| Oliver Colin LeBoutillier | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Boots |
| Born | 25 May 1895 Montclair, New Jersey, USA |
| Died | 12 May 1983 (aged 87) Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |
| Allegiance | USA |
| Service/branch | Aviation |
| Years of service | 1916 - 1918 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | No. 209 Squadron RAF |
| Other work | Skywriter, stunt flyer, air racer, instructor, member of Civil Aeronautics Corporation |
Captain Oliver Colin LeBoutillier (May 24, 1894 – May 12, 1983) was a World War I aviator who witnessed the death of Manfred von Richthofen. He was a vigorous proponent of Captain Roy Brown as the victor over Richthofen.[1][2]
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He was born on May 24, 1895 to an English father and Canadian mother in Montclair, New Jersey.[3]
He trained at the Wright School in Mineola, New York. He then crossed into Canada and joined the Royal Naval Air Service on 21 August 1916. By April 1917, as a Sub-Lieutenant, he joined the No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service to pilot a Sopwith Triplane. Between 25 May and 29 July 1917, he scored four victories by driving enemy planes down out of control.[4]
On April 1, 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps were combined into the Royal Air Force and 9 Naval became No. 209 Squadron RAF.[5]
During a squadron dogfight on April 21, 1918 in the Somme River valley, LeBoutillier Robert Foster, and Merrill Samuel Taylor shot down an Albatros two-seater[6] and sparked a running dogfight during which Captain Roy Brown claimed the downing of Manfred von Richthofen. LeBoutillier claimed to have witnessed Brown's tracer bullets penetrating Richthofen's cockpit. Immediately after the crash, Oliver flew over the crashed triplane of von Richthofen.[7][8]
He finished the war with ten aerial kills; one shared aircraft captured, three destroyed (including two shared), and six 'out of control' (one of which was shared). He had over 600 hours flying time in his log book by the end of the war.[9]
Upon his return to the USA, LeBoutillier became a skywriter, and later an official of the Skywriting Corporation of America. He also became a barnstormer and piloted aircraft for eighteen movies, including: Hell's Angels and Wings. As a flight instructor he gave Amelia Earhart her first instruction in a twin-engined aircraft. He became a Civil Aviation Authority inspector in charge of Colorado and Wyoming. He died on May 12, 1983 in Las Vegas, Nevada.[10]
American Aces of World War 1 Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-375-6, 9781841763750.
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