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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http: //books .google .com/I Copyright^ 1920 By Daniel P. Morse, Jr. New York City PrinUd by The Blanchard Press New York Gty Bound by J F. Tapley & Co. ■Wilh Best Regards" 3 50t]^ Qino ^auaDton r BEING the log and operations of the Squadron while with the American Expeditionary Force in France, 1918-19, with other sundry items of in- terest to former members of the Squadron and personal recollections by the author Jl f^ ^2>U. 3S"0.S~ SDeHication To Our Comrades who have made the great sacrifice this volume is respectfully dedicated. 3n ffitmotiam BellowSy Franklin B. Bleckley J Erwin R, DeCampy Floyd Dodge y Gordon Dry deny Ralph Epperty George E, Gardiner y Edward H. Goettlery Harold E. Hois holt y A. K, B. KleinhenZy Harry K. PhillipSy George R. StevenSy Henry L. Upton y Charles H. WapleSy Ray M. Wilder y John R. Youngy David R. INTRODUCTION TO keep alive the pleasant memories of our days in O.D., and to hold and strengthen the ties of friendship formed between the members of the 50th Aero Squadron, after they have been demobilized and have again become plain citizens of the United States of America, this small volume has been printed. The facts set forth herein, though few they be, represent the dreams and achievements of the squadron from the CO. down to the last buck private; and in the years to come, when we have all attained to the dignity of Colonels and are inclined to "give her the gun" and *'zoom her" a bit when relating our experiences of the great war, they may help us to remember why "Bill Smith" was such a ''good old scout," and the occasion on which "Sam Jones" won his D.S.C. This little volume is sent to you by your former com- manding officer with the hope that in future days it will re- call the friendships made and good times found while in the 50th Squadron in France — in spite of the hard times we all went through in the great European War. Although none of us who came through it successfully would choose to go through it again, it is something we are glad we have not missed. It has been written solely for the men of the squadron, and only 350 copies printed. Each volume is numbered and fully copyrighted and therefore is not for outside publica- tion. This has been done in order to make the book very valuable to you and something which you will keep for your lifetime. If it had been meant for a commercial publication, an entirely different plan in writing it would have been used, so I ask you to respect this wish and keep it a book solely for "us." Much credit is due "Bill" Frayne for his help in writing the log and operations, as much of his composition has been included without change. Also to "Bullets" Wessman for his work in binding the book. DANIEL P. MORSE, JR. New York City, January, 1920. The number of this volume is u ! A . CALENDAR Aug. 6, 1917. Sept. 12, 1917. Nov. 10, 1917. Dec. 28, 1917. Jan. 3, 1918. Jan. 9, 1918. Jan. 23, 1918. Jan. 24. 1918. Feb. 4, 1918. Feb. 4 to July 3,1 191? !. July 3, 1918. July 13, 1918. July 14, 1918. July 15, 1918. July 17, 1918. July 23, 1918. July 27, 1918. Aug. 3, 1918. Aug. 20, 1918. Aug. 22, 1918. Sept. 4, 1918. Sept. 7, 1918. Sept. 12, 1918. Sept. 23, 1918. Sept. 26, 1918. Oct. 7, 1918. Oct. 28, 1918. Nov. 6, 1918. Nov. 11, 1918. Dev. 6, 1918. Dec. 12, 1918. Dec. 15, 1918. Jan. 20, 1919. Jan. 21, 1919. April 19, 1919. April 20, 1919. April 22, 1919. May 8, , 1919. May 31, , 1919. Organized at Kelly Field No. 1, San Antonio, Texas. Moved to Kelly Field No. 2, San Antonio, Texas. Moved to Kelly Field No. 1, San Antonio, Texas. Entrained for Garden City, N.Y. Arrived at Garden City, N.Y. Sailed on H.M.S. Carmania for overseas duty. Landed at Liverpool, England. Arrived at American Rest Camp, Romsey, England. Moved to Harlaxton, Grantham, England. Attached to Royal Air Force for training. Moved to Flower Down, England. Embarked at Southampton for France on S.S. St. George, Arrived at Le Havre, France. Left Le Havre for St. Maxient. Arrived at St. Maxient. Entrained for Gondrecourt. Arrived at Gondrecourt. Reported to 1st Corps Aerial Observers' School, Amanty. Received first Liberty plane. First Liberty crash. First fatal casualty. Moved to Behonne (near Bar-le-Duc). Moved to Bicquely (near Toul). St. Mihiel drive started. First operations over the lines. One machine lost in action. Moved to Remicourt. Argonne drive started. Found the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division in the Argonne. Moved to Clermont-en-Argonne. Last mission over the lines. Armistice signed. "A" Flight moved to Langres. "C" Flight moved to La Valbonne (near Lyon). '* B" Flight moved to Clamecy. ''A*' Flight moved to Clamecy. "C" Flight moved to Clamecy. Entrained at Clamecy for Marseilles. Arrived at Marseilles. Embarked on S.S. Caserta for New York. Arrived in^New York. Demobilization completed. 30th AERO SQUADRON 11 I The history of the 50th A.S. is written in appreciation of the work done by everybody in the Squadron while under my command in France between August i, 1918, and Feb- ruary 12, 1919. The mere words "express my appreciation'' in no way express my real feeling. About the only way to tell you nearest how I feel about the ''bunch" is that I want to be CO. of the 50th Squadron in the next war — if such a misfortune occur — and I want the same bunch in it who fought and worked so well to beat the Huns. In this small but potent history I am going to expand quite a few personal ideas on matters with which I have come in contact in active operations. I feel it coming — that I am going to try to forestall all the "fool questions'' so often asked us so that when your relatives start in all you will need to do is hand them this book and say "there's the answer.'' All of you to whom this is going know very well what peculiar ideas the public have regarding aviation in war. This has been caused entirely by the "hero" idea tagged on an "aviator." My idea is entirely different. I believe the ^*hero" should be tagged on the doughboy, the fellow who carries the rifle and uses it — and the bayonet — who actually has to take the ground and lives through hell to do it. By this I don't mean to belittle our work by any means, but to trv to foster the idea which I believe to be the correct one, that aviation is a "branch" of the infantry, as is the artil- lery, and an extremely important branch to help the dough- boy take the ground. Also that outside of strictly military circles, the observation work, army, corps and divisional, is not well enough known, and that the civilians believe that aviation work consists entirely in knocking down enemy planes. That this is a false idea, of course we all know, but I know I can rely on all of you to dispel this notion when- ever the opportunity offers itself. Also that the observation side of aviation is the most important part; then comes bombing and chasse, about equally important. The fact that territory actually has to be taken to make an operation suc- cessful puts observation first, as that is the branch actually working with the troops on the ground. The bombing is 12 ^oth AERO SQUADRON for the annoyance of the enemy's rear and supply service^ and morale in general, especially when bombing is done near the front lines; and the chasse is for the protection of the observation and bombing by actual escort of observation and bombing planes and by knocking down and driving oflf enemy planes and thus minimizing the annoyance they may give to the successful conclusion of observation, and bomb- ing, missions. This statement is also borne out by an article on "War Inventions That Came Too Late," in Harper's Magazine for November, 1919, when, speaking of aeroplanes, "The chief purpose of airplanes in war is to observe the enemy's movements and positions ; aerial battles are spectacular, but they are not war; the ^ace' fights his air duels solely to pro- tect his own or destroy the enemy's observation planes. So the chief aim of every army is to obtain a supply of observa- tion-planes and only enough high-speed pursuit-planes to afford these the necessary protection." The pleasing part of observation work to me is the fact that it is constructive as far as warfare can be so. We were always trying to save the lives of our own men, by spotting the enemy so that our troops could meet him to the best ad- vantage; by serving as a means of communication from the front lines to the rear when communication was cut, by re- porting the position of our own front line troops so that our artillery wouldn't fire on our own troops ; by taking pic- tures of the enemy's lines and back areas so that the infantry would not go over the top blind; and by many other ways which will be brought out later. On each mission, in observation, the pilot and observer have something definite to do. They might start off on a "surveillance." They would then send down their "call let- ters" on the way out to the front by their wireless, and by the time they reached there the artillery unit for which the call was meant would be in readiness. It would have its "panel" out, a piece of white cloth of various sizes and shapes according to the unit using it, and the plane would fly over the spot and on seeing the panel send down its "un- derstood" letters in code. Then, going over the enemy lines, they might see a convoy of trucks on a road not visible from the ground on our side of the lines. The wireless would then send its call letters to the artillery and the coordinates of the spot where the trucks were. The artillery shot according to those directions, and if the shots fell away from the tar- 30th AERO SQUADRON 13 g-et, the observer sent down his code letters to tell the artil- lery at what distance from the target his shots fell. Or the mission might be a "reconnaissance." The plane would then proceed directly over the enemy's lines within the section assigned it and the observer would try to see all he could. Opportunity might come up for him to direct the artillery, as in the surveillance plane, but if not he flew over the enemy lines and reported everything he saw, or did not see. For instance, he reported whether a certain road be- tween two specific towns were "active" — much traffic on it — or the actual amount of trucks, artillery, horses, troops, etc., seen, or whether he had seen absolutely nothing. The latter, strange as it may seem, is just as important to know about the enemy's actions as is the former. If the observer saw anything especially important, such as troops about to attack or appearing about to, he wirelessed down certain letters and numerals which, when translated from the code, meant that the enemy was about to attack at a certain place. When the mission was completed, the plane flew over the headquarters of the division for which the plane was work- ing and dropped a written message stating all particulars as to what was seen, the exact place, the exact time and the height at which the plane was flying and signed it with the observer's name and the name of his pilot. This message was dropped on a previously designated spot marked by a divisional panel, of specific shape. A duplicate message was also dropped at the Corps headquarters, also marked on the ground by a panel of specific shape. Upon returning to the squadron field, still another duplicate report was made out and that telephoned into Corps headquarters. Corps head- quarters telephoned that to the division interested if it had not already received the one dropped. Thus at least one of the messages reached the division if those that were dropped were lost. The division sent the information contained in the report to the lower commands in the division, and each lower command issued such orders to those below it as it deemed necessary from the information received from the plane. It can be seen that, theoretically at least, the infor- mation from the plane reaches the troops in the front line in some form or other. In actual operations, however, the theoretical does not always happen, but at least the staflf of the division know conditions and issue orders accordingly. It is interesting to note here that there were a few times during attacks that the 77th Division got information of 14 soth AERO SQUADRON their advanced troops for as long a period as eighteen hours only through the reports our pilots and observers brought in, and that our reports were always taken as authentic and a deciding factor when any doubt appeared. The impor- tance of this can only be fully realized by those who have been through some real war, but the value to the man fight- ing on the ground can be seen when the doughboys have gone over the top and no more is heard from them until the aeroplane brings back word. Then there is the ''infantry contact'' or ''infantry liaison" plane. This is the finest kind of "constructive" work — and also the most dangerous. It is especially perilous because the plane is obliged to fly low, sometimes just over the tree- tops, and is the target for all the enemy rifles and machine guns in the vicinity as well as for their anti-aircraft artil- lery and one-pounder machine guns. It is a question of wits as well as good luck if the pilot can bring his plane through such a mission. It means outguessing the enemy on the ground by much twisting and turning and changing of alti- tude, but not by "acrobatics." Flying over and reporting to division headquarters by wireless, the men in the plane see another panel opposite the regular divisional panel, which means "Where are my front elements ?" The observer sends down his "Understood" message and starts oflf. He has a general idea where our front line troops should be, but it is his job to find out their exact location, for it is evident from the panel on the ground that the division does not know this and that communication is probably cut oflf. Flying perhaps only 300 or 500 meters high (he is within riflle and machine- gun range up to 1,000 meters) he approaches and flies across where No Man's Land should be. At the first "Archie" burst, he knows he is where the enemy is, so turns and looks on the ground for signs of No Man's Land. Probably not finding any, he flies along where he thinks it should be and fires oflf his pistol rocket, sending out luminous stars, like roman candle fireworks. He has guessed right, for below him here and there appear white patches — the infantry front line is showing its panels. The observer in the plane care- fully charts each spot on his map, which forms a jagged line. He has "found" where our foremost troops are. He then shoots his "Understood" rocket and the panels disappear. Suddenly he may see from the midst of the white spots a rocket like a shooting star. His wireless gets busy at once, for that is the signal that our own artillery is falHng on our 50th AERO SQUADRON 15 troops. They had probably gone too far, or our artillery was ignorant of the fact that it was shooting short. The message is received at division headquarters and all work is stopped while they get word to the artillery to lengthen fire. The aeroplane has saved hundreds of our troops from death and wounds. Or the observer may spot another peculiarly shaped and larger panel just in back of where the smaller panels were. He recognizes that immediately as meaning' ''We need ammunition." Suddenly that is taken up and an- other panel put down. The observer knows that sign best! of all, and without a moment's loss he turns and scans the! sky. That panel had meant "Enemy aircraft approaching' you." While his attention had been diverted to all the needs of the infantry, some enemy planes had tried to surprise him. But the men working the panels on the ground had seen them and warned our plane. A fight then follows, which decides whether or not the vastly important informa- tion is to reach division headquarters. It is the duty of the pilot and observer of our machine to get this information back safely and in the quickest possible time, so they fight a defensive fight. The pilot and observer know that if they do not get this information back, it will not be known that our men need ammunition and that headquarters will not know the position of their front line. Their chance for no- toriety by bringing down an enemy plane is slim, but all glory go to them because they have done a wonderful serv- ice for our men living and dying through hell on the ground. It is this phase of aviation that the public does not know, but the pilots and observers are satisfied in not receiving that notoriety in that they realize the real service they are per- forming to the men on the ground, cut oflf from their rear by the enemy barrage. Another very important part of observation is photog- raphy. This generally calls for high flying, i5,ocx) to i8,ocx) feet, and is very dangerous as well as important work. The pilot and observer are given a certain area in back of the enemy lines to obtain pictures of, and it is very necessary that they know their map well. Protection is given them by several other biplane machines or a group of chasse planes, who are responsible that the photographic plane returns with the pictures. Inasmuch as the areas to be photographed are generally well inside the enemy lines, the mission is ex- tremely liable to be attacked by enemy planes, as well as being shot at continually by enemy anti-aircraft guns. Oc- 50th AERO SQUADRON 17 casionally a single machine will go over, but as the chances are too great for such important work, that the plane will either be brought down or driven from its mission, this practice is discouraged by those knowing the conditions to be met. Here again the work is directly for the man on the ground, for it is these pictures which will tell him what there is to be overcome on the territory in front of him, thus sav- ing many lives. You can well imagine from the foregoing that the ob- servation end of aviation is the most important of all avia- tion. The pilots and observers are always in direct touch with everything going on in their sector and on each side, and therefore it is most interesting. The commanding offi- cers and operation officers can do wonders for this interest in the way they do their work. That is especially true in regard to the operation officer in the way he keeps his