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Vernon Castle and his Monkey Jeffrey
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Vernon Castle, half of the glamorous Castle dancing team, enlisted in the British Royal Flying Corps in 1915 and flew over 150 missions at the Western Front before being shot down. Afterwards Captain Castle was assigned to flight instruction camps in Canada and later at Benbrook Field in Texas. It was there on February 15, 1918, that he was killed in a crash during a training flight. Jeffrey the monkey and the student pilot in the rear seat survived.
1918
Brown Brothers
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W012HQR
WHi 11622
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Vernon Castle
1918
Captain Vernon Castle of the British Royal Flying Corps standing in uniform beside a Curtis Jenny with British markings. Castle flew over 150 missions at the Western Front before being shot down. A...
Irene Castle in Uniform
1917
The glamorous dancer Irene Castle wearing a World War I "Preparedness Uniform" of her own design. The dress was based on the uniform worn by her husband and partner, Vernon Castle, an aviator in th...
Vernon and Irene Portrayed by Fred and Ginger
1939
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the motion picture, "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" (RKO, 1939). Although Astaire and Rogers were ideally cast to portray the glamorous Castles, the "Story...
Flying Nun in a B-52
The real flying nun, Sister Mary Aquinas Kinskey, O.S.F., in a B-52 simulator with Major Ralph M. Hanson. Sister Mary Aquinas was fulfilling her dream of flying a jet plane. The sister, whose Franc...
Irene Castle and Vernon Castle in Uniform with German Shepherd Dog
August 21, 1917
Original caption:"The above picture is the first that has been taken of Mrs. Vernon Castle and her soldier husband since he returned to this country after his strenuous duties as a member of the Br...
WWI Pilot
1918
Captain John B. Stetson, Jr., the officer in charge of flying instruction at the American Expeditionary Force, 2nd Aviation Instruction Center near Tours, France. This photograph, taken by the Aeri...
