During World War I, two American aircraft made emergency landings in Switzerland, the first on June 25, 1918, a Nieuport Nie. 28 C-1 at Deitingen (SO) and the second on September 12, 1918, Fahy (BE) a Dayton-Wright/Airco DH.4A
Airplane: Nieuport Nie. 28 C-1, Serial Nr. N 6112, Aircraft type: Fighter plane, from 147th Aero Squadron, Base: Toul, Mission: Escort, Incident: Emergency landing due to lack of fuel after loss of orientation, Whereabouts: Wreckage rebuilt, Acquisition in Swiss Flieger Abteilung (No. 607)
Crew / Pilot : 2nd Lieutenant James Asheden
It was June 25, 1918, when the farming village of Deitingen was confronted with World War I at 6:45 in the morning. As fate would have it, the young flight lieutenant James F. Ashenden from Chicaco made acquaintance with the canton of Solothurn. Apparently the landing took place in the direction of Derendingen, since this locality is recorded in the diary of the air force. Ashenden was participating as an escort fighter in a bombing raid on Metz when he, too, got into a dogfight, received a hit, and lost his bearings. Ashenden also thought he was over the Black Forest when he saw the Rötifluh and had to make an emergency landing due to lack of fuel, causing severe damage to the aircraft. He was unhurt, however, and asked the first arriving cyclist if he was in "Switzerland." When this was answered in the Affirmative, he was very pleased. In the diary of the air force in Dübendorf is noted on this day: "Landing of an American plane. Derendingen (Solothurn). Oblt Ramp with 3 men leave here on the 5 o'clock train to recover the aircraft!" The aircraft was a Nieuport N28, nicknamed "Bébé" by Swiss pilots because of its cute appearance. It was in service with the Air Force until the summer of 1925 with the number 607. Then it was kept for 30 years at the military airfield in Thun as an exhibit. After the closure of the Thun airfield in 1955, the "Bébé" came to Dübendorf. And, almost unbelievably: 103 years after its landing at Deitingen, the fighter can still be admired today in the "Flieger und Flab" museum there.
At the time, the Solothurn newspaper wrote "Fliegerleutnant Ashenden". His full name was James F. Ashenden, he was a second lieutenant and belonged to the 147th Aero Squadron. His plane was green, bore a black 2, a picture of a terrier dog, and the nickname "Helen," which referred to his fiancée. According to a news item in the Chicaco Daily Tribune on his death on Dec. 21, 1960, he was a member of the " Cook County Board," or legislature, in his home county. Ashenden belonged to the Democratic Party and lived to be 66 years old.
Source : Soloturner Zeitung, P. Brotschi / Kuno Gross
The U.S. Air Service in World War I Voll II
