Jacques Michael Swaab

Jacques Michael Swaab was born on 21 April 1894 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania to Etta Stein (1868-1938) and Mayer Swaab (1868-1920), the second of three children; Marie Nanette (1892-1976) and Frank Leopold (1898-1986). In the early 1900s, the family lived at 2341 21^st St., Philadelphia, the 1910s, N. 18^th Street. In the 1910s, Mayer Swaab was Vice President of the Frank H. Fleer Corporation, later known as the manufacturer of Dubble Bubble Gum and line of trading cards.

“…graduate of the Boys’ Central High School…Eight years ago the family moved to New York, where the lieutenant entered Franklin School to prepare for the University of Pennsylvania, from whence he graduated in the class of 1916 with the degree of B.S., Wharton School.”

Swaab’s first noted experience with flight was with a plane he had built with his father’s chauffeur, (from Swaab’s, JMS, oral history interview with WWII pilot Eugene A. Valencia, EAV, courtesy of the American Fighter Aces Association Oral Interviews/The Museum of Flight);

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“EAV: Oh. When was your first tendency towards aviation, sir?

JMS: In 1912.

EAV:1912? Can you recall the experience or the incident?

JMS: Very well. I built a plane with my father’s chauffeur in the basement of the garage where my father kept his car.

EAV: For goodness sake. Was it flyable?

JMS: I flew it.

EAV: Is that so?

JMS: Yeah. I flew the fairs in the summer of 1912.

EAV:1912. Did you have an engineering background, sir?

JMS: I had no background.

EAV: You just built the airplane?

JMS: We just built the plane, put it together, and hoped it would get it off the ground.

EAV: And it did.

JMS: Well, the first time we took the plane—or tried to take the plane off, I matched with the chauffer to find out who was going to fly it. And I won and I landed against a wall, a stone wall, at—not Garden City. I think it was in Mineola.

EAV: For goodness sake.

JMS: We put it together again, and we matched again to see who was going to fly it. And I won the toss, and then I thought it was a little brutal to him. So we got it up together.

EAV: Well, for goodness sake.

JMS: And it did take off, and it—we flew about ten minutes.

EAV: Is this the same plane you exhibited at fairs?

 JMS: Yeah.

 EAV: My goodness. Well, that was your first aerial flight?

JMS: Yes.

EAV: In the plane you built?

JMS: Yeah.”

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Swaab attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1916 from the Wharton School of Economics; at that time, he worked in manufacturing, specifically, the cigarette industry. His address in 1917 was 10^th and Diamond St., Philadelphia.

Swaab enlisted at Essington, Pennsylvania on 11 June 1917, soon attending school at Ohio State University and Wilbur Wright Field.

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“He joined at Essington and was detailed for ground school work at the University of Ohio at Columbus, where he made his course complete, graduating with honor, and was forwarded to the Wilbur Wright Field at Dayton for actual flying experience. Here he made and secured the personal friendship of Orville Wright, at whose home he was a frequent visitor and to whose generous assistance he attributed a great part of his rapid progress.”

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“EAV: When you went into the military, did you have to start right—

JMS: Right—ground.

EAV: You started right all over—

JMS: Right off of the ground. Because I didn’t know anything about planes.

EAV: Well, where did you go to school, sir? In the military?

JMS: Columbus, Ohio for the ground school, Ohio State University. And from there, we went to the Wilbur Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio.

EAV: Yes, sir. And then were you organized into a squadron or—

JMS: No. No, we had no squadrons there at all. We were just little boys playing.

EAV: Then were you designated an aviator at that time, sir?

JMS: No. We didn’t get—as I remember it, we received the—I received my commission while I was awaiting transportation to Europe.

EAV: And your wings.

JMS: [unintelligible]. Yes, wings. We got the wings, but before we got the commission.

EAV: I see.

JMS: The commission reached me in November of the same year while waiting for transportation to Europe.

EAV: I see, sir. Then you were designated full-fledged combat pilots?

JMS: Yeah.

EAV: Ready to go?

