Two American aircraft made emergency landings in Switzerland during World War I, 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 : Dayton-Wright / Airco DH.4A, Serial Nr. ?, Aircraft type: Light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, from 135th Aero Squadron (Corps Observation), US Army Air Service, Base: Ourche , Mission: Artillery observation, Event: Landing after strafing damage, Whereabouts: Given by the USA, Acquisition in Swiss Flieger- Abteilung (No. 706)
Crew / Pilot: 1st Lt Thomas James Duncan Fuller, (Foto) Observer: 1st Lt Virgil Brookhart
The following is the report given to the Information Department. Air Service by 1st Lt Thomas J. D. Fuller, Jr, pilot, (Washington) and 2nd Lt Virgil Brookhart, observer, (Wyconda, Missouri), both of the 135th Aero Squadron.
On the morning of September 12, the beginning of St. Mihiel Drive, they took off from their airfield near Toul on a mission to record artillery fire near Montsec. The weather was quite unfavorable because of low fog and southwest winds. At an altitude of 1500 feet they encountered dense clouds, and after five minutes of flight in a west-east direction they were temporarily swallowed up by the clouds. By following holes in the clouds, they managed to catch a glimpse of the various cities they flew over. Although this caused some difficulty, as it was their first time flying over the lines together, they identified Nancy and then found themselves over Thiaucourt (West). They had such difficulty that they decided to abort their mission and take off to the southwest with the Ourches airfield as their target. They climbed to 10,000 meters and flew for about half an hour in a direction they thought was southwest. When they came down, they realized they were over a mountain range and later discovered they were near Mulhouse. They could see trenches as they approached the ground, so they climbed back up, headed southwest for a while, they thought, and came back down to find themselves above the trenches of the front line. It became apparent to them that a fairly strong wind was taking them off their planned course. The wind was westerly at this point, and since they had been flying in a southwesterly direction, they concluded that the wind was driving them in a southerly direction while sweeping them toward the Swiss border with a steady easterly tilt. Finally, they flew back under the clouds and, realizing that they had left the trenches behind them, landed. Farmers and soldiers appeared from all directions, and as the land looked strange, they took off again with the intention of ascending, but the engine died and they were forced to stop and land a second time. People crowded around them. They were not sure what the problem was with the engine, but when they started to climb After the first landing, the Swiss soldiers had fired at them, and they believed that a bullet had torn the jacket of the engine, rendering it useless. An investigation revealed that they were only 600 meters from the border, in one of the ledges of the Switzerland into French territory; and they believed that if they had been able to go a few moments further, they would have ended up in French territory. The Swiss authorities took care of the two men and sent them to Bern and from there to Lucerne. There they were informed of their rights, i.e., that they would either be released on parole or, if they did not want parole, they would go to prison. From the testimony of the two men, it appears that they were very distressed about their internment and preferred to take the chance to escape, knowing that they could not escape while on parole, since the United States government had the responsibility of extraditing them if they broke honorable leave. Lieutenant Fuller, in particular, told the writer that he did not like the prospect of being interned in Switzerland for the duration of the war and therefore decided to take his chances in prison, with the prospect of escape. It was therefore arranged that Lieutenant Brookhart would go on parole to the hotel in Lucerne, while Lieutenant Fuller would go to the military prison at Andermatt near the St. Gotthard Tunnel, and Lieutenant Fuller would scout the prison, study the means of escape, and communicate his plans by code in letters to his comrade. It was planned that eventually Brookhart would also come to the prison and they would escape together. It happened, however, that by the time Lieutenant Fuller was in a position to make substantial plans for escape, the signing of the armistice was in prospect. Receiving no word from his comrade, Lieutenant Fuller decided to escape on his own. He, was on the fourth floor of the prison. Near his cell was a toilet from which a window overlooking the floor below was open. He, was usually escorted to this restroom by a guard. He made it a habit to stay longer and longer in the toilet room each day so that his tardiness on the night of the escape would not arouse the guard's suspicion. The night he chose in early November was dark and foggy. He cut his bed sheet into 7 strips, which he tied together. These he tied around his waist, under his pajamas. Immediately after entering the restroom, he attached one end of the bedsheet rope to the window sill and the other to his waist. Just as he began to lower himself down, the security guard knocked on the door. At the third-floor level, the improvised rope broke and he fell a distance of 30 feet, crashing on his head and arms. He suffered a severe cut to his face and became temporarily unconscious. However, he regained consciousness before anyone discovered him, and although he was lame and sore, he attempted to follow the escape route he had established in advance. By careful action he managed to elude the two guards at the entrance to the tunnel, but on his way he lost his candle and matches, which he had relied on to orient himself through the dense fog. When he emerged from the tunnel, he got caught between two guards who stopped him, took him into custody and handed him over to the authorities. For more than a week, he was confined to bed to recover from the injuries he sustained in his fall. He was later released After the armistice was signed. Lieutenants Fuller and Brookhart told essentially the same story about their experiences up to the point where they parted ways. From that point on, Lt. Brookhart remained on parole at Luzerne and had little to say about that time.
Written from notes by 2nd Lieutenant L. H. Thayer.
Source : USAF History, Dwight Mears / Kuno Gross
The U.S. Air Service in World War I Vol III
