It was while fighting in France in WW I that the writing team of Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall met.
Charles Bernard Nordhoff (1887-1947) was born in London to American parents who returned to the United States with him in 1889, living first in Pennsylvania, then Rhode Island, and finally settling in California by 1898. After graduation he worked for his father's businesses, quitting in 1916 he joined other American expatriates as a pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille. He finished World War I as a lieutenant in the US Army Air Service. He should not be confused with his Grandfather, Charles Nordhoff (1830-1901), who is also an HNF author.
James Norman Hall (1887-1951) was born in Colfax, Iowa. After graduation he became a social worker in Boston, Massachusetts, and was on vacation in the UK when World War I began. Posing as a Canadian, he enlisted in the British Army, serving in the Royal Fusiliers as a machine gunner during the Battle of Loos. He was discharged after his true nationality was discovered but returned to France and also joined the Lafayette Escadrille. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre with five palms and the Médaille Militaire finishing the war as a Captain in the Army Air Service. He was awarded the French Légion d'Honneur and the American Distinguished Service Cross. He also has one work he authored alone.
Their HNF Bounty Trilogy was also made into a film Mutiny on the Bounty'