infor- mation, maps and photographs up to date. The work of "Jay" Bird (now Captain Stewart Bird) as operations offi- cer for the 50th stood out highly in this respect, and much of the credit for the tine showing of the Squadron should go to him. Needless to say, the pilots and observers and the enlisted men who kept the machines in order and the quarters in condition deserve a world of credit, too. The Field at Remkourl 18 50th AERO SQUADRON II Historical Account of the Organization and Functioning of the 50th Squadron The 50th Aero Squadron was organized at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, August 6, 191 7, with an enlisted strength of 149 men. On August 28th Major Patrick Fris- sel was assigned to the squadron per S.O. 88, Par. 27, Head- quarters Kelly Field, and he was the sole officer during the first month of its organization. The squadron at that time performed ordinary garrison duties. On September 12th the squadron was transferred to Kelly Field No. 2 and designated as a school squadron. The personnel was started, being instructed on motors and mag- netos, besides their garrison duties. During September it was practically the same, necessary equipment being still lacking for fuller instruction. The latter part of October Major Frissel was relieved and Captain H. F. Wehrle, being next in rank, took command, until he was relieved Novem- ber 5th, when the duties fell on First Lieut. Gordon Dodge. On November 17th the squadron moved back to Kelly Field No. i and was designated as a service squadron. Perhaps it would be appropriate here to explain the dif- ferent kinds of squadrons, for the ordinary layman, when he hears of an aero squadron, thinks only of a squadron with aeroplanes doing actual combatant work, while as a mat- ter of fact only a very small percentage of the squadrons are such. By a service squadron is meant a squadron such as the layman thinks of. It is equipped with planes and fly- ing personnel, pilots (and observers, if equipped with bi- plane machines), enlisted personnel consisting almost en- tirely of mechanics, wireless men, machine-gun experts, or armourers, as they are called, and chauffeurs. The service squadron is the one which actually does the fighting. The school squadrons are made up mostly of mechanics, and they attend to the work of the aviation fields where pilots are trained. Then come the construction squadrons. Their work consists of building new airdromes, smoothing the field and building hangars and barracks. Their job in France was a most important one as well as a hard one. New fields were called for almost overnight, and especially so in the latter months of the war, when a war of movement set in. Then there are park, or supply squadrons, whose business 30th AERO SQUADRON 19 is to keep the service squadron supplied with spare parts, gasoHne, oil, and the thousand other things necessary for a service squadron to operate. You see how everything^ hinges around the service squadron. For each service squadron there are at least five squadrons leading up to it and keep- ing it supplied with personnel or equipment, either directly or indirectly. Behind the park or supply squadrons are the depot squadrons, who act as a supply base and where new planes are flown and where the pilots of service squadrons come to get new planes. In back of the depot squadrons are the replacement squadrons, whose personnel is needed by the service squadrons. In back of them are the repair squadrons, at the larger repair bases, where old planes are salvaged for everything worth while, old motors repaired and sent back for service and new machines set up after be- ing unpacked from the crates in which they come from the factory. Thus it can be seen just what the name "serv- ice squadron" represents. On December nth Major M. F. Davis was assi^^ned to and took command of the 50th Aero Squadron. On Decem- ber 28th the squadron was started from Kelly Field for over- seas duty and was ordered to Garden City, Long Island, per S.O. 216, Par. 22, Headquarters Kelly Field. It arrived there January 3, 191 8, and on January 9th boarded trans- port No. 508 at New York per confidential order No. 41, Headquarters Aeronautical General Supply Depot and Con- centration Camp, Garden City, Long Island. The squadron records for February, March and April are missing, but it is a matter of personal recollection amongst the men that the squadron landed at Liverpool January 24th, and pro- ceeded to the British Aviation Field at Harlaxton, England, there relieving a British squadron for duty at the front and taking over the duties of a school squadron, running the English airdrome at that place. This arrangement was most wise, for it gave the English additional service squad- rons and allowed our men to gain the experience and exacti- tude on airplanes so absolutely necessary for a service squadron to possess. Major Davis was relieved February 4th and Lieut. H. A. Sharrett took command until March 20th, when 2nd Lieut. C. D. Burrell was assigned and took command. Very excellent training was given the men at Harlaxton Field, near Grantham, England, between February 8th and July 3rd. The men were given instruction for the first three 20 50th AERO SQUADRON weeks by a few English mechanics and then took over the en- tire work. This consisted of keeping the aeroplanes in condi- tion both as to the rigging and the motors, the major repair of planes, the central workshop and transportation. Then special men were picked for gunnery, wireless, photography and bombing instruction. The men were shifted from time to time to get a more thorough knowledge of all branches, and a complete record kept at all times as to their best quali- fications. On July 3rd the squadron moved to Flower Down, Win- chester, per telegraphic orders Headquarters Base Section No. 3, Service of Supply, and on July r3th left England for France, arriving at Le Havre July 14, 1918. From there it proceeded to St. Maixent, arriving July 17th. Special equipment was procured there for the men, such as gas masks, steel helmets, pistols, etc. On July 8th the Medical Officer, I St Lieut. L. G. Fenier, rejoined the squadron, and on July 22nd I St Lieut. Gus Kohn was assigned and took command. On the next day the squadron was ordered to proceed to Amanty, Meuse, per S.O. 152, Par. 79, Headquar- ters S.O.S., and arrived there July 27th. On July 28th Cap- tain (then ist Lieut.) Daniel P. Morse, Jr., took command per S.O.S. 95, Par. i. Headquarters First Corps Observation Training Center. - 30th AERO SQUADRON 21 Amanty was the first American aviation field near the front in France, and it was used from October, 191 7, to May, 1918, as a training center for aerial observers. It was there that Captain Morse went with the ist Aero Squadron, the first American squadron on the front, in October, 1917, and helped train the first aerial observers for the American Air Service. First Lieut. Stewart Bird, the Operations Offi- cer of the 50th Squadron, was one of the officers here at that time undergoing instruction. After spending the win- ter at Amanty as a pilot. Captain Morse started operations over the front with the ist Aero Squadron from Ourches on April 4th, piloting one of the three planes which formed the first mission over the lines of any American squadron. Lieut. Bird was his observer on that mission and until the 50th Squadron started operations they were the only two in the squadron who had seen service on the front. This is brought out to show the wonderful work the new pilots and observers did without even a look at the front lines before they were called upon to operate in the St. Mihiel oflfensive. It illustrates in a most magnificent manner the power of in- dividual initiative shown by the American Army in France and why they were so successful against an army drilled for years and with four years' actual fighting experience in back of them. During August the squadron was in process of organiza- tion, gathering together material, supplies, etc., for active operations. The experience of the new commanding officer was used to best advantage, as his work over the front had taught him many little things of value which an inexperi- enced man on the front would not know of. It is pleasing to note here that the policy of" the Chief of the Air Service, A.E.F., was to take officers with experience on the front as squadron commanders when new squadrons were formed. Major-Qeneral Patrick did this in spite of the fact that they were only Lieutenants, while he could have found plenty of Majors in the S.O.S. or "overnight'' Captains and Majors, made in the States, to put in these new commands. It is one consolation to these squadron commanders that prac- tically none of the recipients of these "overnight" promo- tions, amongst those who stayed at home, ever came to the front, and some time it will be asked: "How many service stripes have you?" and not "What rank were you?" It was a most serious fact, which gradually became a joke, and in- cidentally interfered with the proper running of the squad- 22 50th AERO SQUADRON rons on the front, that ist Lieutenants and Captains were filling Majors', Lieutenant-Colonels' and Colonel's jobs in the A.E.F. Air Service. It was simply a source of irritation to these men, as they all knew of the many promotions go- ing on in the States, and the A.E.F. Air Service received none until October 24th, just sixteen days before the armis- tice was signed. The organization of the 50th Squadron for active serv- ice went on smoothly, though slowly, because of shortness of equipment, such as motor trucks, spares, etc. First Lieut. Gus Kohn was Adjutant, ist Lieut. E. E. Esslinger was En- gineering Officer, 2nd Lieut. C. D. Burrell was Supply Offi- cer, 2nd Lieut. R. W. Wessman was Armament Officer, and 2nd Lieut. C. R. Bradley was Radio Officer. These officers, with the Commanding Officer, ist Lieut. D. P. Morse, Jr., constituted the executive part of the squadron at the time. During this month the following pilots were assigned: 1st Lieut. R. M. Anderson 1st Lieut. A. T. Bird, Jr. 1st Lieut. Ralph Dry den 1st Lieut. S. G. Fitzsimons I 1st Lieut. T. P. Hardin ' 1st Lieut. Simon Klosky ' 1st Lieut. F. T. McCook 1st Lieut. P. P. Martin 1st Lieut. C. R. Phillips 1st Lieut. C. H. Upton 2nd Lieut. H. L. Stevens 2nd Lieut. D. C. Beebe 2nd Lieut. W. D. Frayne 2nd Lieut. H. E. Goettler and the following observers : 1st Lieut. H. H. Ashley 1st Lieut. R. L. Cole 1st Lieut. A. C. George 2nd Lieut. F. B. Bellows 2nd Lieut. E. R. Bleckley 2nd Lieut. H. C. French 2nd Lieut. E. H. Gardiner 2nd Lieut. S. S. Woodley 2nd Lieut. R. L. Young The work of organizing the flying end of the squadron then came up. American-made De Haviland 'V' planes with the Liberty motor were assigned to the squadron, it being the second squadron to be equipped with the much-talked- of "Liberty'' aeroplanes. These were flown over from the 1st Air Depot at Colombey-les-Belles to our field at Amanty 50th AERO SQUADRON 23 until we had our full quota of eighteen. These were then divided up into "flights" of six planes each, each pilot being assigned his own machine, three or four mechanics assigned as the "crew" for each machine, and one mechanic out of each crew assigned as "crew chief." Then for each flight there was assigned a "flight sergeant," who was a mechanic of much ability and who acted as a supervisor over the work of all the mechanics in his flight. Then there was a "Flight Commander," a pilot designated as such to have tactical control of each flight. The first flight commanders were 2nd Lieut. H. E. Goettler, ist Lieut. F. T. McCook, and ist Lieut. T. H. Hardin. The different departments, such as supply, armament, radio and engineering, were given the general line to follow according to the commanding officer's views and experiences and set to work. The rough spots in each were soon worked off, and before it could be realized the squadron was func- tioning in a very satisfactory manner. This was due pri- marily to the excellent work of the executive officers (or "ground officers," as they are familiarly called), who had previous training in their respective branches before being assigned to the squadron. The work of trimming up the new planes was then started. It took considerable work, as the first Liberties to come through were in need of a considerable amount of re- pair, owing to the fact that the mechanics at the assembling plants were as yet unaccustomed to the Liberties. Later on they came through in much better condition. A few of the pilots, also, were not given enough time in the schools, so that it was necessary to have some double control instruc- tion by English-trained pilots, who had had considerable time on the English D-H 4, which was exactly like the American D-H 4, except the motor. Then sand bags were put in the rear seat and the new pilots allowed to go up alone. This resulted in several minor crashes, with only minor injuries. The chief cause of these crashes was the fact that the wheels were too light, and unless a perfect landing was made the wheel would buckle and the result was a broken machine. Our troubles were considerable, but were overcome by the fine constructive spirit of both the men and officers of the squadron. The machines were then sent up to have the wireless tested in the air, and after the ma- chine guns were lined up and worked in on the ground, tar- get practice from the air on a ground target was started. 24 ^oth AERO SQUADRON During one of these practice shoots, on August 28th, Lieut. Upton lost control of his machine and crashed, resulting in his death and severe injuries to Lieut. Woodley, his ob- server. Lieut. Dryden also had a severe accident on August 20th while landing on the field after testing his wireless. His observer, Lieut. Young, also received severe injuries, and they were both sent at once to the hospital. The absolute lack of transportation need not be gone into minutely, as it lasted throughout the war. Just at the time the squadron arrived in France the Motor Transport Corps took over all the Air Service transportation, they sup- posedly to portion all the available transportation in France amongst all units — infantry, artillery, air service, etc. As a matter of fact, the system proved nearly disastrous to the Air Service. The 50th Squadron, for instance, operated un- til the end of the war on an average of four trucks, two (never more) automobiles, and three motorcycles, while the table of organization called for some eighteen trucks, four cars and five motorcycles. This difficulty was overcome also by the wonderful spirit and morale in the squadron and the smooth-running organization. After being ready for active operations about two weeks, orders were issued September 2nd for the squadron to pro- ceed to Behonne, near Bar-le-Duc, a distance of about 45 miles, and work with the 5th Corps, ist Army, in the immi- nent St. Mihiel offensive, per S.O. 115, Headquarters ist Army. In spite of only five trucks, the squadron was com- pletely moved on September 4th. On September 7th, new orders came out transferring the 50th to the ist Corps and moving to the new field at Bicqueley, just south of Toul, a distance of about 55 miles, as per S.O. 281, Headquarters ist Army. Additional transportation for this move was loaned by the ist Pursuit Group, and the entire move accomplished in one day. When just about to land on the Bicqueley field from Behonne in this move, Lieut. Hoisholt lost control of his machine and crashed, resulting in his death and also that of Private Kleinhenz, his mechanic, who was in the back seat of his machine. The St. Mihiel oflfensive was now only a few days oflf; in fact, we expected orders every evening that 'D'" day and "H" hour were to be the next morning. Lieut. Stewart Bird was assigned on the 9th as Operations Officer, and for three days he was the busiest man imaginable, getting all the maps, operations orders, etc., together. His work was mar- 30th AERO SQUADRON 25 velous, and when, on the evening of September nth, we re- ceived orders that ''D" day was to be September 12th and ''H" hour at 5 .