that the
war Is over, Mr.. Reid tells us, it is pro.
posed that this unique cohort shall be
used to police the Algerian deserts
The peculiarities that led to its forrna-
ton were first noticed among French
fliers, he says, when French aviators
following the example Of the Germans
began to fly in squadrons, or "circuses-'
He writes:
"As soon as the French began to
send up these circuses they discover
ed trouble. A certain number Of the
airmen refused to fly in formation
Either from impatience or a mistaken
sense Of the dramatic, they would
break away from the squadron, disre-
gard the orders Of the flight command
er, and dart away erratically to do bat
tie on their own account. Others,
seized with q strange eccentricity,
would persist in doing stunts in for
nation, causing accidents from colli-
sions, breaking up the carefully plan
ned battle-line, and running the attack
Of the squadron. Punishment for
these irresponsible fliers did not cure
them. So the French air-service set
psychologists and trained nerve spe-
cialists to study the offenders.
These scientists discovered that the
insubordinates were slightly unbal-
anced mentally, that their daily labors
under extreme nerve tension and con-
slant excitement had carried them be-
yond complete sanity. Slavish and
employment in desperate
air-fights, the daily absorption in this
strange new occupation, had combined,
with the peculiar effect Of swiftly
changing air pressure on their nerves,
to make them abnormally reckless.
1.-The Machine was too much for
their strength Of mind.
"At approximately the same time the
British Royal Flying corps began to
study its own men Of this type. 1t
followed the practice Of discharging
such unmanageables' from the SER
vice, sending them into the infantry or
upon destroyers in the Grand Fleet.
Its technical name for them was wild
men,
THE French, however, always race
with more understanding Of genius and
temperament than the Anglo Saxon
peoples, forebore to cashier these fliers.
1t realized that they were, man for
man better tnan their German oppo-
nents; that individually they were the
best aces Of all in an air-duel, for
their very disregard Of rules and reg
ulations, their very carelessness Of
death, made them terrible foes. So it
organized a special corps, called The
Cohort of the Damned filling 1t en-
tirely with these untrustworthy pilots,
placed it apart from all organized es-
cadrilles; forbade its members to ap-
proach the regular branches OF the
service; isolated it entirely at point
near the front line trenches; furnished
it with the best equipment, and turn
ed it free to fight at its own sweet will.
Lonely and tragic, this band fought
for the rest Of the war, its members
dying rapidly out Of the air, but con-
stant flood of new fliers coming to take
their place, as the nerves Of pilots here
and there among the disciplined esca-
drilles gave way and made their own
ers fit only for this reckless company.
1.-THE execution these half-mad men
of the Damned wrought in German
ranks was astounding, but no records
could be kept of the number they shot
down, on account Of their lack of or
ganization, and the irresponsibility OF
their testimony. Captured Germans,
however, are known to have reported
that their own fliers swore fervently
and wrote their wills when ordered to
occupy that part Of the line opposite
the 'Cohort.'
"The statement is made that France
at one time had three Of these strange
groups. but there Is definite infor-
nation only upon the one and original
band. This, on one occasion, had over
one hundred members, but the figure Is
not Of great value, since the lifetime OF
the fliers was particularly short.
I'm the last year of the war, too, the
number which the government was
forced to consign TO this isolation grew
less and less, due to the greater knowl-
edge Of fliers air temperament obtain
ed by the special corps of scientific
men attached to the hangers. Psy-
chologists learned how to treat the de-
mentia when it made its first appear
ance, and it was found that frequent
vacations spent far in the south OF
France, in complete rest, would, In the
majority of cases, allay the nerve
strain and keep the men tractable and
efficient.
1.-THE Cohort Of the Damned al
present, it is understood, is to be kep'
in service after the mastering out Of
the other French forces. 1t is deemed
impossible to return the men to ciVi
life. as their hunger for excitement
and craving for thrill would immedi'
ately cause them to be disturbers OF
the peace. Still wild men,, peacetu