[Depicted in Attack of the Hawkmen, the 12th episode from the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, produced by George Lucas - released in 1999 - it’s original edit is from the second television film broadcasted on The Family Channel, titled Attack of the Hawkmen - released in 1995]
Indiana & Remy leave the war in Africa and return to France where they join the Belgian Intelligence division. In training, Indiana realizes that Belgium’s intelligence units were poorly organized and ineffectual compared to their French and British contemporaries.
Indiana & Remy decide to forge papers to get themselves transferred to the French Intelligence division, which leads them to the French Secret Service headquarters where they are assigned two vastly different types of employment. Remy was to be a chef in a Brussels cafe all the while being a main contact within the Belgian Underground, while Indiana was to head back to the Western Front to do photographic reconnaissance for the 124th Squadron, a group of volunteer American pilots who were fighting for the French Army.
Once Indiana meets the 124th Squadron he becomes reaquainted with Hobey Baker, the Princeton graduate who he ran errands for during his 'Spring Break Adventure'. He also meets the decorated French pilot Charles Nungesser, while finding out that the longest an aerial photographer had lasted in the unit was a meager 8 days.
On his first mission Indiana’s plane is shot down, and along with the pilot he’s soon captured by the Germans. Indiana then meets the German pilot who shot him down, named Manfred von Richthofen also known as the ‘Red Baron,’ who informs Indy that he wishes to avenge his brother’s death by way of challenging Nungesser to aerial combat.
Indiana inevitably escapes the Germans with help from Baker, and accompanies Nungesser in the air to photograph his duel with von Richthofen, which ultimately Nungesser gets the better of. Although eye witness accounts of the duel are vague, Indiana’s developed film proves that Nungesser shot down von Richthofen, which are published in the newspaper much to the German pilot’s disdain,
Later von Richthofen meets with airplane designer Anthony Fokker, who shows him the Fokker DR-1 Triplane, a much more powerful design than the Albatross D.III. Around this time Indiana is given a special mission to contact Fokker and persuade him to defect to the French.
After getting debriefed at the French Intelligence Headquarters he travels to Hannover with spy-related gadgets all over his uniform, hoping to hand deliver a letter to Fokker at his hotel room. With Nungesser flying Indiana parachutes into the town centre of Hannover, and although he goes unnoticed he doesn’t arrive to the hotel in time, and instead has to follow Fokker on a train headed towards Ahlhorn.
Once they reached their destination Indiana stealthily poses as Fokker’s valet, and accompanies him to a German military base where he meets with another aircraft designer named Villehad Forssman, who informs him that his new design will be arriving later in the day.
Through great patience and adversity Indiana is finally able to deliver the letter and speak to Fokker, who rejects the proposal on the basis that the Germans could offer more. In response Indiana asks Fokker if he cares whether or not his work is used for good or evil, and Fokker replies that in the end the advancements of technology will benefit humanity as a whole
As Indiana turns to leave he steals Fokker’s cigar box, and transforms it into a makeshift camera with the supplies he was given earlier by French intelligence. He then makes his way the Ahlhorn base to see Forssman’s invention, which turns out to be an enormous triplane that was equipped to drop bombs in New York City.
As Indiana is taking pictures he’s spotted by von Richthofen, which causes a commotion that leads to gunshots and ultimately a grand hydrogen explosion, destroying Forssman’s new aircraft and allowing Indiana to escape.
Indy then steals a motorcycle and gets to Hannover just in time to get transportation back to Paris.
Thus in this adventure Indiana directly interacted with:
Lafayette Escadrille - ‘Escadrille’ (small squadron) of the French Air Service, who were mostly American volunteers who served on the Western Front of WWI. 265 Americans in total served as part of a larger group known as the Lafayette Flying Corps, all of which was named after Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the French and American Revolutions.
Hobey Baker - Widely regarded as one of the best American athletes of his time period, he’s the only individual to ever be elected to both the college football & hockey Hall of Fames. Baker also served in the Air Force during WWI, where after serving with the 103rd and 13th Aero Squadrons (the former of which was formed with previous members of the Lafayette Escadrille) he was named captain and commander of 141st Aero Squadron, all of whom were deployed to France on the Western Front. He died at the age of 26 during a voluntary test flight once the war was already over, on the same day he was ordered to return to the United States.
Charles Nungesser - French ace pilot who was credited with 43 air combat victories, good enough for 3rd in France during WWI. Nungesser was also an adventurer, who is likely best remembered for rivaling Charles Lindbergh in attempting the first transatlantic flight from Paris to New York. Unlike Lindbergh, however, Nungesser and his co-pilot Francis Coli mysteriously vanished after they were spotted traveling over Ireland, making their disappearance one of the great mysteries in the history of aviation. Two weeks after their failed attempt, Lindbergh successfully flew from New York to Paris in his Spirit of St Louis.
Manfred von Richthofen - aka the ‘Red Baron’ - considered the ace of aces having been credited with 80 air combat victories, he led a unit called the Flying Circus, and was a national hero in Germany on top of being well respected throughout the world. He was killed in combat in 1918, yet would go on to be the subject of many books and films that continued the legacy of the Red Baron.
Anthony Fokker - Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer, most famous for the aircrafts he produced for Germany during WWI. After the war he continued his success in the Netherlands and the United States, ultimately selling the North American branch of his company to General Motors.
Villehad Forssman - Swedish engineer and aircraft designer who constructed WWI’s largest aircraft, a triplane with ten engines.
Locations in this adventure are:
Hannover - capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony, it is a major city in Germany that was heavily significant during WWII and the reign of Nazi Germany.
Ahlhorn - largest municipality in the district of Oldenburg in Lower Saxony.
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