-30 A.M., he had everything in readiness. The work of Captain Perry, then a First Lieutenant, who was in charge of the construction squadron on the field, cannot be overlooked. If it had not been for his most excellent work in getting hangars and barracks built and the field in shape on time, we would have been even more severly han- dicapped. So at 5:30 A.M., September 12th, the squadron started active operations. It was assigned to do the aviation work for both the 82nd and 90th Divisions. Even for a squadron long on the front, with a large percentage of experienced pilots and observers, it would have been a considerable job, as not more than one division is supposed to be taken care of by one squadron. How well the inexperienced pilots and ovservers did this task can best be seen by the accounts of the active operations following. It might be explained here that the 50th Squadron was a Corps Observation Squadron, assigned to do divisional avia- tion duties. This sort of work, in fact, is the real reason for having aviation in modern warfare, as these squadrons work directly with the infantry and artillery on the ground. They are the ones who get all the information of enemy move- ments, etc., and do the extremely important work of infan- try contact patrol, which is to find out and tell the divisional headquarters where their front line troops are when com- munications are cut. They are the only means of communi- cation in many cases during a battle. It is also a fact that the general public knows Httle about this end of aviation, even though this is the most important branch of aviation. Its proper or non-functioning can save or destroy thousands of lives of our own troops, and it also can be the means of the success or failure of an offensive. This is not known by the general public because of the notoriety given the "chasse" planes when. they bring a Hun plane down. No mention has ever been made when the observation planes saved hundreds or even thousands of our own troops. It is the most constructive work in the combatant arm of the army, and it is for that reason the pilots and observers have such a fine morale and spirit when their commanding officer brings this side of it out to them. It will also undoubtedly be of interest to comment upon the Liberty plane and engine, as so much publicity was given 26 30th AERO SQUADRON it when we first entered the war. The spirit of the ''obser- vation" end of the air service seemed to be that those men flying Liberties would take it for no other, while those fly- ing French-made planes did not care for it. In other words, those pilots not having a personal demonstration of it in actual battle did not realize its worth. This statement, how- ever, does not include the bombing squadrons, as their mo- rale appeared to be at a low ebb as regards the Liberty, caused mostly by the fact that the D-H 4 with Liberty en- gine did not have enough wing spread to carry the load of bombs up high in rarified air and keep up its speed. Fourteen of the experienced flyers on the front from the 50th Squadron were asked separately the following ques- tions: "Are you satisfied with the Liberty motor?" All an- swered "Yes." "Is there any other plane you would rather fly than the De Haviland 4?" Three answered "No," and the others all preferred a machine where the pilot and ob- server sit near together. "Any ideas as to the best type of machine for bi-plane war purposes?" Their answers were all for a machine with the Liberty motor, the pilot's and observer's seats together (one in back of the other), armored or rubber-covered gas tanks, a machine with excellent vis- ibility for the pilot as well as the observer, armored pilot's seat and a few other perfections in the controls and construc- tion, and finally that the planes be fitted with parachutes to allow the pilot and observer to escape in case of fire. Altogether the Liberty plane was considered the best on the front, and its excellent speed and climbing power were well demonstrated in actual combats with enemy planes. In spite of all articles to the contrary, our pilots proved many times in actual fights that the Liberty, at low alti- tudes, where we did most of our flying, could outdistance and outclimb any plane the Germans had. It is also inter- esting to note that the 91st Squadron made comparative tests with the Salmson and Liberty. They found that the Liberty was faster and could cHmb quicker at low altitudes, and equally fast, and could climb quicker at 15,000 feet. Also it is a fact that several times our gas tanks were pierced without a fire, but that was mostly luck. The protected tank is a great improvement, but those who condemned them be- cause of the unprotected tank failed to remember that the Spads had unprotected tanks also. In other words, I believe it a bit unfair to dub them "flaming coffins." I believe, for our first war machine, that it was surprisingly good. 50th AERO SQUADRON 27 III Log and Operations The log of the squadron was started August 3, 191 8, when the squadron was for the first time in the "Zone of Operations." But at that time it did not seem much like operations, as the first day's summary will show: Station, First Corps Observation Training Center. Amanty, Meuse. August 3, 1918. CO. 1st Lieut. D. P. MORSE, JR., A.S. SIG. R.C. Adjutant, 1st Lieut. GUS KOHN, A.S. SIG. R.C. Engineering Officer, 1st Lieut. E. E. ESSLINGER, A.S. SIG. R.C. Armanent Officer, 2nd Lieut. R. H. WESSMAN, ORD. R.C. Officers Absent: Supply Officer, C. D. BURRELL, 2nd Lieut. A.S. SIG. R.C. on detached service, to secure transportation equipment, supplies, etc. Medical Officer, 1st Lieut. L. G. FENIER, M.R.C. First Plane, No. 32375, brought in by Lieut. Morse from Colombe Les Belles at 11 :30 A.M. Type D.H. 4, with Liberty Motor. Twelve mechanics and one ordnance man now at Colombe Les Belles working on Liberty Motors. Fifteen men absent with Lieut. Bur- rell for Transportation. Forty-one men detailed to construction department, 4 men detailed to machine shop, 3 men Sanitary detail, 3 men wood detail, balance of Squadron digging trenches, hauling cinders, etc. Gas Mask Instruction to new men by Sgt. Talley. Sgt. Vogt and 3 men assigned to new plane. For the next couple of weeks it is just a list of planes be- ing brought over from Colombey by our own pilots and those of the 96th and 135th Squadrons. During the early part of August our energies were cen- tered in many parts of France. Frequent telegrams were exchanged with Lieut. Burrell at Orly in regard to transpor- tation, but as nothing could be accompHshed, he returned with his detail (when he tired of Paris). Then Lieut. Ess- linger and (Doc) Fenier had to get fresh vegetables and lumber for the men's mess at Nancy (the lumber wasn't very good), and Lieut. Kohn went to Neufchateau to the Red Cross, where he obtained a goodly supply of articles for the men. If one wonders why we of the A.E.F. had a kindly feeling for the Red Cross, please notice the following list, just one of several, supplied to just our squadron: 28 30th AERO SQUADRON 166 blankets, 17 doz. socks, 360 handkerchiefs, 50 packages stationery,. 12 packs playing cards, 28 lbs. sweet chocolate, 50 lbs. cooking choco- late, 2 cases milk, 2 cases rolled oats, 8 pails, 2 cans, 6 sponges, 12 brushes, 3 alcohol heaters, 6 cots, 4 foot balls, 6 tennis balls, 144 plugs tobacco, 14 doz. towels, reading matter, 18 dish towels, 2 bottles ink, 30 dish rags and one bolt mosquito netting. The pilots were busy bringing over new planes and test- ing. Four of the observers, Lieuts. Ashley, Young, French and Bleckley, went to Ourches for a little preliminary train- ing with the 90th and 135th Squadrons, while the others busied themselves with testing new wireless equipment and machine guns. It was not all work for everybody during August and the men were in fine spirits. Settling down, even if only for a short period, was appreciated after the trip from Eng- land and the welcome change to American rations. Great rivalry existed between the 50th and 8th Squadrons, as each was trying to beat the other in getting ready for active oper- ations. We got our first Liberty plane first, however, and also our full complement, which consisted of twenty-four at that time. There were a few games of baseball also, and on August 8th it is recorded in the log that the score was 50th Squadron 10, 8th Squadron 8. On August nth there is an- other game recorded, but the score was somehow omitted (must ask our "Adj." Gus Kohn why), but I have a "faint" recollection that the 8th won, as I got a bit cocky and put up a few francs with Capt. Winant on the game. I haven't the "beaucoup francs" now, so I guess we lost. I think Doc Fenier remembers that, too, and perhaps "Essy." On August 13th Senator Lundee of Minnesota was a visitor to the Squadron and was taken up for a short ride by Capt. Morse. On August 20th Lieut. Dryden, pilot, and Lieut. Young, observer, crashed on the field and were taken to the hospital at Neufchateau, slightly injured. August 28th was our first fatal day. Lieut. Upton, pilot, and Lieut. Woodley, observer, crashed while trying out their machine guns on a ground target, Lieut. Upton being in- stantly killed and Lieut. Woodley very severely injured. Lieut. Upton was buried with full military honors at Gon- drecourt, Meuse. By this time things were in fairly good shape, except for transportation, and the Squadron was reported ready for combatant duty. So on September 3rd the Squadron was 30th AERO SQUADRON 29 ordered to move to Behonne. It was a fairly good move, though we were greatly hampered by lack of transporta- tion. Lieut. George, in charge of the first relay of trucks, missed the new field near Bar-le-Duc in the dark, but after I had gotten a bawling-out from Col. Milling about it we got straightened out. Everything got to Behonne the morning of the 5th, minus three planes crashed. We had just started to get set- tled when, on the morning of the 6th, I got word we had to move again. This time to the new field at Bicqueley, just south of Toul, to work with the ist Corps. I had flown for the four months previous with the ist Corps and liked their way of doing business, so I was glad of the change, except for the moving part of it. So off I went in the old Fiat with Colvig to look over the new place. Trucks were sent from the ist Pursuit group nearby to help us move, and at 9 A.M. on the 7th everything was set. I got back a little after noon and at 2:30 all the trucks left. Lieuts. M. F. Graham and A. K. Hoisholt had reported just before we left Amanty. The whole squadron arrived that same night, and we were well established in our new quarters on the 8th — a re- markably quick move. Our second fatal accident occurred at the Bicqueley Field, when Lieut. Hoisholt, with Private, ist Class, Klein- henz, fell in a spin in the woods just off the field as they were landing from the flight from Behonne. They were buried with full military honors at Evacuation Hospital No. I cemetery, near Toul. Lieut. Kloskey crashed another plane at Behonne, mak- ing a fairly good record of crashes, but not nearly as good as he was to do later. Lieut. T. A. Robey, pilot, reported on the 7th of Septem- ber, and our well known operations officer, Lieut, (now Capt.) Stewart Bird, reported on the 9th, with Lieuts, T- T-. (Pinky) Sain, M. K. (Micky) Lockwood, D. P. (Dannv) Brill and J. E. (Mac) McCurdy. Then followed one wild but orderly rush to get things in shape for the coming St. Mihiel offensive. It was due to start any day, and thanks to ''J^y'' Bird, all our maps, oper- ations orders, etc., etc., were gotten in shape in time, as were also the other departments, by the faithful and hard work of the officers and men under them. "Gus" Kohn 30 30th AERO SQUADRON should come in for his share of praise in getting the quar- ters livable and in order, and Master Electricians Potter, Zearfrass and Vogt for their work with Lieut. Esslinger on the machines, as well as the crew chiefs and every last buck private. On September nth we had a very distinguished visitor, Sir Walter Lawrence, of the Royal Air Force, from General Trenchard's headquarters. The same day Lieut. Roy B. Walter, observer, reported for duty and was assigned as liaison oflficer with the 90th Division. Lieut. McCurdy was assigned to the 82nd Division as liaison oflficer. These were the two divisions for which the 50th did aviation duty in the St. Mihiel oflfensive. Con- sidering the absolute greenness of all the pilots and observ- ers except Capts. Morse and Bird, the work accomplished was really remarkable. This is from our own viewpoint and also that of the Chief of Air Service, ist Corps, and the 90th and 82nd Divisions, who were enthusiastic over the support and work of the Air Service. September 12th was the big day, and things started on schedule time. The preparatory barrage and destruction fire on the Hun trenches kept nearly everybody awake from 2 A.M. It had been raining hard for the previous twenty- four (or more) hours, but in the early morning it gave way to a heavy southwest wind (right into Germany) and low clouds. Lieuts. Frayne and French got oflf in the first ma- chine that morning and have the distinction of making the first flight over the lines for the 50th Squadron. It is inter- esting to note here that they also made the last flight for the squadron a couple of days before the armistice. Lieuts. Goettler and Bleckley got oflf a few minutes later. THE FIRST OPERATIONS ORDER OF THE SQUADRON OPERATIONS OFFICE— 50TH AERO SQUADRON SCHEDULE FOR SEPTEMBER 12, 1918 Time Pilot Plane ? Observer Mission 5:30 Lt. Goettler 2 Lt. Bleckley Reconnaissance, 90th Div. 8KX) Lt. Beebe 4 Lt. Bellows €< tt ( 10:30 Lt. Hardin 13 Lt. Cole a (( t 13:00 Lt. Bird 14 Lt. George (I it < 15:30 T-t. Martin 15 Lt. Sain « « { 17:00 Lt. Fitzsimons 18 Lt. Bleckley « (< ( 5:30 Lt. Frayne 5 T-t. French <( 82nd ' 8:00 Lt. Phillips 8 Lt. Brill tf (( ( 10:30 Lt. Stevens 17 Lt. Gardiner it t( ( 13:00 Lt. Roby 7 Lt. Lockwood « (< ( 15:30 Lt. Anderson 16 Lt. French (< (i ( 17:00 Lt. Thomson 9 Lt. Brill <( a ( 30th AERO SQUADRON 31 Alert, from 5:00 A.M. to 12:30 Lt. Graham 1 Lt. Sain Lt. Slater 12 Lt. Lock wood 12 :30 to dark Lt. Pickrell 6 Lt. Cole Lt. Morse 3 Lt. Bellows The men who are on the alert will alternate staying at the French wireless station. Sending all messages in English straight to us. By order of 1st Lt. D. P. Morse, Jr. STEWART BIRD, 2nd Lt. C.A.C., Operations Officer. At 10:30 Lieuts. Stevens and Gardiner left in a plane for work with the 82nd Division, and did not return. Their fate is still a mystery, except for a report from the German Red Cross that they were reported dead. The low clouds and strong wind directly into Germany probably were the cause of their loss. As you all know, the operation of reducing the St. Mi- hiel Salient was done in quick order. Needless to say, the 50th Squadron won the battle. Micky Lockwood was one who honestly admitted being ^'embarrassed'' at his first trip. This turned into indescribable feeling when he was curtly told by his C.O. not to pay any attention to the Archies un- less he could hear them. Dovre must also have had a lapse of memory a few days later, for '*Temp'' Hardin suddenly found himself with five Huns after him and Dovre's guns strapped down. The plane looked like a sieve, but neither got a scratch. Friday, the 13th, was an unlucky day for us, as Lieut. Bellows, observer, was killed by Hun machine-gun fire from the ground while making a very daring flight with Dave Beebe. The machine was riddled, but Dave brought it down very, cleverly inside our lines. The day was again very cloudy and they had to fly at only a few hundred feet, but in spite of that and intense fire of all sorts from the ground they continued their low reconnaissance six miles into Ger- many, until some unlucky shots found their way to the plane. For their daring and bravery on this flight they were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Lieut. Bellows' being awarded posthumously. Lieuts. W. A. Bolt, H. A. Darrin and A. A. Dovre re- ported for duty on the 13th. The surveillance of our sector was kept up on the 14th and some excitement resulted. Hardin and Dovre had their aforementioned fight. 32 ^oth AERO SQUADRON We had one almost universal trouble of getting the in- fantry to show their panels. For instance, on the evening of the first day of the offensive three successive missions were sent out on infantry contact patrol, Lieuts. Slater and French, Lieuts. Hardin and Lockwood, and Capt. Morse and Lieut. Bellows, all with the report that the infantry failed to reply to the signals. On the 15th Lieuts. R. E. Evans and C. E. Dickinson, Jr., reported for duty. During the day Slater and Bleckley and Thomson and Darrin had brief combats with Hun planes, with no result. For their excellent work during the St. Mihiel push on the 17th, Lieuts. Beebe, Frayne, Goettler, S. Bird, Bleckley and French were recommended by their CO. to the grade of 1st Lieutenant. Things grew quieter on the i8th, and the low clouds and poor visibility made the missions that did go out unsuc- cessful. The promotions and demotions of the enlisted men (the latter thankfully very few) made in France (except M.S.E.) were approved by the Headquarters, ist Observation Group, and the M.S.E.'s by the C.A.S.'s, ist Army Corps — in con- currence with a new order. After the i8th we were put on reserve and no missions were made. It was a welcome rest, and we awaited orders to move to the new Meuse and Argonne offensive, then in the air. On the 20th we were all packed and, while await- ing orders, Capt. Morse, CO., and Sergt. Stepp, his section chief, flew to Remicourt to plan for new quarters on the field with the ist and 12th Squadrons. On this trip they flew through three heavy rain squalls. At Bicqueley we were with three French observation squadrons, the 210th, 211th and 214th. At 5:45 P.M., the 22nd, orders were received from Col. Milling, through Major McNarney, to proceed to Remicourt, and in spite of the rain and the resultant slippery condition of the dirt roads in the airdrome, the squadron started to move at 9:00 A.M. on the 23rd, and the first truck reached there at 6:00 P.M., and eight before midnight. Owing to insufficient transportation, return trips had to be made. The planes flew on the 24th, not having been able to do so on the 23rd because of bad weather. Capt. Jackson reported for duty and was assigned as liaison officer with the French aviation at Duacourt. 30th AERO SQUADRON 33 During this movement pilots were forbidden to approach the lines at any sta-ge of the journey, which was a precau- tionary measure to prevent the German intelligence learn- ing the numbers or disposition of Liberty planes. This was subsequently confirmed by an order preventing flights by Liberty planes up to or even toward "the lines/' On September 25th, in pursuance of the order just men- tioned, Lieuts. M. H. Brown and W. J. Rogers made recon- naissance flights over the lines in planes of a French squad- ron; also in pursuance of the directions in Pa. No. 2 same order, (two) planes were properly designated by an outline of the insignia of the 77th Division and an outline of the Statue of Liberty was painted conspicuously under the lower left wings of the particular;.machines. As a precautionary measure of safety, ten pilots were sent in a Fiat truck to find and agree upon a suitable emer- gency landing field as close as deemed wise to the scene of actual operations. Such a field was located to the east of the Clermont-Varennes road about two kilometers north of Clermont. In short, with one day's grace before the offensive, every preparatory order had been complied with and every rea- sonable precaution put into effect regarding the pilots, ob- servers and their planes, so that entire concentration could be centered on the particular mission. In spite of the short period of preparation, the squadron as a whole was in excel- lent shape for further work both as regards the number and condition of the planes in commission and the spirit and morale of the officers and men. September 26, igi8. Opening the Argonne-Meuse offensive, the squadron's condition and experience was as follows: Average time over lines — pilots, 5 hours, 20 minutes. Average time over lines — observers, 7 hours, 15 minutes. Number of casualties to date — pilots, i ; observers, 2 (due to enemy action). On the 26th the offensive started, and the log for the day was as follows: 30th AERO SQUADRON REMICOURT, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1918 35 Missions Today Mission lime Lt. Graham Pilot Lt. Ashley Ob i<^erver Reconn. 