Salmson 2a2 Fabric ( combat used)
One of the more interesting things in my collection was picked up at a small military show in Maitland Florida. I was down for a 101st reunion and decided to check out the show. As I was walking the rows, I saw an older man setting up his table, and it looked like he had a lot of older garbage items for sale. I made another pass and my eyes almost bugged out of my head, when I neared his table. I saw the candy cane pattern painted on silk ( canvas). I asked the man if I could look at it, and I saw that it had writing on it. " American flag insignia taken from an American plane that was brot down by a Boche aviator, Château Thierry 1918". I flipped it over to see the green camo of the Salmson, and a portion of the red and white stripes of the flag. I asked him how much and he said 100. I almost broke my wrist getting the money out of my pocket. Needless to say I started researching the losses of the 1st Aero during the Château Thierry drive and have now narrowed it down to 2 aircraft lost, with the help of Alan Toelle. About a year ago, I was going to inspect another squadron insignia and I took out the canvas to bring with to make sure the weave of the fabric was the same. While I was doing that I noticed a small hole in the canvas. I believe now that the whole is a bullet hole. I hope you enjoy seeing it. Paul
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