JMS: Yes.

EAV: Did you have any humorous experiences during the—your training program, sir?

JMS: Not particularly. Most of our time was flying and having a good time.

EAV: From what I read, you people certainly knew how to have a good time and how to fight.

JMS: Well, I think if we had been serious about it, we wouldn’t have been flying.

EAV: Yes, I could understand.

JMS: Because most of the boys that I remember from aviation days were boys who were more interested in raising hell than they were in any other thing.

EAV: How many hours did you have by that time, sir, that the course entailed? Do you recall?

JMS: No, offhand I can’t tell. I have a record of it, but I wouldn’t know. As a matter of fact, I—we didn’t check time in the air until after we got flying in Europe.”

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Swaab was honorably discharged on 29 November 1917 to accept his commission as 1^st Lieutenant and moved to active duty status on 30 November. From Swaab’s World War I Jewish Servicemen Questionnaire,

“November 22^nd to December 7, 1917—Garden City awaiting transportation overseas. Joined 107^th Aero Squadron and departed for France via St. Johns, New Brunswick, Liverpool, and Southampton, England on December 10, 1917. Assigned to Issoudon, France as flying student; later a tester of aeroplanes. Assigned to Furbara, Italy (Aerial Gunnery School) during the latter part of June, July and early part of August 1918. Returned to Issoudon then went to Orley, Seine, from whence joined the 22^nd Pursuit Squadron, 2^nd Pursuit Group, 1^st Army on August 26, 1918. Victories with this Squadron numbered ten official, making Swaab 3^rd living American Ace”.

Swaab was assigned to the 107^th from 4 December 1917 to 23 February 1918; 22^nd Pursuit Squadron on 27 August 1918 to 31 March 1919. Lt. Swaab was wounded on September 10^th and 28^th, 1918;

“[September 28^th 1918] After becoming separated from the patrol, engaged in combat with 10 or 11 enemy planes destroying two of them. Having become wounded by machine gun fire during the combat lost consciousness and was forced to land on the side of a mountain- La Bresse, Vosages, France”.

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“JMS: Well, in those days, 130 miles an hour, which is about what our speed was, and there,130 miles an hour meant that you were going awful fast.

EAV: Oh, it sure did. Well, Mr. Swaab, were you ever shot down?

JMS: Once. That first flight.

EAV: Well, would you consider that a shoot-down or were you just out of fuel, sir?

JMS: Well, I wasn’t out of fuel. I probably was out of my head. [laughter] I was hit three times across the scalp by machine gun bullets.

EAV:Yes, sir. I thought that was—probably just through the—

JMS: It glanced off. I didn’t know what had happened, but I knew I was all bloody. That’s when I started for home.”

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“EAV: Oh, that’s wonderful. Well, after the war, sir, what did you—did you have any other postwar aviation—

JMS: Well, we flew for a long time overseas. I particularly stayed overseas because I was not physically myself. I didn’t want to go home with my—a bald head. A peculiar thing happened after that first flight. My hair grew in white.

EAV: Is that so?

JMS: They shaved it in order to fix the wounds. My hair came in absolutely white. And my ego decided for me that there was something wrong. I couldn’t show white around anywhere. So I went to Paris, and I had my hair in the front of the head taken out by electrolysis.

EAV: Is that so?

JMS: If I had known then what I know now. [laughter] So—”

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EAV: “You know, going back to your first flight, when you evaded the majority of the planes by going into the cloud and then lost consciousness, I think it was miraculous how you recovered in time enough to bring the aircraft under—

JMS: I don’t even remember coming back. At no time did I remember it, but I must have come back. My mind must have gained control because the only space on that mountaintop where I landed and turned over, that was the only spot that was clear. The rest was mountain-covered—it was tree-covered.

EAV: You know, in your other incident, that—when you were north of Verdun and a patrol of nine of your aircraft encountered about twelve Fokkers and three bi-place Rumplers, it was on that occasion you brought down one Fokker and aided in bringing down another.