1:20 Lt. Beebe « Lt. French Inf. Contact 1:35 Lt. Anderson (( Lt. Brill Reconn. 1:40 Lt. Phillips « Lt. Dovre Reconn. :04 Lt. Thompson it Lt. Lockwood Protection 1:35 Lt. Bird (( Lt. Rogers Inf. Contact 2:03 Lt. Dickinson n Lt. Brown Inf. Contact :05 Lt.- Phillips it Lt. Dovre Reconn. 1:05 Lt. Goettler tt Lt. George Reconn. :07 Lt. Goettler tt Lt. George Reconn. 1:40 Lt. Klosky tt Lt. Bolt Reconn. 1:15 Lt. Graham tt Lt. McCurdy Inf. Contact 1:55 Lt. Anderson ft Lt. Brown Protection 1:15 Lt. McCook tt Lt. Sain Inf. Contact 1:35 Lt. Slater tt. T.t. Durrin Inf. Contact 1:15 Lt. Dickinson i% Lt. Brown Inf. Contact 1:50 Lt. Beebe it Lt. T .ockwood Protection 2:10 Lt. Evans tt Lt. Bleckley Protection 2:15 Lieut. Anderson and Lieut. Brown had a combat with seven hostile planes. Lieut. Beebe and Lieut. Lockwood had combat with six enemy planes and were forced to land near Duacourt Aero- drome. Three planes ferried over from Bicqueley today. Lieuts. Batson, Thompson and Pursley, Observers, assigned to squadron today. Lieut. Bradley to Colombes Les Belles. REMICOURT, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1918 Missions Today Mission I ime Lt. Phillips Pilot Lt. Sain Observer Reconn. 1:35 Lt. Graham tt Lt. McCurdy " Inf. Contact 1:15 Lt. McCook it Lt. Bolt Reconn. 1:30 Lt. Thompson it Lt. Ashley Inf. Contact 1:40 1 Lieuts. Graham and McCurdy located front lines. 2nd Lieut. Harry W. Pribnow assigned as radio officer. Private George Zinzle injured in collision with ambu- lance while driving side car. Admitted to Hospital No. no, fractured leg. Lieuts. Batson and Thompson transferred to I2th squadron. 36 30th AERO SQUADRON REMICOURT, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1918 Missions Today Mission Time Lt. Anderson Pilot Lt. Rogers Observer Reconn. 3:00 Lt. Beebe Lt. Brill Reconn. 2:25 Lt. Dickinson Lt. Brown Inf. Contact 1:56 Lt. Frayne T-t. French Reconn. 2:00 Lt. Slater Lt. Durrin Mtr. Tro. 2:05 Lt. Slater Lt. Durrin Mtr. Tro. 2:05 McCook and T -ockwood shot down Lt. Graham Pilot Lt. McCurd y " Inf. Contact 1:00 Lieut. McCook and Lieut. Lockwood, in plane No. 32175, shot down by machine guns from ground between German and French lines. McCook and Lockwood unhurt. They both obtained valuable information for the French. Leritz, McQueen and Perlick, Radio men, joined squadron today. September 27th. Operations for the day were seriously hampered by very poor visibility, resulting in but four missions, two reconnais- sance and two infantry contact. Again on this day great difficulty was found in getting the front line ; again necessitating low flying to identify the troops. In this way the line was found again by Lieut. Gra- ham and Lieut. McCurdy. The day closed with 15 pilots j 15 observers, and 16 planes available after only five hours' flying, with no casualties. September 28th. The weather again proved unfavorable for extended oper- ations, being fairly good in the morning but changing to rain in the afternoon. Six missions were accomplished suc- cessfully. It is important to note that at last the infantry had come to realize the importance of showing up their line when asked. The results of the day's infantry contact missions were consequently more gratifying and it was possible to pick up the line with fair accuracy and not too much diffi- culty. The fact that our efforts in the air were meeting with the proper effort and co-operation on the ground did much to further the enthusiasm for this work and to bring about a closer approach to the theoretical but unobtainable perfection. 30th AERO SQUADRON 37 Par. 12 of Operations Order No. ii, September 28th, C.A.S., reads as follows: "Lieut. LOCKWOOD (Observer) and Lieut. McCOOK (Pilot), 50th Aero Squadron, who left the field at 15H:52 on an infantry con- tact patrol on the left of the 77th Division sector, were shot down and fell in No Man's Land, but succeeded in escaping to the French Lines and transmitting shortly afterwards the valuable information they had obtained. The attention of all observers and pilots is directed to this, and to the fact that, should anyone have the misfortune to be shot down or forced to land, his first and most urgent duty, if he has obtained important information prior to coming down, is to get to a telephone and transmit that information to the authorities concerned as quickly as it is humanly possible for him to do so." Lieut. McCook was flying quite low over the lines in ac- cordance with the practice we had found necessary up to the present to complete an infantry mission successfully. His machine was hit seriously many times by machine gun and rifle fire from the ground, forcing him to descend, which descent he effected successfully in the barbed wire of ''No Man's Land." Both Lieut. McCook and Lieut. Lock- wood, the observer, at once left the machine and ran for our lines. through the hail of bullets sent after them from the German lines. Plunging down a decHvity saved them from further immediate danger, and they were soon picked up by the' French, who sent them toward one of our own P.C.'s under guidance of some American negro troopers. In the course of their walk, Lieut. McCook learned that not only had the troopers in question never had instruction, actual or verbal, in co-operation with the air service, but also that they had not the slightest knowledge of the meaning of any of the flares shot from the planes. Had their progress toward our own lines not been inter- rupted by a French officer, their party would probably have been wiped out by a hidden Boche machine gun which in- cluded their intended road in its range of action. As it was, the Boche, thinking their prey about to turn back, opened fire at a difficult range and forced them against an embank- ment for protection. The colored troops evinced much ter- ror and one threw down his gun and ran for it. Our interest in this whole affair was twofold. First, as we expected, sooner or later the low flying would claim some victims. Second, we had a vivid illustration of why we had not been able to get intelligent cooperation. The day ended with 15 pilots, 15 observers, and 15 planes available after 103^ hours' service flying, with no casualties. 38 30th AERO SQUADRON September 29th. REMICOURT, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1918 Missions Today Mission Time Lt. Bird Pilot Lt. Bolt Observer Inf. Contact 2:00 Lt. Fitzsimmons " Lt. Pursley " Protection 1 :10 Lt. Dickinson " Lt. Brown " Inf. Contact 1 :40 Private Grady injured in collision v^ith motorcycle while driving motorcycle. Sergt. Benefiel in side car. Near Toul, fractured foot. Admitted to Hospital No. 51 at Toul. Lieut. Thompson and Lieut. Batson transferred back to 50th Squadron today. But two missions succeeded in accomplishing their pur- pose, and in one case again the trouble of poor co-operation necessitated one of our planes flying low enough to identify the troops, in this the pilot being Lieut. T. Bird, with Lieut. W. A. Bolt as observer. Inasmuch as the left of the 77th Division touched with the French, an order for joint liaison work was contained in Operations Order No. 12, for September 29th, Par. 10, C.A.S., as follows: "The CO., 50th Aero Squadron, will at once arrange with the CO. of the French (38th Corps) Squadron on the NOIRLIEU field for a combined infantry contact patrol to be carried out at 13:00 hours daily by one plane from each of these squadrons. The two planes will start off together and remain together throughout the patrol. The location of the front lines of the right Division (1st D.CP.) of the 38th French Corps and the left Division (77th Div.) of the 1st U. S. Army Corps will be obtained in the following manner: "The two planes will fly together over the front of the 77th Division. The observer of the SOth Squadron will call for the line ; both observers will take note of all locations seen. The two planes will then fly together over the sector of the 1st D.CP., where the French observer will call for the line, both observers again taking note of all locations seen. Each plane will then drop a message, giving the location of the front lines of both Divisions, on his own Division and Corps P.Cs. It is hoped in this manner to establish closer liaison between the adjoining Corps, each flank Division as well as the two Corps headquarters receiving a report of the position of their own and the other's front lines at a certain hour each day. Similar liaison will be arranged by these headquarters with the Division and Corps on the right and definite orders on this subject will be given to the 1st Aero Squadron as soon as the arrangements have been completed with the CA.S., 3rd Corps." This arrangement was only partly successful, due to the greater speed of our Liberty planes over the French Salm- sons. 30th AERO SQUADRON 39 In accordance with Par. 12 of this order, propaganda was provided to be dropped over German territory. An example of the service of the observation planes is as follows: One of our planes received a signal rocket from the ground to the effect that our barrage was falling on our troops. The message was wirelessed in and also dropped at the 77th Division panel at Florent and rushed by motor- cycle courier direct to the Corps, where steps were at once taken to lift the barrage. The day ended with 15 pilots, 15 observers, and 16 planes available after only five hours' flying, with no casualties. September 30th. Weather very poor for our work, hence but five missions sent out. Difficulty again experienced in picking up the line. Lieut. Graham and Lieut. McCurdy as observer did considerable firing from a low altitude on enemy troops. Propaganda now being dropped. Day ended with 15 pilots, 17 observers, and 17 planes available after five hours' flying, with no casualties. Hard work was cheerfully indulged in by everybody in the squadron. The drive through the Argonne was pro- gressing favorably, and we did all aviation duty for the 77th Division. Their sector was the width of the forest, and from an aviation standpoint as well as the doughboys', it was the hardest kind of a sector imaginable. To "observe" in a dense forest would have been impossible were it not for the bravery and utter disregard of personal safety by the pilots and observers. At times it was necessary for our machines to fly at the height of the treetops to obtain any information, and they did the work marvelously. Graham and McCurdy were a famous team for that work and re- ceived as a reward the first ''Salmson" seat to put in their Liberty. In fact, it was a public presentation, with all the ofiicers of the squadron present. Weather conditions were, as a whole, favorable for work except during the early morning, when the usual ground mist following rainy weather hampered observation. (It seems also that some of the smoke barrages used by the in- fantry screened them from observation aloft, which would seem to indicate a possible application of such a measure as a defense against hostile observation.) The work of the day was carried out much as usual, ex- cept perhaps for the additional keenness and enthusiasm 40 30th AERO SQUADRON of the pilots and observers incident to the launching of a fresh offensive with fresh objectives to be reached over new and consequently more interesting ground. Two, perhaps three, points stand out in the day's work as worthy of com- ment. The first of these was the increased aerial activity on the part of the German air force. Contrary to our expe- rience up to that time, our planes met a constant and deter- mined air defense. Every plane returned with reports of having been interfered with, but in all cases succeeded in carrying on with the missions. In two cases Hun forma- tions of Fokkers attacked our planes, but were driven off without inflicting damage. The record point of note is one recognized as a constant difficulty — the matter of receiving proper panels or flares from the infantry front lines in reply to the observer's re- quest by rocket. The repeated failure of the infantry to co- operate cannot always be visited upon them, because of their many and more immediate ''troubles'' during a hard attack, but it is to be pointed out that when reading a summary of "successful" or "unsuccessful" missions due allowance should be made for this difficulty when judging infantry contact work. Directly from this consideration the third point of note logically follows — that is, the altitudes at which the missions were flown. Repeated attempts to lo- cate our front line by means of flares or panels — attempts during which, for example, Lieut. Bird, pilot, with Rogers, observer, flew their entire mission at under 900 feet — neces- sitated, later in the day, a sortie by Lieut. Graham, pilot, and Lieut. McCurdy, observer, with the particular determi- nation to find the line by some other means. This mission they accomplished at considerable risk by flying under 500 feet, often at treetop level, and actually identifying various points and position by seeing the uniforms of the infantry — thus establishing an approximation of a continuous line. Message-dropping points were at Rarecourt for the ist Corps and at Florent for the 77th Division. On-October ist "J^y" Bird received his silver bars as 1st Lieutenant, with rank from July 29, 1918. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th were representative days. We had received from the Y.M.C.A. two large cases of choco- late, cigarettes, magazines and late newspapers, which we did up in small packages and each machine took up a couple of dozen each trip. These were dropped amongst the troops in the most advanced positions the observers could find and 50th AERO SQUADRON 41 we received many verbal thanks. One letter received, how- ever, was especially appreciated, so I will insert it here: October 6, 1918. CO. 50th Aero Squadron, American E.F., France. Dear Sir: A note to thank the pilot of one of your machines, who flew over our front lines this morning about 8 :30, in the heart of the Argonne For- est near the X roads at L C T . He first signalled for our po- sition and then flew low and dropped a package. It was chocolate wrapped in a newspaper, The Daily Mail, which brought the good news of the fall of LENS and ARMENTIERES. Never did I appreciate anything more than such a message from our men in the air. Nothing tasted better than that bit of chocolate, and a strange incident that i-t was dropped to an officer of the Tank Corps. We appreciate all the wonderful work you are doing for us and di- recting our operations, but I just send this note to say "Thank you" for the thought fulness of your pilots and organization to the men who fight on land. I shall never forget this happy incident this morning, none was more appreciated and particularly after the night we had. With best wishes for all success to the 50th Aero Squadron and many, many thanks to the pilot, Most sincerely, (Signed) HARRY E. GIBBS, 1st Lieut. Tank Corps. 311 Center, Tank Corps, A.P.O. 714, A.E.F., France. October ist. Weather favorable, resulting in nine successful missions. The duty of furnishing protection for photography planes devolved upon the squadron. Two Liberty planes were to be sent out with each Salmson whenever available. As a result of this arrangement six protection missions wefe sent out, of which but two were successful. The difficulty was in picking up the plane to be protected, as arrangements were not thorough enough, and through misunderstanding two photograph planes went off without waiting for their protective Liberties. On this day the squadron experienced the beginning of a run of trouble with spark plugs breaking and blowing out. This trouble forced two machines down within our lines. Splitdorf plugs were found to be the only absolutely reliable plugs in this connection. Day ended with 15 pilots, 17 observers, and 16 planes available after 123^ service hours, with no casualties. 