Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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Frencii Wings, as a ])iirsuit Pilot for laiul and sea ])lanes. An exact i ' ei)ro(luetion of this insignia is shown under his i)ietiire. Very few of them were awarded. It is said that John was one of eleven wlio qualitied. After leaving the school at St. Raphael, John was a])pointed llight instructor at Issodon, In January, 1918, together with nine of his comrades, he attended the British Schools at Ayr and Turnhery, Scotland. Here they received advance training in “Aero (iunnery and Stunt Flying.” He (lualified in both branches, and was awarded the British Wings of the Royal Flying Corps. In the sjH’ing fighting of 1918, John served for several weeks with the British, for whom he had a profound admiration. He was otlcrcd a commission as Captain in the Boyal Flying Stiuadron, but early in Ajiril, he went to DuiK[uerquc (Dunkirk), France, dying with the Amer- ican navy. Duncjiierquc was the farthermost city to the north that was still in the Allied hands, it being some fifteen miles from the German line. From this point the Navy conducted its aid raids on German submarines, and submarine bases, and also sent out its ])lanes to destroy and combat the submarines after they had gotten to sea. The Germans retaliated by bombing the city at all times, from the land, from the sea, and from the sky. John was acting as a pursuit pilot, that is, he was flying a small single-seated fighting machine, that protected the bombing plane from the German aircraft. Unfortunately we have no details as to the work done by John during this last most brilliant jieriod of his brief career. Censorship was very strict and it is only now when those wJio w ere associated with him are returning home that some few ' facts about him are being learned. Those who knew ' the candid, straight-forward character of the man. his daring bravery, his im])etuous enthusiasm, will easily understand that his deeds of heroism w ere not few ' . It was during this time that he was w ' ounded in the neck by shrapnel while flying over the lines. He was in Paris convalescing, when he w ' as visited by an old Loyola friend. Lieutenant John J. Quinn, also of the aviation, who was then on his w ay to Nice. Lt. Quinn was ])robably the last Loyola boy whom John met, as the latter died about a month later. How ' dangerous was the post to which John was assigned may be judged from this, that when the Navy took over I)un(iuer([ue in A])ril, 1918, thirty eight pilots w ' erc sent to the station, w ' here they saw ' service everw ' day, either in raids or observation trips; w ' ithin tw’o months, thirty- one of the thirty-eight lost their lives. 8

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h Eu0ign 3ol)u (iauatpr M IS S UST as the Annual was going to press last year, a cable (lesi)ateh announced the death on May 18, 1918, ol Ensign John (ianster, sanctuary boy at St. Ignatius’ Church and student at Loyola High School. John had just completed his twenty-fifth year, having been born in Baltimore on Ain il 24, 1893. After tinishing his High School course, he took up the study of law and began practice with his brother, H. Walter Ganster, Jr., also a former Loyola student. His fondness for i)hysical exercise was helping to fit him for the strenuous work he was later to do for his countiT- He was a member of the Baltimore Athletic Club and was one of the relay team of four from the club which established the swimming record for 160 yards some years ago, a record which has not yet been broken. He was also a member of the water polo team that took part in the Olympic games at Stockholm, Sweden, several years before the war. Early in 1917, when it became apparent that war was inevitable with Germany, John stated that inasmuch as the Lhiited States was not in a ])osition to wage a successful war with Germany, he thought it proper that every young man should undertake some sort of military train- ing, so that when the hour came our country would be in some measure l)rei)ared for the struggle. He entered the classes in military training at the Johns Hopkins University, and after attending there for several weeks, the call came from the Navy De])artment for men to enlist for Aviation Training. On March 27th, 1917, John answered the call, and enlisted as a Pilot for Naval Aviation, and left at once for the training school at Pensa- cola, Florida, where he received his j rcliminary training, and on May 18th, 1917, as a member of the First Naval Aeronautic Detachment, he left this country and landed in France, May 28th. This Detachment was the first body of Americans to land in France. They were immedi- ately sent to Tours, where they received a month’s training on land- machines, after which thev went to Houtin Lak, for smooth water dying and hydroplanes. From there the remainder of the Detachment, some having been killed, and some having been dis([ualified for physical defects, were sent to the French School at St. Baphacl, where a ma- jority of them com])leted their training. On November 16th, 1917, John received his “Brevet de Pilote d’ Hydi-avion,” and sometime later was given the right to wear the 7

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On May 18, 1918, John was returning from a raid when the engine of the machine he was dying stopped when it was directly over Dun- querque, at a height of about two hundred feet. It was impossible to make the water of the outer harbor and as he was losing altitude very ra])idly he attempted to make a “stall landing” on the roof of a house, hut his machine being completely out of control, was blown from its course, one wing striking a chimney, which threw the machine into the street, so that John was instantly killed. It was a strange coincidence that his parents received a letter from him on the very day he died, Saturday, May 18, 1918. John Ganster’s memory will always live in the memory of all who knew him; it will be forever cherished by the boys of Loyola, present and to come. He did not live to see the realization of the victory for which he fought. But it was the supreme sacrifice that he and his brother-heroes oft ' ered on the altar of liberty that made the victory possible. They died that we might live. It is this thought that may help to lessen in some degree the grief of his family in their bereavement. The college of which he was a student and the congregation whose faithful allar-boy he was, offer them the tribute of deep and heartfelt sympathy. John Ganstcr lived not in vain. Mai] he rest in peaee. We publish below extracts from letters written by John to his mother, father and brother. They cover in an interesting way the period he spent over there, up to the time he went to Dunquerque where he was tirst wounded and later met his untimely death. (To His Brother) ; Tours, France, July 2. “This is the finest school imaginable. There are about two hundred machines here of the best type, and the stunts these Frenchmen pull otf would make your hair curl. To see the “loop the loop” is a common occurrence. We don’t even look at them anymore. Here is our daily routine. Turn out at 4 A. M. and have cotfee and cheese; start flying at 4.30 and tly until 9.30; instruction in the theory of tlight and motors from 9.30 until 10.30; cat at 10.30; sleej) until 4 in the afternoon; eat again at 4,30; fly from 5 until dark and again sleep. The French- men say that to tly one must have as much rest as possible, therefore I am becoming a star impil. I am looking forward to ' my graduation which will be in about two months from now. All of the instructors here are jiilots that have served at the front. Let me tell you the calibre of the man my instructor is. He was tight- ing a German 1,000 feet in the air and his observer was killed. He then shot at the Dutchman with his pistol until all his ammunition was gone. He was shot eight times in the right arm, but with his left he 9