JMS: Well, the individual experiences, I couldn’t recall.

EAV: But, again, you were certainly outnumbered in that encounter.

JMS: Well, their planes flew in squadrons of approximately what we flew, and I suppose they didn’t have any more planes in a squadron that were workable than we had.

EAV: I’m interested in your half-a-victory. Was it a split-type victory or—

JMS: I don’t really know. I don’t know how they figured it. I know they had to gain confirmation from the ground of any victory that was claimed before they gave it to you.

EAV: I notice in this one incident, sir, where two of your pilots saw one of the Allied balloons in flames, that an enemy Fokker was in the area. You cut him off and brought him down.

JMS: Yeah.

EAV: Do you recall that—

JMS: Yeah.

EAV: Was that low to the ground, close to the ground?

JMS: Yeah.

EAV: Was he just patrolling it or was he trying to shoot—or did he shoot it down?

JMS: No, I don’t think he did. No, I don’t think he did shoot it down.

EAV: On the bi-place planes, did you find their gunners pretty effective?

JMS: No, because they weren’t any more effective than the pilot was steering. I think, really, the funniest experience—not a personal experience but one of the most amazing happenings—my mother was always going to people who could prognosticate the future. I don’t think she believed in it too much, but she enjoyed it. But she went down to Atlantic City to see—and when she was there, she saw a man named [Kenilworth?]. And she told of the experience later, when I came back from the war. Kenilworth and she engaged in conversation, and my mother didn’t realize until the English language hit her ear that she had been conversing with Kenilworth in Spanish, French, Italian, German.

EAV: For goodness sake. 

JMS: She was quite a linguist. My sister is, too. I wish I were. And he told her at that time that her son—her oldest son had just joined the Army Air Service and that she would—should not worry because he would come home safely, even though injured, but would return in good health. So she called up my father in Philadelphia, and she asked where I was. And he said, “Well, at the present time, he probably is leaving Essington, Pennsylvania. He just joined the Air Service.” And my father later told—when this—the flight over the lines, the first one took place, it came over the wires and it was in all the papers that I was missing in action. And she said to my father, “Don’t worry about it. He’s all right. But think of the mothers of those other boys.” But that son of a bitch, I don’t know. He was uncanny. I know several things happened with that same man thereafter. On one occasion, my brother went to Atlantic City on a vacation. My mother—my—I said to him, “When you go down there, go and see this guy Kenilworth. [unintelligible]and see if you can find anything in his conversation that would reveal something of the man.” When he came back, I said to him, “Did you see Kenilworth?” He says, “Yes. But he’s crazy.” I said, “Why? What makes you say that?” “Well, he told me that I was going on an ocean voyage. I only wish the son of a bitch were right because I’ve never been on the ocean except to take a swim. And also, he told me that I was interested in things that came out of the ground and would make money.” So I said, “Well, you know, he isn’t as crazy as you think because I sold our Wayne Coal stock when you were away.” We had bought a couple hundred shares between us. We had no money. And we had made about $400 to $500. And I said, “It’s for that ocean trip you talked about. Supposing you get to the house because you’re leaving on the…”—I don’t know the name of the ship anymore—”…at midnight tonight. I’ll introduce you to somebody this afternoon you’re going with.” While he was away, had made a business deal which would require somebody to go along with a man we were financing, to go on a buying trip to Europe. And right after that, two of my friends went down to Atlantic City, and they went in to see Kenilworth. Not at my suggestion. And before those two boys left, he said to one of them, “I’m going to write down something on a piece of paper, I’m going to seal it in an envelope, and I don’t want you to open that until you get to your room tonight, after your business day is finished.” So the boy said, “What is it?” He said, “Nothing particular, but I don’t want you to read it until you get home tonight. Read it and study it. Give it some thought.” He took the letter—or the note and put it in his pocket. And that evening, his boyfriend who was down there with him got a phone call from the police, from the station. So he goes over to the station house, and he finds the boy’s been killed during the day, hit by a car or a cab. I don’t remember which. The way they found him, the boy had a key to the room in his pocket, and the police called the hotel. They opened the envelope and read it. And Kenilworth had said in there that he was too impetuous and that he should by all means be more guarded in crossing streets because his impetuosity would eventually cause trouble for him and maybe result in a serious accident.