42 ^oth AERO SQUADRON October 2nd. Weather cloudy and generally unfavorable, but in spite of this ten successful missions and one unsuccessful mission left the field. Anti-aircraft enemy batteries were very active. One plane, pilot, Lieut. Morse, CO., with Lieut. Bird, O.O., as observer, were forced to return after having a; shell pierce a wing of their machine. Clouds interfered with photograph planes and our pro- tection ; two of our protection planes becoming lost, and for safety flew south to landing grounds off the aerodrome. An- other plane was forced to land within our lines with motor trouble due to faulty spark plugs. Day ended with 14 pilots, 16 observers and 15 planes available after 12 hours' service flying. One pilot and one observer missing. October 3rd. Low clouds and haze made observation difficult through the day. Five successful and three unsuccessful missions carried out. One plane came down with motor trouble near Varennes — spark plugs again. Attempts to find the line were more successful, as the infantry showed a few flares. We had learned previously from one of our liaison observers sent for ground work at the front that orders had been given to use flares at night only! Day ended with 15 pilots, 17 observers and 15 planes available after 16 hours' flying, and no casualties. The miss- ing pilot, Lieut. Anderson, and observer, Lieut. Thompson, of the 2nd October, returned. October 4th. Thick morning fog and mist made early observation difficult. Most observers reported unusually numerous fires in the enemy back areas. Enemy anti-aircraft very active. Attempts to get the line were successful 50 per cent of the time. Ground mist often interfered with the accurate location of ground flares. Motor trouble again caused the failure of two missions, due to faulty spark plugs. Every effort was made to obtain suitable plugs and to have this great evil cured at its root. No satisfaction could be gained through any channel, and it became necessary to carry on with this great drawback to hamper the work. Soth AERO SQUADRON 43 Practically the only trouble which the mechanics could not meet was this one, and except for one instance this trouble was the cause of all purely engine failures in the air. Two planes were equipped with Splitdorf plugs and neither had any spark plug or engine failure in the air. Day ended with 15 pilots, 16 observers and 16 planes available after eleven service hours, with no casualties. The A.E.F. newspaper, "The Stars and Stripes," was dropped to the 77th Division by planes. October 5th. Visibility in the morning was decidedly poor — opening up a bit toward noon and closing down again toward eve- ning. Fifteen successful missions were accomplished. Word was sent to the squadron to get into communica- tion with the 2nd Battalion of the 308th Infantry under Ma- jor Whittlesey, which had broken liaison, become cut off and surrounded by the enemy. For this purpose four planes were sent out as couriers, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, to carry messages to the location which had been sent out from the "Lost Battalion" by pigeons. As well as dropping the messages we dropped all the available chocolate and cigarettes on hand. It was later learned from men in that battalion that they got much of this. In general, a great deal of propaganda was dropped over German-held territory, and in our own front lines copies of the "Stars and Stripes," late papers, chocolate and ciga- rettes furnished by the Y.M.C.A. for the purpose. One mission failed to drop a message at the division panel at Varennes due to the proximity of two balloons. We believed ourselves amply justified in not coming down to drop messages under such a dangerous and easily reme- died condition. The speed of the planes, the drift of the wind, occasional mist, the invisibility of the balloon cables makes it absolutely necessary to have the greatest possible free range near the dropping station, as evidenced by the fatal accident to a plane of the ist Observation G|roup when on the St. Mihiel front. The day ended with 15 pilots, 16 observers, and 16 ma- chines available after 23 hours' service flying, and no cas- ualties. Lieut. Ashley was transferred to Headquarters, Observa- tion Wing, 1st Army. IVhat old "No-Man's Land" looked tike in the Argoniie Forest after four years of war. The foreground was originally like the background. The "Lost Battalion" were surrounded in a position which looked from the air just lite the top of the ptioto — ill other words^ust forest 30th AERO SQUADRON 45 October 6th. Visibility, as usual, very poor. Thirteen successful mis- sions were carried out. The one outstanding feature of the day's work was the effort made by our entire available force to carry aid to the 'Tost Battalion." It is to be remembered that the coordinates were sent back by Major Whittlesey via carrier pigeon. Also, there was no way of checking these coordinates, as the conditions under which the surrounded men existed prevented them either showing themselves or exhibiting any noticeable des- ignating panel. For our part, therefore, we could but use the exact location given as our objective and drop our pack- ages in such a manner that they would fall on an east and west line in the deep ravine at the bottom of which our men were supposed to be. Consequently, at slightly before noon, Lieut. Pickrell, pilot, with Lieut. George, observer, left the field to drojp supplies. These supplies consisted' in each case of ammuni- tion, food and medical supplies, together with what choco- late we could find. From noon on a continuous series of flights was kept in progress until dark, dropping consider- able quantities of these supplies, and in addition two baskets of carrier pigeons. To insure a fairly **soft landing" for the imprisoned birds, a number of parachutes taken from para- chute flares were fastened to each basket — about eight to each — and were seen to open up and act with surprising efficiency. The effort of every mission to successfully bring aid to the unfortunate detachment resulted in throwing away that caution which under ordinary circumstances is used to in- sure the return of information. As a result, every plane flew well under a thousand feet by altimeter, which brought them down scarcely above the hilltops over their objective. After it became apparent to the enemy that a determined bid was being made for that certain point — clearly evidenced by the arrival of plane after plane over the same spot — they quite naturally prepared for others to follow and to break up the work if possible. Their success was only partial. Lieut. Phillips, pilot, and Lieut. Brown, observer, were shot down northeast of Binarville by machine gun and rifle fire from the location of the objective. Fortunately they were uninjured and landed safely, escaping from their ma- chine and making their way south. 46 soth AERO SQUADRON Lieut. Tracy Bird with Lieut. Bolt, observer, were brought down in like manner and crashed near Vienne le Chateau, both men escaping unwounded and unhurt by their crash. Lieut. Graham with Lieut. McCurdy, observer, returned from their mission with Lieut. McCurdy seriously wounded through the neck, having received his wound over the ob- jective point. Through the prompt and efficient work of Dr. L. G. Feinier, 50th Squadron, and Group Surgeon, the dangerous wound was so taken care of that subsequently and after a comparatively short absence Lieut. McCurdy was able to rejoin his squadron and carry on with his duties. Much can be said on the subject of the ''Lost Battalion'^ from our viewpoint. Also it differs materially from the newspaper accounts. The most ludicrous articles I have read on the subject were in ''Colliers," written by an officer claim- ing to be the Adjutant of the battalion. His story is very egotistical and tells practically nothing of the men who were in the battalion, but a colored account of how he personally escaped. Also the title "Lost Battalion" is misleading, as they were simply cut off by the Huns after advancing too far, and when the American negro troops on the left, near Binarville, fell back and left their left flank exposed, the Huns seeped in through the old trenches and boxed them in a val- ley. I have personal friends who were in that battalion, and from them I learned many interesting things. I have also talked with one of the officers, Lieut. Leake, who was taken prisoner. As we were assigned to the 77th Division for aviation duties, we had been constantly working to secure the definite location of the battalion from October 2nd and trying by means of our signals to get in communication with them. However, we had no success in ttiis, as they would not re- spond. In fact, they were afraid that by displaying panels their position would be given away to the Huns, so Whit- tlesey relied entirely on his carrier pigeons. This illustrates very distinctly that distrust in the Air Service worked to disadvantage, and shows what co-operation amongst all branches means. It was our experience at all times that our troops, who had but relatively little actual experience, did not appreciate the help and value of the Air Service until 50th AERO SQUADRON 47 they had gone through some strenuous times and had that help actually demonstrated to them. It would probably be best to start with the carrier pigeon messages as sent by Whittlesey. Number One is missing, but the rest are complete and true copies. October 3rd. No. 2. From Old Dreadnaught— lOhSS Oct. 3, 1918. To 308th Inf. We are being shelled by German Artillery. Can we not have artillery support? Fire is coming from northwest. Place— 294.6— 276.3. Signed. WHITTLESEY. Major, 1st Bn., 308th Inf. Pigeon released 8h50. Q. Do you want me to get to the 308th ? Yes, I will do that right away. Pigeon Message. Reed, over phone 12.10 P.M. Message Center, Oct. 3, 1918. From: 1st Bn. 308th Inf. at 294.6—276.3. To : CO. 308th Inf. Bird released at 10.45 A.M. Bird received 11.35 at French Loft No. 66 at Colombey. Our runner posts are broken. One runner captured. Germans in small numbers are working in our left rear about 294.6 — 276.2. Have sent K company 307th to occupy this hill and open the line. Patrol to east ran into Germans at 295.1 — 276.3. 6 Boche. Have located German mortar at 294.05 — 276.3 and have sent platoon to get it. Have taken a prisoner, who says his company of 70 men were brought in here last night 294.4 — 276.2 from rear by motor truck. He saw only a few in- fantrymen here when he came in. German machine gun constantly firing on valley in our rear from hill 294.1 — 276. "E" company sent to meet "D,'' NF, met heavy resistance, at least twenty casualties. Two squads under Lt. Leake have just fallen back here. Signed. WHITTLESEY, Major 308th Inf. COPIES Pigeon Message. Oct. 3, 1918. From : 1st Bn. 308th Inf. To : CO. 308th Inf. Germans are on cliflf north of us in small numbers and have had to evacuate both flanks. Situation on left flank very serious. Broke through two of our runner posts today near 294.7 — 275.7. I have not been able to reestablish posts today. Need 8,000 rounds riflle ammunition, 7,500 chaucot, 23 boxes ma- chine gun ammunition, 250 offensive grenades. Casualties yesterday in Go's "A,'' "B,'^ "C,^^ "E,'^ "G,^' "H,'^ 8 killed, 48 50th AERO SQUADRON 80 wounded. In the same Go's today 1 killed, 60 wounded. Present effective strength of companies here 245. Situation serious. Place 294.6—276.3. Signed. WHITTLESEY. Bird released 4:05 P.M. Arrived Loft 4:25 P.M. Phoned M.C. 4:35 P.M. October 4th. Pigeon Message. Reed. Message Center, October 4, 1918. From : CO. 1st Bn. 308th Inf. at 294.7—276.3. To: CO. 308th Inf. All quiet during the night. Our patrols indicate Germans withdrew during the night. Sending further patrols now to verify this. At 12.50 and 1.10 A.M. six shells from our own light artillery fell on us. Many wounded here whom we cannot evacuate. Need rations badly. No word from D and A Gompany. Sgd. WHITTLESEY, Major 308th Inf. Bird released: 7.25 A.M. Bird received: 7.48 A.M. Phoned to Message Genter 8.00 A.M. Pigeon Message. October 4, 1918. Message Genter 11.20 A.M. From : Major Whittlesey, 308th Inf. To : G.O. 308th Inf. Germans are still around us, but in smaller numbers. We ,have been heavily shelled by mortar this morning. Present effective strength. A, B, G, E, G & H companies 175 ; K Go. 307th, 45 ; M.G. Detachment 17. Total here about 235. Officers wounded: Lt. Harrington, A, Gapt. Stichmell, G, Lt. Duch- ler, G, Lts. Peabody and Revehes of M.G., Lt. Wilhelm, Co. E, missing. Gover bad if we advance up the hill. Very difficult to move the wounded if we rechange our position. Situation is cutting into our strength rapidly. Men are suffering from hunger and exposure, and the wounded are in very bad condition. Gannot support be sent at once? Position 294.7—276.3. Signed. WHITTLESEY, Major 308th Inf. Bird released at 10.35 A.M. Arrived loft 10:38 A.M. Pigeon Message. NO DATE. Received at Message Genter 4.22 P.M. To : G.O. 308th Infantry. From: 1st Bn. 308th Infantry. We are along the road parallel 276.4, our artillery is dropping a bar- rage directly on us. For heaven's sake stop it. WHITTLESEY, Major 308th. Coincident with these messages, it is well to give a thought to the many Hun machine guns and rifles trained on our planes every time we tried to find them. Barrages 30th AERO SQUADRON 49 and Archies were also thick, as '7^y" ^^^d and the CO. can testify. But they were completely "dug in" and dared not show themselves, as the Huns were pn the vantage points all around them. The advisability of keeping under cover in that particular place was learned by the sad experi- ence of many a brave fellow in it. The last carrier pigeon was released by Whittlesey on the 5th, and in spite of repeated efforts of the division, it was found impossible to reach them. The squadron was then called upon by the Division Com- mander (Major-General Alexander) to attempt dropping food, ammunition and medical supplies to them. The pilots and observers responded with glorious enthusiasm. They well realized that it was necessary to come down very low in the face of innumerable machine guns and rifles. The spot to be reached was indicated by Whittlesey's last mes- sage — ''along the road paralled 276.4." The other coordi- nate was taken from his previous message — "294.7." No one but he who has attempted dropping things from a plane can appreciate the difficulty. The weight of the ob- ject, how much the blast of the propeller will divert it, the speed of the wind, of the plane, the direction of the wind, and the altitude all must be taken into consideration at once. Then having to maneuvre the plane all sorts of ways to try and avoid the barrage of bullets and shells made it still harder. A total of about 1,000 pounds was dropped by thir- teen planes with a great deal more success than is credited, I have been told by one in the battalion that the bags dropped all along the valley and amongst the men, that they actually secured some of them, but others only 20 or 30 yards away were not reached owing to the Hun sharpshoot- ers picking off our men as they went for them. Not a sign of our men was seen by the planes. It was the last plane to go out which brought back the first definite news — Graham and McCurdy. They had de- scended to the treetops and McCurdy had his basket of car- rier pigeons all ready to drop when several Huns came out of a dug-out at exactly the spot our men were supposed to be. They fired, and a bullet went through McCurdy's neck, inflicting a painful and serious wound. By his grit and nerve, however, ''Mac" gave a full report while his wounds were being dressed at the field hospital by Dr. Feinier, and the inference was that the Huns had overpowered our men and were "mopping up" the dugouts. SI «-5? 8| I? 30th AERO SQUADRON 51 Lieut. Goettler, "Dad/' the First Flight Commander, and Lieut. Bleckley, ''Bleck," his observer team-mate, had not returned from their second trip, and as no news had been received from them, things looked serious. They turned out serious, as they had been brought down by the Hun machine guns and Archies and fell near Binarville. ''Dad" had been instantly killed, and ''Bleck" died before he could be trans- ported to the hospital. Both were recommended for and received posthumously the D.S.C. for their heroism. Lieut. Slater had a narrow escape when a bullet went through the sole of his shoe and just missed his foot. Phil- lips and M. H. Brown were brought down by their machine being hit and disabled near Binarville, but landed between the lines and reached our lines safely. ''Tracey'' Bird, Com- mander of the Third Flight, and ''Bill" Bolt were also brought down by machine-gun fire from the ground, but managed to land near La Haragee and Vienne-le-Chateau. We could not tell what success we had in relieving the suflfering of the men, as communication could not be ob- tained. However, neither we nor the staflf of the 77th Di- vision gave up hope. The weather was miserable on the 6th, making our work all the harder, and on the 7th it was not much better. But finally Anderson and Rogers, by dint of the greatest sort of courage, the morning of the 7th, in con- tinually circling over the supposed position of the "Lost Battalion" at a very low altitude, spied a panel a short dis- tance from where they were last reported. Those who were brought out from that hell-hole owed their lives to Ander- son and Rogers. As soon as the position of the panel was charted, they immediately flew to the division-dropping panel and dropped this message: Departure : 10 :30. Return: 12:25. Day: 7. Month: 10. Year: 1918. Mission: Infantry Contact Patrol. Area Covered : Binarville and Apremont. Pilot: Lieut. R. M. Anderson. Observer: Lieut. W. J. Rogers. Altitude: 500 M. Visibility: Fair. Sqd. No. 50. Called for line twice — saw Battalion Panel and two small Infantry panels at 09—03 (94.9—76.3) at 11 :30 hr. Fire at A9— L3 at 11:35. Quiet in North Argonne Forest. (Signed) W. T. ROGERS. A TRUE COPY. Hope was again revived at Division Headquarters and an attack from a different angle w^as attempted with success 52 50th AERO SQUADRON and the survivors brought out in pitiful condition. Attempts to reach the cut-oflf battalion had repeatedly met failure, but at the correct position the lay of the land allowed an easier front. By comparing Rogers' report as to coordinates and those sent back by pigeon, the difference in position can be seen. This small difference, however, made all the differ- ence between life and death for those who remained, for it was that same afternoon that they were rescued. An interesting document is the letter from the Germans to that Battalion to surrender. Here is a true copy of it in full: To the Commanding; Officer of the 2nd Battalion J.R. 308 of the 77th American Division. Sir: The bearer of the present, Crowell R. Hollingshead, has been taken prisoner by us on October . He refused to the German Intelligfence Officer every answer to his questions and is quite an honorable fellow, doing honor to his fatherland in the strictest sense of the word. He has been charged against his will, believing in doing wrong to his country, in carrying forward this present letter to the Officer in charge of the 2nd Battalion J.R. 308 of the 77th Division with the purpose to recommend this Commander to surrender with his forces as it would be useless to resist any more in view of the present conditions. The suffering of your wounded men can be heard over here in the German lines and we are appealing to your human sentiments. A white flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree with these conditions. Please treat the Crowell R. Hollingshead as an honorable man. He is quite a soldier and we envy you. THE GERMAN COMMANDING OFFICER. Another document, showing we were misinformed as to the exact position, is as follows: MESSAGE FROM COL. HOUGHTON Whittlesey found on the coordinates about where we have given our front line. The reason why he was fired into by friendly artillery was because he had given us the wrong coordinates of his position. P.C. 77th Division, (G2) 1 hr. Oct. 8th. After conversation with some one at Denver 1, who was talking with the Sgt. Major of Whittlesey's Battalion, I phoned as follows to Corps : Whittlesey's Battalion received nothing from air men. Whittlesey O.K. Estimated strength of Battalion 125 men (effective) ; 50 wounded coming out. Naturally, we felt much relieved by the relief of this bat- talion and also elated by the part the 50th Squadron took. Those who will forever be honored by their part in the Soth AERO SQUADRON 53 heroic