Marion Aten
Marion Hughes Aten (20 December 1892 – 10 May 1961) was an American military figure and memoirist, who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF).
Biography
Marion Aten was born at Dimmitt in Castro County, Texas, the son of Austin Ira Aten (1862–1953) and Imogen Boyce (1867–1957). In 1914, he went from California to Toronto in order to enlist in the British air force.[1]
During the Russian Civil War he became part of the 47th Squadron under the command of Raymond Collishaw, sent to support the White Army in the Southern Front,[lower-alpha 1] scoring 5 victories against the Red Air Force.[lower-alpha 2] For his service, Aten was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Aten left the RAF and returned to the United States around 1927 to take over the family farm in Imperial Valley where he lived until his death in 1961. Not long after that, his book about his adventures in South Russia, Last Train Over Rostov Bridge, was published posthumously.[lower-alpha 3]
Marion Aten died at Holtville, Imperial County, California at 68 years of age.
Works
- "Flying Madmen," Liberty Magazine (1935; as told to H. Bedford-Jones)
- Last Train Over Rostov Bridge (1961; with Arthur Orrmont; foreword by Quentin Reynolds)
Notes
Footnotes
- ↑ Aten was the only American who flew for the White Army on the South Russian front during the Russian Civil War (1918–1920).
- ↑ Three Nieuport Scouts, a Fokker D.VII and a Fokker Triplane.[2]
- ↑ Aten was highly critical of Anton Denikin and showed a warm appreciation of Pyotr Wrangel. The memoir also includes a firsthand account of important events, such as the Battle of Tsaritsyn.
Citations
- ↑ Slavic Review, Vol. XXI, No. 4 (December 1962), p. 742.
- ↑ Shores, Christopher (1975). Fighter Aces. London: Hamlyn, p. 46.
References
- Jackson, Robert (1985). The RAF in Action: From Flanders to the Falklands. Poole: Blanford Press.
