Escadrille Cherifienne

By July, he had 17 volunteers, 12 of whom were pilots, including Paul Ayres Rockwell, had served France in World War I.

[8] After learning about the mercenaries, the U.S. Department of State issued instructions to its consul in Morocco to warn the Americans that they would risk the revocation of their citizenship, imprisonment, and fines under the Neutrality Act of 1794 if they did not end their involvement in the war.

While the initial public reception to the mercenaries had been mixed back home, their involvement in bombing campaigns caused widespread outrage.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it would've been one thing if the mercenaries were fighting for the Riffians, but that there was "nothing gallant or chivalrous in the rain of bombs, dropped on defenseless villages."

The Christian Century, a leading Protestant magazine, remarked, "These American soldiers of fortune have no pretexts other than the exaltation of the manhunt.

This is a royal sport and the fact that these women and children who have had the misfortune to be born in the Rif villages as victims has no more meaning for them than the death of a rabbit during a hunt.

Front page of the Paris edition of Le Petit Journal from August 6, 1925. Translation: "The American volunteer pilots left yesterday for Morocco / Before departure: General Dumesnil gives the American colonel Sweeny a bon voyage toast."
Paul Rockwell photographed at Beni Malek , where the escadrille was based. The image shows the escadrille's emblem: an American bison .
Photo of American members of the Escadrille Cherifienne , at a charity ball for the Association des Dames Françaises held at Majestic, December 12, 1925.