work of dropping provisions on that history-making day were: Goettler (killed) Batson Bleckley (killed) Anderson McCurdy (wounded) W. J. Rogers AlcCook Thomson. Lockwood Sain Beebe Dovre Brill Phillips (shot down) Graham M. H. Brown (shot down) Pickrell Frayne George French Slater A. T. Bird, Jr. (shot down. Bolt (shot down) Day ended with 14 pilots, 15 observers, and 6 planes available after 18^ hours' service flying, with three cas- ualties. We then resumed our regular work. Lieuts. H. W. Schuler and J. W. Bassett, pilots, reported for duty. Lieut. Cole relieved from duty with the squadron. October loth. Visibility good throughout the day. Four infantry con- tact missions were sent out, three reconnaissance missions, four photograph-protection missions, and one courier mis- sion. Of these, two were unsuccessful, due to motor trouble, necessitating return to the field. German aerial activity did not approach the lines ; in fact, for a number of days the German airmen had kept well on their own side. One photo-protection on this day was ap- proached by five Fokkers at an altitude of 15,000 feet, but not molested. Day ended with 14 pilots, 13 observers and 12 planes available after 14^^ hours' service flying, and no casualties. On October 12th Lieut. Klosky was relieved from duty with the squadron. Dense haze, fog, rain, and inclement weather in general hampered aerial activities for several days. An example of one of these days is October 14th: Weather conditions were practically impossible, yet, due to a particular request for the front lines, two missions were sent out, each with one protection plane, to be used not only to drive oflf hostile airplanes, but also to check upon 54 ^oth AERO SQUADRON the finding of the line. One of these missions saw two pan- els, thus establishing an approximate line as a reward for the very trying work of four pilots and four observers dur- ing decidedly inclement weather. Day closed with i8 pilots, 13 observers, and 15 planes available after three hours' flying, with no casualties. Lieut. H. H. Rogers, pilot, and brother of our already noted observer, reported for duty. On October 13th Lieuts. W. H. Neely, F. C. Lewis, F. A. Page, and A. H. Parker, all pilots, reported for duty. October 15th. Dense haze, low clouds and rain held throughout the day. Three infantry contact missions were sent out, each with a protective plane, and only one plane reported any part of the line, but sufficient to confirm reports brought in by other means. A serious aerodrome crash occurred which should have warranted a thorough and searching investigation of the previous flying of the pilot. At various times the squadron had to contend with the difficulty of accepting service pilots insufficiently trained on heavy machines. The crash in ques- tion was on the initial trial flight of Lieut. Frank Page, who had just reached the squadron. Lieut. Page "taxied'' out and took oflF from a position close to the hangars, deviated from his original course, and ran head on toward the third flight machines, which were, as usual, lined up before their hangar. He attempted to pull the machine oflf the ground in a "zoom" without sufficient speed, struck two planes glancing blows and dove head on into a third, instantly killing Pvt. George L. Epert, at work on the engine, and seriously injuring himself. The mechanics at once righted the overturned machine which had caused the damage and started to drain it of gaso- line. As it happened, the storage battery of the Delco sys- tem was still in place, and the movement of the machine caused by the men working upon it evidently caused some loose wires to make a short circuit and a spark, for without warning and with apparently no provocation the wreck broke into flames. Fortunately no further injury to the per- sonnel occurred, but it was only by immediate and super- human efforts on the part of everybody upon the aerodrome that the remaining machines, the hangar and the many drums of gasoline and oil were saved from destruction. 50th AERO SQUADRON 55 Pvt. Epert was buried in Grave No. 176, Plot No. 4, Sec- tion B. Evacuation Hospital No. 6. The day closed with 17 pilots, 12 observers and 10 planes after 8 hours' service flights, and one casualty. On October i6th Lieuts. Frayne and French had a nar- row escape when a Very pistol went off accidentally in the observers' cockpit. This set fire to the gasoline tank. By utmost cool-headedness, Lieut. Frayne side-slipped, thus keeping the fire from Lieut. French, from 2,000 feet, and made a perfect landing in a small and strange field. Both jumped before the machine came to a stop and no sooner had they done so than the tank exploded.- Lieut. Frayne was recommended by Capt. Morse for a decoration in view of his excellent judgment at such a critical time, and sav- ing the life of Lieut. French, but as it was not in the face of the enemy, it was disapproved at Headquarters. On October i8th Lieut. Tracey Bird and Lieut. Rogers, observer, encountered a German bi-plane machine and drove it down. Unfortunately Lieut. Bird's guns jammed and the final result of the combat could not be observed. First Lieut. A. T. Bird, Jr., Flight Commander, was rec- ommended to the grade of Captain by his CO., for especially meritorious service at the front. Did the gun jam? "Bullets" Wcss%nan trying out the Lewis' al Remicaurl 56 soth AERO SQUADRON October igth. Again unfavorable weather conditions reverted to the usual mist and low clouds, which interfered with general ob- servation and stopped all photography missions. Four infantry contact missions, each with a protection plane, were sent out. This work constituted the entire en- deavor of the day, and it is to be noted that the proportion of infantry contact work had gradually come up until it was the premier duty of the squadron. The first Distinguished Service Cross awarded to a mem- ber of the squadron was aw^arded to 2nd Lieut. D. C. Beebe by the President through Major-General Mason T. Patrick, C.A.S., A.E.F., and posthumously to Lieut. Franklin B. Bel- lows, deceased. Copy of letter received today: P.C. 78th, Div. G-2, October 18, 191. Commanding Officer, 50th Aero Squadron, A.E.F., France. Dear Sir: The message dropped by one of your planes at 4:15 P.M. 18th in- stant, giving our line east of Grand Pre, confirmed our information and was of material value. Definite information of this nature is of great value to me. We realize the difficulties you are up against and appreciate the work done for us by Lt. McCook, Lt. Lockwood, Lt. Beebe, Lt. Rogers, Lt. Bird and Lt. Brill. Sincerely yours, DONALD M. McRAE, Lt. Col. General Staff, A.C. of S. G-2. The day ended with 15 pilots, 11 observers and 10 planes available after 14^ hours' service flying, and no casualties. On October 20th Lieuts. D. H. Hunt and Horace Osment,. observers, reported for duty. October 23rd. Slight improvement in the weather conditions gave op- portunity for some photography work, which affected us to the extent of sending out one protection photograph mis- sion. Two practice regelages, three reconnaissance and one infantry contact completed the day's work. Anti-aircraft quite active, as usual, and the German ^ir force out in greater numbers. One of our planes, with Lieut. Phillips as pilot and Lieut. M. H. Brown as observer, attempted to shoot down a German balloon, but succeeded instead in having it hauled 58 30th AERO SQUADRON down. Almost immediately they were attacked by a forma- tion of enemy machines. Incendiary bullets set fire to the Very lights carried in the observer's cokcpit, which in turn set fire to the machine. Disregarding this, and although Lieut. Brown's clothes were burning, he and Phillips con- tinued their fight, though at a great disadvantage, against superior numbers, and one of them was shot down and the others driven off by Lieut. Brown, confirmation of which was received. By using the Pyrene fire extinguishers the observer succeeded in overcoming the fire, while the pilot broke out of the engagement and effected a successful landing. Lieuts. Phillips and Brown were, of course, recommended for the D.S.C. by their CO. for this very clever perform- ance in the face of such odds, and there was great satisfac- tion in the squadron when they were awarded this coveted decoration. It is to be noted that this, the second aerial fire in the squadron, was due to the ignition of the signal ammunition carried inside the machine. As a result, henceforth all such ammunition was ordered carried in suitable racks on the ex- terior of the machine in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of a recurrence of such an accident. As a result of the first aerial fire on October 17th, Pyrene had been placed also in the rear cockpit of all planes, and the wisdom of this action was amply justified in the success of Lieut. Brown in subduing the flames. The day ended with 14 pilots, 14 observers and 15 planes available after 1 1 hours' service flying, with no casualties. October 28th. Continued mist, together with general overcast sky and low-hanging clouds, again made observation difficult throughout the day. The squadron moved from Remicourt to Clermont-en- Argonne, accomplishing the movement completely without previous notice between the hours of 7 A.M. and 10 P.M., including all planes, all material, and men, with no accident or loss of any kind. During this movement missions were carried out as usual — two reconnaissance missions, each with a protecting plane. This statement sounds rather bare, but anyone connected with military matters can realize the work accomplished that day, or, in fact, anybody who has done any moving can realize it. We had 54 tons of material to move, besides 30tli AERO SQUADRON 59 17 planes, 180 men and 40 officers. It took a truck two hours to go from Remicourt to Clermont, and every truck had to make at least two trips. Then, again, our operations were not interrupted and every man got his three meals. The least that can be said is that every man did his full share of work that day, and the results achieved produced a very fa- vorable impression on those higher up. Six trucks for this move were loaned us by the ist Squad- ron and four from the 12th. The day ended with 18 pilots, 15 observers and 17 planes after 9 hours' service flying, with no casualties. October 29th. Weather conditions improved so that all forms of work were possible, including photography missions. Conditions did not require the carrying out of infantry contact work. German aerial activity was particularly marked, necessi- tating two protection ships to accompany each mission ship. In this manner two successful reconnaissance missions were carried to completion, although one mission formation was attacked by a large formation of Fokkers. Lieut. Pickrell, pilot, and Lieut. Brown, observer, were attacked by a formation of eighteen enemy planes, but forced them off and asked for confirmation on two of them. This confirmation was not obtained. Lieut. Neely, pilot, with Lieut. Osment, observer, were also attacked by the same enemy formation, and claimed to have shot down one of them. No confirmation was received. In all fairness, it must be noted that obtaining confir- mation was very difficult at that time owing to the rapid movement of the troops, the difficulties of transportation and the almost impossible phone service — all combining to render more difficult the locating of the proper officials from the infantry and artillery to confirm the destruction of a Hun plane. The day ended with 16 pilots, 15 observers and 10 planes available after 10 hours' service flying, with no casualties. October 30th. The weather continued to improve again, allowing all forms of work except infantry contact, which was not nec- essary. Two reconnaissance missions were successfully carried out, each mission plane having two protection planes in at- 60 30th AERO SQUADRON I ■ tendance. No unusual opposition was encountered, but anti- aircraft fire was fairly active. Two practice infantry contact missions were success- fully accomplished in conjunction with the 6th Division, of which we had i8 officers and 515 men on our field for in- struction in work in connection with the air service. Three planes carried infantry observers to watch the work. In landing, two of these, one piloted by Lieut. Fitzsimmons and one by Lieut. Thomson, collided, but by great presence of mind and prompt action on the part of these pilots no injury resulted, although one machine was completely wrecked and the other rendered unserviceable. The day ended with 18 pilots, 18 observers and 12 planes available after 10 hours' service flying, with no casualties. October 31st. Heavy mists and low-hanging clouds interfered with work during the afternoon. No infantry contact work re- quired. One reconnaissance mission was sent out, as usuaU with two protection planes. Nine practice infantry contact missions were flown for purpose of instructing part of the 6th Division as a continuation of the previous day's work. Information was sent through to the squadron that Lieut. Goettler and Lieut. Bleckley, killed on October 6th, had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Day ended with 17 pilots, 14 observers and 13 machines available after 4 hours' service flying and 10 hours' prac- tice flying, with no casualties. November ist. Very heavy fog and dense clouds made observation ex- tremely difficult. In spite of this, some morning missions were sent out, including three infantry contact missions and one reconnaissance mission, which were all properly pro- tected by our own planes. Day ended with 17 pilots, 13 observers and 8 planes^ available after 6^ hours' service flying, with no casualties November 3rd. A marked improvement in weather conditions made pos- sible successful infantry contact and reconnaissance mis- sions. Two successful infantry contact missions were ac- complished, each taking two protection planes. A recon- naissance mission with protection was also successful, and 62 ^oth AERO SQUADRON one infantry contact mission sent out in the early morning returned unsuccessful because of dense fog. The day ended with 17 pilots, 13 observers and 9 planes available after 17^2 hours' service flying, with no casualties. November 4th. Weather conditions improved quite markedly, particu- larly in the afternoon. Two protected infantry contact mis- sions were successful. One protected artillery surveillance mission was unsuccessful. Lieut. Beebe, pilot, and Lieut. Lockwood, observer, were forced to descend in the neighborhood of Tanney, having their plane damaged by machine gun or rifle fire from the ground while protecting one of the infantry contact mis- sions. They were rseen vto land safely and proceed north, consequently it was a'ssumed that they had been taken pris- oners. This assumption -proved correct, as on November 14th, after the signing of the armistice, they escaped from the enemy and made their way back to the aerodrome via Sedan. It is to be noted that while descending to land their ma- chine was continually hit and after landing fire continued to be directed upon them. For this reason, seeing escape to- ward our\lines impossible, they ran directly to the German trenches, although still being fired upon, arid surrendered themselves. The day closed with 17 pilots, 11 observers and 12 planes available after 16 hours' service flying, with the loss of a pilot and an observer as prisoners. November 5th. Visibility continued fair throughout the morning hours, but low clouds and rain developed in the afternoon. Three protected infantry contact missions were sent out — two of which were successful. No unusual opposition was encoun- tered. Day ended with 17 pilots, 11 observers and 12 planes available after 12 hours' service flying, with no casualties. November 6th. Mist and low-hanging clouds made visibility poor throughout the day. Three infantry contact missions with protection were sent out, all of which were successful. Some 30th AERO SQUADRON 63 anti-aircraft was active and German scout patrols were on the front but not aggressive. As it subsequently proved, this day was the last day of actual operations. The last mission was sent out at 2 45 P.M., Lieut. Frayne, pilot, with Lieut. French as observer, undertaking an infan- try contact. Lieut. McCook, pilot, with Lieut. Hunt, ob- server, were in one protecting plane, and Lieut. Bassett, pilot, with Lieut. Batson, observer, were in the second pro- tecting plane. The day ended with 18 pilots, 11 observers and 12 planes available after 10 hours' service flying, with no casualties. Lieut. Brill returned from duty as Liaison Officer with 42nd Division. Lieut. Charles E. Kear attached to squadron for tem- porary duty. Lt. McCurdy rejoined squadron from hospital, through Colombey. Missions Today Lt. Anderson Pilot T.t. Rogers Observer Reconn. 1:40 Lt. Parker (( Lt. Bolt (( Prot. 1:45 Lt. Kitzsimnions <( Lt. Hunt (i Prot. Mtr. Trouble Lt. Rogers it Lt. E. Brown '' Inf. Cont. & R. 2:00 Lt. Thomson »( Lt. Osment Motr. Trouble Lt. Phillips a Lt. Brown Prot. 2:00 Lt. Frayne (t Lt. French Inf. Cont. 1:45 Lt. McCook t( Lt. Hunt Inf. Cont. 1:30 Lt. Bassett <( Lt. Batson Inf. Cont. 1:30 November 7th, 8th and gth. Weather prevented missions on these days. November loth. All work called off. (ist Corps put on reserve.) Lieut. Frayne received commission as ist Lieutenant. November 1 1 th. Armistice signed. SUMMARY Sorties— 289. Protection Sorties — ^99. Reconnai ssance — Vi sual- Successful — 43. Unsuccessful — 8. -day fA 50th AERO SQUADRON Artillery Cooperation : Surveillance — 2. Registrations — 1. Adjustments unsuccessful — 2. Rounds : Fired— 20. Observed — 16. Infantry Contact Patrol— 76. Total Hours : Flying— 340. Service — 325 hours 36 minutes. Pilots : On Roll— 17 (Average). Available — 15 (Average). Missing — 1. Observers : On Roll — 15 (Average). Available— 12 (Average). Missing — i. Summary. Airplanes: On Hand — 17 (Average). Available — 13 (Average). Missing — 1. Crashed — 20. Command Missions — 13. And so endeth the combat work of the 50th Squadron. Crand old squadron, with the most congenial bunch of good -fellows that I would ever hope to be associated with, and it was my very good fortune to be their Commanding Officer! 