EAV: For goodness sake.

JMS: And you know, they brought Kenilworth to trial in Atlantic City, predicting the future. And what happened saved him. Later, they took Kenilworth—they had him in an asylum for a couple years. But I just happened to think of that when—something you said.

EAV: Oh, that’s very interesting.

JMS: But he was quite famous—”

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“The correspondence referred to says Lieut. Swaab has had some thrilling experiences. A few days ago he was part of a patrol of five machines which was broken up by enemy shell-fire. In a high wind Swaab got lost and was carried far behind the enemy lines. He had lost direction and there was an aerodrome ahead. Thinking it was his own, the American selected it to land, but at a height of 200 meters he saw a Fokker arise in the front field. Swaab was in the sun and the boche could not see him, so he got the hun with seventy bullets.

Getting away from there but still lost, Swaab was attacked ten minutes later by eleven Fokkers. He dived and suddenly came up amidst the boche formation with both machine guns going. Two boche machines crashed, and swooping to a great height Swaab got away under protection of a heavy cloud.”

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“’I had become separated from my scouting party when flying above the clouds’, Swaab said. ‘I had just discovered I was above an enemy ‘drome and was in a hurry to get away from there and back home when a German plane approached’. As the German pilot hurtled his plane at him, Swaab accepted the challenge and opened fire. The German ship burst into flames and dove earthward. ‘I am sure I was more startled when I bested the German flyer than he was when he found himself beaten’ Swaab continued, ‘for it was my first enemy plane’. He regained his bearings and prepared to start home when he saw a large group of plans rise from the field. He counted them. There were 12 between him and his home airport! ‘There was nothing to do but fight’. Missing two of the planes, he shot down a third. Eleven more were all around him. Then he discovered he was wounded. Blood was dripping over his face from wounds in his scalp. ‘Besides being scared, I was suddenly sick at my stomach’. Another plane bore down on him. Swaab opened fire, but the German zoomed by. Still another approached. This time he fired and the enemy ship went into a tailspin. But one of them had sent a volley into his cockpit, wounding him again.

He looked around and to his glad surprise discovered that the enemy ships were behind and beneath him. He had a clear path home. ‘I headed the plane south toward Toul, darkness descended and I knew no more until I heard voices over me. I struggled back to consciousness and found myself in my own airport with several of my buddies around my cot. ‘They told me they had discovered me a few miles away where I had landed my plane in the only clear space for miles around. By instinct alone, for I was dead to the world, I had flown homeward and landed without knowing how I accomplished it’. It was not until after the Armistice that Captain Swaab, then a lieutenant, was given credit for the three planes he shot behind enemy lines. The experience was so amazing that American officers were inclined to think he had been ‘seeing things’.

A short time after the war a group of French and German airmen were frateranizing in a Paris saloon, drinking and telling of their adventures. One of the Germans said, ‘You have yet to hear of a most remarkable incident, about which hundreds of German flyers are still talking. Back in September 1918, when I was stationed near Metz, one of our number saw an American plane circling our ‘drome. He immediately set out to give battle, but was shot down before he had begun to fight. Hurridly, a dozen of us took off to avenge our comrade and teach the Yankee a lesson. Imagine our surprise when the American flew into us like mad, sent two of our planes crashing to earth and then headed for his own lines. Some of us followed but soon gave up the chase’. Thus it was that Captain Swaab was given belated credit for his exploit.”

