Frederick Libby was born in Sterling, Colorado back in 1891. Not much is known about his early childhood, but he was roping pronghorn at the age of ten. In 1904, he moved to the Indian Territory to work as a horse broker. In 1910, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona working as a cowboy.
He was living in Canada when WWI started working as a chauffeur. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1915, assigned to the motor transport division for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. he served in France before he volunteered to join the Royal Flying Corps, becoming an observer with the 23rd Squadron. On his first day of training it was machine gun practice in the morning, and flight status that afternoon. On his very first combat mission which was on his birthday he scored his first victory. Back then the observed was in the front and the pilot behind him. He died in 1970, he was 78.
What you may not know about Captain Libby is that he was the first American flying ace of WWI. He also served in the United States Army Air Corp.
NW Arkansas, come for a visit, stay for a lifetime.
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