50th AERO SQUADRON 6\ IV Reports of Liaison Officers, Showing the Diversity of Problems We Had to Contend With OPERATIONS OFFICE 50TH AERO SQUADRON October 29, 1918. From: ist Lieut. Stewart Bird, C.A.C., Operations Officer. To: C.A.S., 1st Army Corps. Subject: Liaison and Missions with the 78th Division. I. The following is a report of the different Liaison Offi- cers of this Squadron with the 78th Division: October 16, 1918 — Relief of the 77th Division completed. Spoke with the C.O. of the 78th Division Reserves, and he complained of the Air Service work at St. Mihiel after the attack of September 12th. Met General and Staff of 155th Brigade. October 17, 1918 — Reported to Division Headquarters for assignment. Met the Assistant Chief of Staff. I was assigned to the 156th Brigade. Spoke with the Brigade C.O. and Assistant CO. Assisted them in interpreting our photo- graphs and the General complimented the Air Service on these exceptionally fine photos. Had General have flares sent to his Command. October 18, 1918 — Visited the 312th Infantry Head- quarters, Colonel Anderson, and explained the situation, and insisted on their using these flares and panels. He promised that his Command would cooperate with the aeroplanes. Explained our work, and urged him to have confidence in our work. Visited 311th Regimental Headquarters and spoke with Colonel Stokes about the same as the 312th Reg- iment. Met Major commanding the Battalion in the lines and he promised to show his line when requested. Spoke to Artillery Commander in regard to artillery targets and reglages. Signed, LIEUT. DARRIN. October 21, 191 8 — This morning in conversation with Colonel Herron, Chief of Staff, the Colonel apologized for the lack of cooperation on the part of the Infantry on the 66 30th AERO SQUADRON matter of displaying panels. He said he would look into the matter and send memos out to the organization com- manders requesting better cooperation. He said that prob- ably the Infantry no longer had any panels, in spite of the fact that they had been suppHed with them. Colonel Herron stated that he did not wish any Infantry Contact Planes for taking the line until the morning of October 23, 1918, 5:30 A.M. Lieut. French, 50th Aero Squadron, reported this P.M. that certain of the officers in his Brigade (the Brigade he is working with) thought that Bengal Flares were for night use only. He stated that he speedily corrected them in this mistaken idea. G.3, 153rd F.A. Brigade calls for no reglages for registration purposes. He said they had ex- cellent terrestial observation for their registering fire. He is eager to get a list of targets, B.T.A.'s, Cov's, etc., and also some work for the Fugitive Target Battalions. Lieut. Thompson, on his 13 130 mission today, reported calling W U (Division Panel) and L 14, getting no response in either case. The Divisional panel people claim to have received the call and promptly displayed the panel. The 2nd Battal- ion reports that it did not get the call L 14. Lieut. Brown reports calling L 14 about 16:00 hours. L 14 heard the call, but did not know it was their call. They were not even ready with panels. They did not have wireless station properly set up. Full instructions had been sent out to this 2nd Battalion, 309th, covering the Fugitive Target work. This radio officer had since October i6th to get his radio set properly installed. General Hearn has demanded a written explanation from this officer through the Colonel of the 309th F.A. The 2nd Battalion reports that it will be ready to work tomor- row. Their wireless sets have no amplifiers. The Division will display the Divisional panel only when called for by the plane. I have been unable to talk them out of this idea as yet. The change was brought about for the reason that they were afraid that the Germans might spot the panel. Signed, WALTER. 2. October 19th — I arrived at Headquarters of the 78th Division about noon. Interviewed Colonel Herron (Chief of Staff) and Capt. Woolworth. The Chief of Staff seemed very much pleased with some of the Infantry contact mis- sions performed by this Squadron. Was assigned to the i'56th Brigade Headquarters. Talked with the General and Staff regarding work of the air service. 50th AERO SQUADRON 67 October 20th — Met Col. Sterrett of the 309th Art. (155's) and talked over the method of Artillery working with the airplanes, signal methods, methods of adjustments, etc. Upon leaving he seemed to be anxious to do some work with the aeroplanes. October 21st — Visited 155th Inf. Brig. Met General and Staff. The General was anxious to know about the nature of the country ahead of him. Also methods of camouflage. The Brigade Signal Officer promised to obtain a large amount of flares for the Infantry Brigade. Had a talk with the Lieutenants in charge of Signals for the 309th and 310th Infantry Regiments. They told me they had been able to obtain very few panels and flares, and were under the im- pression that the flares were to be used at night only. This may account for the lack of flares shown. Explained to these officers the best methods of displaying panels and flares, and they promised to get information to all the men in the regiments. Told also about 4 and 5 star showing in place of the 6 star rocket due to our difficulty with the rock- ets. All the officers of this Brigade seemed to think that all planes overhead were Boche^ so I explained the markings and chief characteristics of the German planes. October 22nd — Spoke with three Bat. commanders of the 309th Art., also other officers of the 309th. They were very much interested in the work of the Air Service and desired to do some work with them; due to the absence of the Bn. commanding officer, could not arrange any work. They all desired ideas on camouflage for their batteries. I helped them the best I could. Explained to the aircraft ma- chine gunners the method of firing on aircraft. Advised them to procure tracer ammunition. October 23rd — Talked with Colonel of the 311th and 312th Infantry, subject same as when Lieut. Darrin visited them. Saw about 100 German prisoners brought in. Sev- eral had cards which this squadron dropped as propaganda. Saw one of our planes call for the lines and get a very poor answer from the Infantry. This was later explained to me by the Colonel of the Infantry Regiment, due to the fact that the men at the moment were lying down flat due to the heavy enemy fire. October 24th — Moved with Brigade Headquarters to their new location. Talked with officers of the 307th An. along same lines as with 309th Artillery. 68 30th AERO SQUADRON In the afternoon was relieved by Lieut. Lockwood and I returned to the Squadron. (Signed) H. G. FRENCH, 2nd Lieut. A.S. October 22nd — Chief of Staff, Farady, this evening de- cided to put out panels whenever friendly planes are in near vicinity. Infantry contact plane for tomorrow. Line 5 130 P.M., southern edge of Grand Pre, Q5 Qy; D5 Qy; Ue Q4. 2nd Bn. 308th (Fugitive Target) must work through regi- mental station of 308th at E05A05. Batteries of ist Bn. 308th grouped about point E 2 X7. Batteries of 2nd Bn. 308th grouped about point at N8 Rq. (Signed) WALTERS. October 23rd — 10:20 hrs. G2, Farady reports receiving a phone message stating that an American plane was just brought down by German anti-aircraft fire at Champigne- ville. (Signed) WALTERS. October 23rd — Lieut. Bolt, on his reconnaissance mis- sion at 9:05 hrs., reports flares at 91.9 — 87.8 and 92.6 — 87.8 and 94.3 — 87.9. Chief of Staff requests that I tell you that he thinks these are Boche flares and that the Boche are do- ing this to entice our planes or deceive us. Second Bn. 309th (through Lieut. Brown, radio officer of 3L09th F.A.), reports that they were uncertain as to the method of fire to be used in the "155" fugitive work. As soon as the two fugitive target batteries were assigned, I think October 17th or i8th, I informed the Brigade Radio Officer, Lieut. Wiley, that we would use the same method of fire as we used over on the St. Mihiel sector with same bat- talions, the 2nd 309th F.A., and 2nd Bn. 308th, respectively. At that time memorandums — this on Sept. 12, 191 8 — were sent to the battalions describing the respective methods of fire which they had used before with the 50th Squadron. Lieut. Wiley tonight (October 23rd) repeated these same instructions to these two battalions, so that there would be no possibility of a misunderstanding in the future. Day before yesterday G2, Lieut. Col. McRae asked me to send out planes the morning of the 23rd to shoot up with their machine guns a position occupied by Germans while our Infantry made an attack upon the same position. I told Col. McRae that such a mission could not be assigned to an Observation Squadron. I then volunteered to communicate 30th AERO SQUADRON 69 with a pursuit group through Buster lo. This was done. Yesterday G3, Major Frink asked for some planes to adjust on a portion of Grand Pre for fire for destruction. He wanted us to adjust the fire for one ''groupment" (I sup- pose he meant a battalion), but he said that the Corps Artil- lery and the whole regiment of 155's would fire at the same time. I told him that it would be impossible to do an adjust- ment under those conditions, for the observer would be unable to pick out the shots (bursts) of the battalion he was adjusting for. The matter was therefore dropped. (Signed) WALTERS. October 24th — I arrived at Chatel Chehery at noon and spent remainder of the afternoon with Lieut. Walters in getting acquainted at division and artillery brigade head- quarters. Col. Fisher, adjutant of the 153rd F.A. Brigade, spoke very highly of the work of the Air Service the past few days and commended Lieuts. Phillips and Brown very highly, he having witnessed their fight of October 23rd. October 25th — Tried to get confirmation of Boche shot down by Phillips and Brown, but without any success. At I5:20hrs. Oct. 23, P.C. of 311th Inf, reported that two Boche planes were attacking our convoy on road F9 D3, to F3 R2, and were attacked by single American plane. The Boche planes turned on our plane and apparently drove him back over the lines out of control. No markings on either of the ships were seen. Capt. Briggs of G3, of 153rd Brigade, requests that our ships call both fugitive target batteries on goings to the lines, and state in their reports whether or not they got an un- derstood. An investigation is in progress, and they are anx- ious to find where the trouble is. These two fugitive batter- ies rely entirely on aerial observation. They are 2nd Bn. 308th F.A. Q53, 2nd Bat. L14 (now changed). October 26th — Capt. Connolly, division radio officer, said that all Inf. units had been supplied with panels. Visited Div. Panel Station and found the following method used: Panels are always out when friendly plane is in vicinity; Understood panel is put out when call is received and with- drawn when call SN is received. If dropped messages fall within reach Understood panel is put out. Batson, McCook, Rogers, and Brown visited here at headquarters and from them I understand that Cleflf 328 was to go into effect at midnight. I later found that this di- 70 30th AERO SQUADRON vision had no orders to change cleffs, and so notified squad- ron to continue to use Cleff 327. Lieut.-Col. McGill told me that he would see to it that I got two copies of every Division plan of Liaison. Received request for Infantry plans as per copy of message from Farady 7, at Farady P.C. 26/10/18. Hour, 23:20, No. 16, by runner. To Liaison Officer, 50th Aero Squadron. Re- quest Infantry plane maintain constant observation over our lines from Grand Pre to Talma for at least two hours as early as practicable in the morning. Signed McRae, per J. L. Frink, Maj. Inf., and transmitted request by phone to Lieut. Bird via Buster 19. October 27th — Field order No. 73, 78th Div., received. It was 'specified that Cleff 327 and Code G in effect and Code M in reserve. Telephoned the Squadron to continue the use of G code. Would suggest that hereafter the squadron await the Division orders specifying change of codes. Such a change will be immediately telephoned in by the Liaison Officer. (Signed) DOVRE. October 28th — Comparison of Codes with Div. Hdq. 78th Div. and 155th Brig, of 78th Div. I was sent on the above mission on October 26th. I had two copies of the Cleff Nos. 325, 326, 327 and 328, and one copy of G code, with instructions to leave them with the Liaison Officer of the unit which I found did not have them. I left a copy of the Cleffs with the Liaison Officer of the 78th Div. and the 155th Brig, respectively, and left the copy of the G code with the 155th Brig. The Liaison Officer of the 155th Brig, had never had the cleffs that have been in use from time to time by the 78th Div. and the cooperating Air Service, nor the D code, Q code or the G code. He did, however, have a copy of the T code, and was not informed that there was any other code, nor that these codes were changed from time to time! I talked over the problems of the Air Service with the Infantry with the Liaison Officer of the 155th Brig. He was exceedingly courteous, and anxious to understand the prob- lems so that cooperation might be enhanced, and error re- duced to a minimum on both sides. (Signed) W. J. ROGERS, 2nd Lieut., A.S. October 26th — Checked up with Capt. Connolly, and also Lieut.-Col. Grant the following items: Letter Cleff No. 327 30th AERO SQUADRON 71 now in effect and No, 328 in reserve. G code now in effect and M code in reserve, Flares and Panels. Capt. Connolly stated that all the units had been given flares. The dropped messages are sent to the Message Center. Checked up the infantry and artillery wave lengths. Talked to a first lieu- tenant in Col. Herron's office about the following: The plan of liaison, which he said was not out yet. Asked him what messages the General desired, and he stated that they wanted the front line one hour after daylight each day, and one hour before dark. Also read over some of the notes of the plan of Liaison. Col. Herron was not there, as he was at a meeting which was drawing up the plan of Liaison. Lieut. Dovre, our Liaison Officer, stated that the Artillery did not desire to be regulated on any points, but that the fugitive target batteries wanted fugitive targets to shoot at. (Signed) LIEUT. BIRD, Operations Officer. German Headquarters' Dug-out in for October 28th — Visited Division Headquarters and in conversation with Col. Herron, Chief of Staff, I asked him if he had put in any complaints about the work of the 50th Aero Squadron? He stated that he had not put in any com- . plaint and that he knew that the Commanding General had not. He stated that he was well satisfied with our work and that he would put it in writing if I wished it. He stated that the only way a rumor could have started about his not 72 30th AERO SQUADRON being satisfied with our work was through Major Smith (a Marine Major of the ist A.C.), who had asked him one day about the work of the Air Service. Col. Herron told Major Smith that he did not think much of the Air vService, and did not expect anything from the Air Service. The rea- son for the above statement was that the Aero Squadron, working with the 78th Division after the attack of Septem- ber I2th at St. Mihiel, had never obtained their front line, and had promised eighteen different times to do adjustments and had never fulfilled a single one of the promises. I gave Col. Herron 150 copies of the notes for platoon command- ers, which he states would be delivered to the platoon com- manders. (Signed) BIRD. October 28th — Checked up to see that all P.C.'s are using their correct call letters. All checked O.K. Received re- quest C.A.S. 1st A.C., via Lieut. Walters, to send daily memorandum of conversations. Lieut. Hammond, Liaison Officer of the 50th Reg. C.A.C. (155's long), now on duty with this Division. Lieut. Bolt, 50th Squadron, in checking in and out at the Division panel, used the call — ... — 5 separation instead of W. U. (Signed) DOVRE. October 29th — Major Frink says that beginning on D day at H hour the understood signal for both aeroplane and ; ground units will be a one-star rocket, white, and all field I orders are being amended to that effect. Gen. Hearn re- I quests that our planes call the Artillery panel stations as i much as possible before attack, and to report in dropped j messages as to time of call, call letter used, delay if any at ' panel station. Observer in ship No. 17 (Lieut. French) 10:35 sent call LE' repeatedly in checking instead of WU, also in check- ing out. No. 17 was the only ship to drop a message today. 13:36 Hr. Salmson No. 16 crashed north of Apremont, pilot and observer uninjured, machine was shot by machine guns and Archies. Boche plane brought down intact north of Marq from 5000^ pilot and observer both badly wounded. Enemy plane brought down one of our planes in flames. Lieut. Brown, radio officer of the 2/309th, reported that he received a call from one of our ships this morning about 11:30 A.M. They put out the understood panel, the ship 30th AERO SQUADRON 73 then sent down a message that was unintelligible except for the code REG. They put out the repeat panel, but the ship sailed away. I shall visit this Battalion this afternoon. Col. Kerfoot, of the 65th C.A.C., inquired if we could adjust the fire of his two Battalions of 9, 2" howitzers. I told him we were only working for the Division Artillery and that there was another Squadron assigned to the Corps Artillery. He said that the Air Service made no arrange- ment with him about the matter and wished to get in touch with the Squadron working with the Corps Artillery. (Signed) DOVRE. October 30th — To Capt. Morse : In reply to your request for confirmation on two enemy planes brought down about 3:30 P.M. northwest of Grand Pre. I have obtained the fol- lowing information: A Rumpler plane was brought down at 15:25 about 100 yards north of our lines north of Marq. It was brought down from a height of 5,000 feet. From this ship our patrols secured a camera, a machine gun and a mes- sage container which contained a request for the names of the German aviators brought down behind our lines. It also contained the following list of Americans brought down behind the German lines : 1. Styles, Lieut. 28/9/18. Captured uninjured. 2. Morris, Lieut. 28/9/18. Killed. 3. Brodie, Lieut. 