

Ribbon Bar



Enlisted/Officer Basic Training 1917, Navy Recruit Training (Newport, R.I.) Unit Assignments/ Advancement Schools 1918-1918, Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC), Pensacola, FL 1918-1918, 7598, First Marine Aviation Force Combat and Non-Combat Operations 1917-1918 World War I Colleges Attended 1914-1916, Rutgers University Additional Information Last Known Activity

Casualty Date Sep 29, 1918



The Final Mission



Missions continued for the next few days when the weather was favorable. On the 28th of September, Chapin was again flying with Lt. Nelms on a mission to bomb the transport columns on the road between Thourout and Roulers. In company with other DH-4's of the Marine Force which included the teams of Lt. Brewer and Sgt. Wersheimer, 2/Lts. T.M. Steele and G. Gedge and Lt. B.H. Stata and 2/Lt. C.V.R. Brown, Lt. H.D. McLaren and Sgt. Barlow and Lt. HP Brummell and Sgt. RJ Joysey, the group dropped their bombs on the transport columns and then continued to strafe the trains and rail lines on the Thorhout - Courtemarck railway. While thus engaged, a large formation of German fighters including 7 Fokker Triplanes, attacked the formation.

As Chapin had previously described them, the German fighters were persistant and aggressive. The McLaren and Barlow team, shot down a Triplane in flames, but Barlow was wounded in both thighs. He continued to fire on the attackers and force another Triplane to drop out of the fight. Lt. Brewer and Sgt. Wershiner also downed one of the attackers, but the combination of sheer numbers and the relative slowness of the DH-4's began to show.

Steele and Gedge were forced to land not far from Thorhout around 12h00. Wershiner and Brewer were both wounded while engaging a Fokker biplane and Lt. Stata and Brown were killed in action.

In the running fight back to the lines, Chapin was badly wounded in the thigh. Nelms opened the throttle for the lines and their aerodrome at La Fresne. Immediately upon landing, the units surgeon attended to Chapin, but he was already weak from loss of blood. The bullet had pierced a major artery in his thigh.

He lingered through the night and late into the next morning, but finally died shortly after 10 AM.

He was the first U.S. Marine Aviator killed in action.



He was with, B Squadron, First Marine Aviation Force



Comments/Citation

Citation The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant Chapin C. Barr (MCSN: 0-1916), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as a Pilot in the First Marine Aviation Force, attached to the Northern Bomb Group (USN), at the front in France. On 26 September 1918, while on an air raid over enemy territory, Lieutenant Barr was attacked by a superior number of enemy scouts. In the fight which ensued he behaved with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, and despite having been mortally wounded, he drove off the enemy and brought his plane safely back to the aerodrome. Action Date: 28-Sep-18



