Raynal Cawthorne Bolling[n 1] (September 1, 1877 – March 26, 1918) was the first high-ranking officer of the United States Army to be killed in combat in World War I.

He was touring his future area of operations to learn the nature of the work he would be expected to perform when he was killed in action by German troops during the opening days of the 1918 spring offensive.

In 1912, he commissioned Carrère and Hastings, the architects of the New York Public Library, to build an estate for him at 137 Doubling Road in Greenwich that he later named Greyledge.

Bolling also arranged for use of the American Aero Club's six-person balloon, the America III, to make a demonstration for the trainees.

Authorization to form an aviation section in the Signal Corps of the Guard was announced by New York Governor Charles S. Whitman in October,[9] and Bolling, who had just completed his flying instruction, was then appointed to the ACA's special committee to support its implementation.

[11] Throughout the winter of 1915-1916 the 1st Aero Company conducted flying operations, but by April continuing bad weather and engine problems slowed progress in training.

On August 1 the aviation school received the first of forty new aircraft to be delivered over the next eight months, most of them Curtiss Jennies, authorization to buy fuel, and to hire three civilian instructors and seven mechanics as staff.

After American troops under General John J. Pershing entered Mexico in March 1916, a group of wealthy New Yorkers underwrote another school at nearby Fort Jay in New York City.

They trained daily under the authority of and in conformance with regulations set down by General Wood with the goal of passing the RMA test and being commissioned in the new aviation section of the Signal Reserve Corps.

[18] In its second winter of operations but no longer under federal control, the 1st Aero Company continued training flights in conjunction with the small force of reserve candidates flying from Governors Island.

French premier Alexandre Ribot had sent U.S. President Woodrow Wilson a telegram at the end of May urging the United States to contribute 4,500 aircraft; 5,000 pilots; and 50,000 mechanics to the war effort.

Because of his legal experience Bolling was assigned to assist in the drafting of legislation to fund the development of military aviation in response to Ribot's proposal.

[28] Bolling reported to the Chief Signal Officer from Paris on August 15 and recommended that the United States send materials, engines, and parts for assembly of airplanes in Europe.

[27] To accelerate the number of American pilots, the report recommended that the best cadets then in ground schools be shipped to France to complete their primary flight training under French instructors.

[29] In particular Bolling and his Army colleagues, Captains Edgar S. Gorrell and Virginius E. Clark, were impressed by the concept of long-range strategic bombing, influenced by the Italian use of Caproni bombers against Austrian targets.

Following his work with the commission, Bolling joined Col. Billy Mitchell's aviation headquarters in Paris, which was still being organized, as Chief, Zone of the Interior, Air Service.

[32] One of his first tasks was the accelerated construction of a large flying school at Issoudun to provide advanced training to cadets completing their preliminary instruction in France, as he had earlier recommended.

[33][n 11] On November 17, 1917, the headquarters of the Air Service AEF underwent a shakeup when its new commander, General Benjamin Foulois, arrived from Washington, D.C., with a large staff and displaced all the existing members.

[31] To prepare himself he visited aerodromes of the Royal Flying Corps in the vicinity of Amiens in March 1918 to observe air operations in support of the British Expeditionary Force during the German spring offensive.

On the morning of March 26, 1918, during the opening phase of the offensive, Bolling and his driver, Private Paul L. Holder of the 22nd Aero Squadron, left their hotel in Amiens, headed for the British aerodrome at Harbonnières.

They found it deserted and continued driving east toward the front lines, where they encountered three British Army officers in Estrées-Deniécourt, including a major with whom Bolling had an acquaintance.

Bolling was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government and the Distinguished Service Medal by the United States Army.

The sculptor Edward Clark Potter created a life-size statue of Bolling that was cast in bronze by the Gorham Foundry of Rhode Island for permanent display near the town commons of Greenwich, Connecticut.