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Lt. Swaab received the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, and the Croix de Guerre with Palm (citation unknown) for his actions in France, later, a recommendation for the Medal of Honor. Lt. Swaab was involved in at least ten confirmed victories;

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	08 Sep 1918	1235-1305	22nd	SPAD XIII	Two-seater	Cirey-Saarburg
2	08 Sep 1918	1235-1305	22nd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Cirey-Saarburg
3	08 Sep 1918	1235-1305	22nd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Cirey-Saarburg
4	28 Sep 1918	0840	22nd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Ivoiry
5	23 Oct 1918	1140	22nd	SPAD XIII (S7640)	Fokker D.VII	Thernogues
6	23 Oct 1918	1210	22nd	SPAD XIII (S7640)	Rumpler C	Thernogues
7	27 Oct 1918	1540	22nd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Sommerance
8	27 Oct 1918	1540	22nd	SPAD XIII	DFW C	Champiegneulle
9	29 Oct 1918	1620	22nd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Aincreville
10	31 Oct 1918	1555	22nd	SPAD XIII	LVG C	E of Verdun*

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“…Mayer Swaab says of his son: ‘He now ranks second among the living American aces with thirteen machines down, ten of which have already been officially certified. He cost the enemy about fifteen trained fliers, more than $250,000 worth of property and brought additional glory to the State of Pennsylvania.”

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“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Air Service) Jacques Michael Swaab, United States Army Air Forces, for gallantry in action while serving as a Pilot with the 22d Aero Squadron, 2d Pursuit Group, American Expeditionary Forces, in action near Metz, France, 8 September 1918, while on an aerial patrol over enemy lines.”

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant (Air Service) Jacques Michael Swaab, United States Army Air Service, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 22d Aero Squadron, 2d Pursuit Group, U.S. Army Air Service, A.E.F., near Montfaucon, France, 28 September 1918, and in the region of Champignuelle, 27 October 1918. On September 28 Lieutenant Swaab, although himself pursued by two enemy planes, perceiving one of his comrades in distress and in danger of being shot down, dived upon the enemy plane which was directly behind that of his comrade and shot the enemy plane out of control, forcing it to withdraw. His prompt act in going to the assistance of his comrade enabled the latter to escape. On October 27 Lieutenant Swaab and another member of his group engaged in combat with seven enemy planes. In this encounter, although outnumbered, Lieutenant Swaab continued in his attack and succeeded in shooting down an enemy D. F. W. observation plane.”

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Air Service) Jacques Michael Swaab, United States Army Air Forces, for gallantry in action while serving as a Pilot with the 22d Aero Squadron, 2d Pursuit Group, American Expeditionary Forces, in action near Thiaucourt, France, 31 October 1918, while leading a patrol.”

Swaab was promoted to Captain on 2 March 1919; he left Brest, France aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship S.S. Zeppelin on 9 April, arriving in Hoboken on 20 April. Capt Swaab was Honorably Discharged on 31 July 1919.

 

*“Jacques Swaab”. Aces/USA/Swaab. The Aerodome. https://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/swaab.php

Upon his discharge, Swaab lived with his parents on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, for a time, working at his father’s same employer, the Frank H. Fleer Corporation. He also listed his occupation as an imports agent. In or around 1922, Swaab married Beatrice Amy Rosenthal (1898-1984), who, during the War, worked for the Red Cross. The couple had no children and were divorced before 1930. In February of 1930, Swaab was elected President of the National Bureau of Aviation Employment after working as an aeronautical engineer. Swaab was a victim of the July 1930 Pennsylvania Railroad Accident, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in which a private automobile driven onto the railroad tracks caused the train to de-rail, killing 1 and injuring 69. The extent of his wounds are unknown.

In the late 1930s, Swaab was a technical advisor for an unknown number of films/studios- he had an uncredited crew role in the 1938 Errol Flynn film Dawn Patrol (“British flying aces in World War I contend with the harsh realities of war”). In the 1940s, Swaab lived at 1805 N. Wilcox Avenue in Los Angeles, California. In November of 1942, Swaab married divorcee Ina Greenberg Landon (1894-1967), who had one daughter from a previous marriage, Judith Brenna Landon (1932-2021). The family lived in Westwood, Bel-Air, California into the 1960s. Swaab died in Los Angeles on 7 July 1963 of an unknown cause, he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.