02/28/2021
If you’ve checked out our post about Eugene Bullard from earlier in the week, you’ll notice that there’s a lot of interest in him and his accomplishments.
You’ll also notice that we used the phrase “first African-American fighter pilot” when discussing his accomplishments, but you’ll find a lot of other sources calling him the “the first Black fighter pilot” or “first combat pilot of African descent” or something similar. We’ve found the clarification as “African-American” is needed because Bullard wasn’t the only person with African heritage in the air during World War I - and which one was the first fighter pilot depends on how you peg it (e.g., first to get a license or military wings, first to enter combat, first to engage the enemy, first to be a pilot instead of observer/gunner in the engagement, etc.).
Historians are always digging deeper to find the lost stories and we may not have all of them yet, but here are other Black fighter pilots known to have flown during World War I.
They are (left to right):
William Robinson Clarke was a Jamaican-born British citizen that traveled to England to join the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, becoming a pilot in April 1917 and being assigned to No. 4 Squadron. He received a spinal injury during an air battle in July 1917, which took him out of the flying game. He finished out the war as a mechanic for No. 254 Squadron. His injury did not allow him to fly after the war, but he remained involved in Jamaican veterans associations.
Ahmet Ali Çelikten was born in Turkey, but his ancestry is traced to eastern Africa through his grandparents. He was a mechanically-adept kid, which led him to want to join the navy. While there, he attended one of the Naval Technical Schools of the day in 1904. He was still in the navy when the naval flight school at Yeşilköy opened in June 1914. He received his wings that year and later shifted to the Ottoman Air Force. He began combat service in November 1917, was sent to Germany for more advanced training in December 1917 and was assigned as a liaison with the Izmir Naval Aircraft Company in mid-1918. After the war, he fought for the Turkish Nationalist Movement in the Turkish War of Independence and became part of the Turkish Air Force after independence in 1923. He’d serve in various and higher-ranking roles, including at the Air Undersecretariat, until retirement in 1949. He passed away in 1969.
Domenico Mondelli flew for Italy. Mondelli was adopted by an Italian Colonel, after he was orphaned in his homeland of Eritrea during the Abyssinian War. He entered a military college in 1900, and moved onto the Royal Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry in Moderna. He was passionate about aviation in the early days of flight, and obtained his private pilot’s license in February 1914. When Italy joined World War I in May 1915, he was assigned as captain of the 7th Reconnaissance and Combat Squadron, earning a Bronze Medal for Military Valor along the way. He’d take on greater responsibility, shifting between bomber, fighter and reconnaissance squadrons and groups through much of 1917 before moving into command ranks of the Italian army in October of that year. He’d remain in military service, either directly or as a reservist, until 1970. When he died in 1974, it was learned that he was among the most decorated Italian soldiers of the war and post-war eras.
Then there’s Pierre Réjon, who flew for France. Réjon was born in Martinique. He had gone to France to study engineering, and was at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Paris for only a few months when World War I broke out. He was in the infantry between enlistment in August 1914 and his induction into the air academy in September 1917. Gaining his license in December 1917 and assigned to Squadron N160, he’d move over to Squadron SPA 62 in June 1918. He was noted as being both talented and reckless, earning the Croix de Guerre from both France and Belgium. He’d stay flying in civilian life after the end of the war, taking to exploring new areas for various entities. It was on one of those trips, flying over French Guyana, that he would perish due to a crash on August 15, 1920.
Not pictured:
We also found reference to a gentleman named Andre Parsemain, also from Martinique, who served as a mechanic and pilot for France, apparently gaining his pilot’s license on March 8, 1917. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to dig up much else of his service history or a photograph.