1/9/18. Killed. Could you store my baggage in University Club, Paris, and put 1,000 francs I loaned the Mess in Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. Bank? Should be very happy if you would do the same. All very well with me. Morris killed in fall. (Signed) CASSIUS H. STYLFS. Will follow this up further. (Signed) DOVRE. 2. Summary of Missions for 78th Division : Oct. 17th to Oct. 30th: Reconnaissances — 19. Artillery adjustments — 3. Infantry contact patrols — 12. Practice reglage — i. (Signed) STEWART BIRD, 1st Lieut. C.A.C., Operations Officer. 74 j r ^oth AERO SQUADRON V Supplementary History of 50th Aero Squadron, Amer- ican Expeditionary Forces, Up to and Including January 24, 19 19 The original squadron history took the squadron through the end of hostilities, November 11, 1918. It was a good war for those of us who fought it and lived through it, for we accomplished our aims to a glorious finish. Those who died, we hold in reverence and know their spirits live to reahze their lives were not given in vain. After November nth, for a few days, relaxation was freely participated in. The limit of three-day passes were issued for the officers and a portion of the men ^iven daily passes, which they used to good advantage in souvenir col- lecting, hopping trucks from Clermont-en-Argonne and re- turning with all sorts of souvenirs. That lasted about a week and the edge wore off. Then came the tedious waiting around for orders to move somewhere ; we didn't care where as long as we got away from Clermont. Orders were requested and received for a number of pilots and observers having had time over the lines to start on the first lap for home, and new pilots and observers sent up. It always seemed strange to us why there were so many pilots and observers for replacements right after the armis- tice, but that was partly explained, especially in the case of the observers, by the great amount of instruction, mostly duplication in several different schools, given them before they were allowed to go to the front. So the interval resolved itself mostly to the usual "bull'^ — how Woodville Rogers claimed to have seen a big shell pass him in the same direction, shouting: ''Passage, give me room, boy;" how ''M. H." Brown thought some one was go- ing to get hurt when he saw his tracers and the Hun tracers getting tangled up, the time he and Phillips won their D.S.C.'s; how our well-known operations officer, "Jay^^ 50th AERO SQUADRON 75 Bird, earned his flying pay in October when his Command- ing Ofiicer carelessly steered the wing in the way of a shell over the Argonne Forest; how Batson refuses to believe ""'E'' Brown can see, this concluded by the fact that ''E" Brown never saw the Huns '*Bats'' was firing on; how ^Tinky'' Sain will never forget the famous ''Zumm" he and ^'Tommy" Thomson made over the hangar at Clermont; nor will we ever forget when **Micky" Lockwood and ''Dave" Beebe returned to us safe and sound November 14th after being prisoners for ten days; and the Thanksgiv- ing dinner, where 'Titz" Fitzsimmons got a tip that the States were going dry; and how ''Tracey" Bird and Wood- ville Rogers claimed the first Hun machine; and how Gra- ham and MacCurdy, the wildest team in the squadron, got the first Hun balloon; how '*Dave" Beebe's bum left eye nearly finished ''Danny" Brill by letting a tree get in the way of his left wing; how "Bill" Frayne got his burning plane down with French in the back seat; how "Mac" Mc- Cook and "Micky" Lockwood gained our front lines near Binarville and had one hell of an evening with the nigger doughboys of the 92nd Division; of the last trip of our be- loved "Dad" Goettler and equally popular "Bleck" Bleck- ley, dropping food to the Lost Battalion; and unlimited amount of "bull" about our experiences with the "Lost Bat- talion" of the 77th Division; how "Andy" Anderson and Woodville Rogers raised hell with the Hun troops and artil- lery on the road near Sy; how "Pick" Pickrell was about the only one of the "steady" pilots who had no wild tales to tell on returning from a mission. All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten period. Then the 805th Pioneer Infantry volunteered some tal- ent, so a stage was erected in a hangar and they were as- sisted by our famous quartette. Singleton, Lorah, Wagner and Screem, and our sleight-of-hand artist. Private Butler. The quartette got on its mettle and composed words for "The End of a Perfect Day" as follows: When you sit on the edge of your bunk all day, With a map of France in your hand ; And you search for a spot not so far away, Out there in No Man's Land, And you know that the archies are bursting fine, And the 50th is on her way. And you know that our pilots have found the line ; That's the end of a perfect day. 50th AERO SQUADRON 77 On November 20th the squadron was relieved from duty with the Observation Group, ist Army Corps, and from the 1st Army Corps, by S.O. 666, Par. 4, Headquarters ist Army. On November 29th, S.O. 680, Headquarters ist Army, re- lieved us from duty with the ist Army and split the squad- ron into three flights : A Flight to go to Army Schools, Lan- gres ; B Flight to 3rd Corps Schools, Clamecy ; and C Flight to Army Candidate School, La Valbonne. The three flight commanders, ist Lieuts. W. D. Frayne, F. T. McCook and A. T. Bird, Jr., were placed in charge of A, B^ and C Flights respectively. Orders were received shortly afterwards re- lieving Lieut. Bird, so ist Lieut. T. P. Hardin was put in charge of C Flight. Captain Morse and Lieut. Frayne proceeded to Langres to make necessary arrangements, and Lieuts. McCook and Bird to Clamecy and La Valbonne for the same purpose, on December 3rd. The weather then set in with rain or fog, or both, every day, and it was simply a question of waiting for a clear day until the ships could be flown away. The personnel of A Flight was sent down in trucks to Longeau on December 6th, where the field had been desig- nated for us. The country within a short distance of Lan- gres is nearly impossible for landing an aeroplane. The field chosen was between Versailles-le-Bas and Longeau, sit- uated in a deep valley and very nearly the same level as a lake about one-half kilometer distance. On December 12th, the weather still prohibiting cross- country flying, C Flight was sent ofif by trucks to La Val- bonne, leaving B Flight to get the planes oflf at the first opportunity and to police up the camp. Finally, on De- cember 15th, suitable weather came and the sixteen planes all got off by 10 A.M. Five to go to Longeau, five to Cla- mecy and six to La Valbonne. One plane smashed without injury to Lieut. Thomson or mechanic, on landing at Lon- geau, due to wet field. As the other four planes landed, it was necessary for twenty men, pushing and pulling and motor wide open, to taxi the machine to the side of the field. The impossibility of the field was then proven unless it froze or an exceptionally dry spell came on. At Clamecy, one of the five planes turned over by run- ning into a very annoying plowed strip right across the cen- ter of the field and covered slightly with winter wheat. It was necessary for the C Flight planes to refill and two landed at Courbon and three at Chattillon-sur-Seine. 78 30th AERO SQUADRON One had a forced landing at Chamont aerodrome. Three planes finally reached La Valbonne, one smashing in forced landing due to bad weather at Macon, one damaged by French guards at Dijon after forced landing due to bad weather, and one at Chaumont smashed in forced landing while a pilot of the 99th Squadron was flying it over the re- view for President Wilson, December 25th. Difficulty was experienced in erecting the hangar at Lon- geau, due to inexperience in erecting same without blue- prints or any directions, and hangars for La Valbonne and Clamecy were not delivered for several weeks, in all of which time the planes had been subjected to continual rain and fog. The work with the schools was looked forward to with much pleasure, but at Langres and La Valbonne we were doomed to disappointment. Both these schools were just finishing up their courses preparatory to disbanding. How- ever, one Air Service lecture was given to the officers of the Line School at Langres on December 21st by Captain D. P. Morse, Jr. The audience consisted of about 150 officers, with ranks from 2nd Lieutenant to Colonel. Captain Morse was then ordered to proceed to Clamecy and La Valbonne for the purpose of carrying out instruc- tions from the Chief of Air Service, American E.F. This consisted in doing anything possible to coordinate the work of B and C Flights with the schools and to see that the flights were being properly run by their respective commanding officers. Lieut. McCook, Commanding Officer, B Flight, was plan- ning lectures and manoeuvres for the next course of the 3rd Corps School, starting early in January. Captain Morse left Clamecy December 26th and pro- ceeded to La Valbonne. The Candidate School there was closing about the middle of January and the schedule was well filled up. However, a lecture was given 1,000 of the candidates on December 31st by Captain Morse. This con- sisted of a half-hour talk on the three kinds of aviation : ob- servation, chasse, and bombardment, and the next hour was given over to the questions the candidates wanted answered. Great enthusiasm prevailed during this hour, and many things the candidates had seen and had been unable to ex- plain on the front were cleared up. Captain Morse left for Longeau on January 2nd, A.M. On returning to Longeau, Lieut. Frayne was relieved of 30th AERO SQUADRON 79 command of A Flight and same taken over by Captain Morse. Between January 6th and 20th eight Air Service lectures were given to students of 3rd Corps Schools, four by Lieut. McCook and four by Lieut. M. H. Brown. These were in preparation for several manoeuvres planned, and included all the students of the school, both officers and enlisted men. Orders were then issued for the three flights of the squad- ron to reassemble at 3rd Corps Schools. The four planes at Longeau were salvaged, as they were considered unsafe to fly, owing to the great amount of weathering they had been subjected to, and as soon as that had been done A Flight left by trucks for Clamecy in compliance with S.O. 8, Par. 9, Headquarters Army Schools, January 8, 1919, arriving at Clamecy January 19th. One plane of C Flight had to be salvaged owing to weathering, and the personnel left La Valbonne per S.O. 81, Par. 3, January 13, 1919, Headquar- ters Infantry Candidates' School, January 19, 1919, and the remaining two planes on January 21st, the first suitable day for cross-country flying. They were forced to land at Dijon on account of bad weather, and arrived at Clamecy Jan- uary 25th, owing to fog between Dijon and Clamecy. On January 21st, P.M., C Flight arrived at Clamecy and the squadron was again consolidated under command of Captain D. P. Morse, Jr. Arrangements were at once made to get new planes, D.H. 4 with Liberty motor, from Air Service Production Center No. 2, Romorantin, and upon their arrival the plan of taking up student officers and instructors from the school was started. A short ride of about 8 to 15 minutes was given the officers, and absolutely straight flying ordered in order to give them the best possible idea of conditions in the air. Great enthusiasm prevailed to go up after the first few got down without mishap, and this resulted in having to choose by lot a certain percentage owing to the large num- ber of the 400 officers wishing to go up. On January 22nd two student officers were taken up. On January 23rd eigh- teen, and on January 24th twelve student officers and two instructors. This continued each good day for flying, and a total of several hundred were given *'joy rides." On January 21st the first problem was done. It con- sisted merely in calling for the line by plane and reporting same to the P.C. of the manoeuvre. This was very success- ful, as it showed plainly the rough spots which needed atten- 80 50lh AERO SQUADRON tion both on the part of the plane and the infantry. Lieut. Graham, pilot, and Lieut. Bastine, observer, took this mis- sion, and oblique photos were taken with the 26 CM. camera by Lieut. Bassett, pilot, with Lieut. Cartright, observer. Same were of little use, however, owing to mist and lateness in day. Ctamecy from the Town-hail tower which Graham tried to knock over. Our field and hangars in the left background. On January 15th eight good vertical photos were taken with the 50 CM. camera of the district around Clamecy by Lieut. Mason, pilot, and Lieut. W. B. Brown, observer. On January 24th a very successful problem was done by Lieut. Graham, pilot, and Lieut. M. H. Brown, observer, the idea from our standpoint being to bring out the use of P.C panels. Everything worked out very smoothly and our sug- gestions to the ground troops were well carried out. We furnished a liaison officer (observer) with Brigade P.C, each of the two Divisional P.C.'s and Battalion P.C.'s, as well as eight liaison officers with Platoons. These officers explained the workings of the infantry plane and its signals as well as all sorts of technical questions about the plane and Lib- erty engine. The germ of a good understanding between the infantry and Air Service is therefore being well started. SOth AERO SQUADRON 81 It has been most evident in all this work the necessity for this kind of instructions in connection with infantry schools and the aid it would have given the American Army in conducting the war if same could have been done earlier. (Signed) D. P. MORSE, JR., Captain, A.S., Comdg. 50th Aero Sqdn. The above was the supplementary history as originally written in compliance with an order from the Chief of Air Service, A.E.F. A little more can be added now, however. Upper — At Clamecy. Lower — Officers' quarters at Bic- qudcy during the St. Mihlel offensive A large majority of the old officers had been relieved shortly after the armistice to go home, and new pilots and observers sent up. The 3rd Corps School at Clamecy was the only place any real work was done. It consisted of lec- tures, joy-rides and field problems with the school. Besides those mentioned above, several hundred officers from the school were taken up for short rides, several more problems were carried out, and about a dozen more lectures given by our officers. The Officers' Mess was finally established at Surgy, 82 30th AERO SQUADRON about five kilometers from Clamecy and most of the officers billeted there. I think I am safe in saying that Surgy took on a new lease of life — and also almost lost it several times. Before the three flights got to Clamecy, Flight B had given a Nev^ Year's dance in the Town Hall, which was the great affair of that winter. They say, though, that it took several glasses of A.E.F. "light wine and beer" punch to keep step with the French girls in spite of the music. Sev- eral more dances were held at Surgy later, with our own 50th Squadron orchestra doing the honors. Then, too, ''those aviators" became unpopular at the Officers' Club until the evening of the last pay day. 'Tis said the doughboys almost got even. You know what "dem bones" will do! When the three Flights got together there were many surplus officers, so some were starting on their first leg homeward nearly every day. Finally, I received my orders and left the grand old bunch February 14, 1919. Captain O. B. Cardwell, who joined the squadron from ist Army Air Service Headquarters just after the armistice, was left in command, and he carried on the work well from the les- sons he had learned at the front. About the middle of March the squadron started turn- ing in their planes. Then, on April 22, 1919, the order to proceed to the port of debarkation was received. They pro- ceeded to Marseilles, and after only a couple of days boarded the S.S. Caserta for New York. The happy word "dis- charged" came next at Mineola — to all but the regular army men. Lieut. Batson had been given command when they left Clamecy, as Capt. Cardwell was to stay in France. A nucleus of four men was left, and they were sent, with Lieut. Batson as CO., to Belleville, near St. Louis, to form a new 50th Squadron. My one wish is that the new squad- ron will uphold the reputation and good-will of the fine old 50th ! THE END it it it ii it ii 30th AERO SQUADRON 83 NUMBER OF MISSIONS AND TOTAL HOURS OVER LINES OF PILOTS AND OBSERVERS No. Missions Hours Walter A. Thomson 17 29 hrs. 15 niin. Shelby H. Batson 13 20 " 15 " James W. Bassett 9 14 " 15 " Wm. A. Bolt 19 33 " — " Allan T. Bird, Jr 20 36 '' 45 '' Mitchell H. Brown 26 44 '' 45 " Edward Brown 9 16 " 30 " Milton K. Lockwood 27 37 " 15 " Robert M. Anderson 25 42 " 45 Harold H. Ashley 6 9 " 30 David C. Beebe 19 33 " — Daniel P. Brill . 20 35 " — Temple P. Hardin 4 5 " 30 Woodville J. Rogers 23 36 " 30 Maurice F. Graham 22 31 " — " Hubert H. Rogers 10 15 " 30 " Howard A. Darrin 12 20 " 15 " Adolph O. Dovre 19 25 " 15 " Russell E. Evans 7 10 " — " Samuel G. Fitzsimmons 12 17 " 30 ** Charles E. Dickinson, Jr 10 16 " — " Howard C. French 22 36 " 45 " Forrest T. McCook 23 33 " — " Floyd C. Lewis 5 7 " — '' Alfred C. George 14 25 " 15 " James E. McCurdy 13 21 " — " Horace E. Osment 7 10 " 30 " Wm. H. Neely 10 15 " 30 " Albert N. Parker 10 15 " 45 " David M. Hunt 9 13 " 30 " Francis C Slater* 10 15 " 45 " Arthur S. Thompson 9 16 " 45 " | Hollis W. Schuler 8 13 " 15 " Charles A. Pursley 15 18 " 15 " George R. Phillips 19 31 " — " Wm. D. Frayne 17 29 " 30 " i Floyd M. Pickrell 19 26 " 15 " James E. Sain 23 31 " 45 " Simon Klosky 2 3 " — " Robert L. Cole 1 1 " 45 " Townsley W. Roby 1 1 " 30 " 84 30th AERO SQUADRON FACTS Total sorties 343 Protection flights 100 Reconnaissance, visual, day, successful 120 Unsuccessful 14 Artillery .cooperation : Surveillance 6 Registration 2 Hostile batteries reported 2 Adjustments 5 Infantry contact patrols 81 Command Missions (Lost Battalion) 13 Total hours over the front 583 hours 8 minutes Total planes used 53 Total planes replaced 29 Combats with hostile aircraft 42 Planes lost in combat with hostile aircraft o Forced landings due to improper maintenance o Number of D.S.C.'s awarded 6 ADDRESS LIST OFFICERS A 86 50th AERO SQUADRON OFFICERS Anderson, Robert M., 402 B Street, Rock Springs, Wyoming. Aschenbrenner, Randolph A., Stratford, Wis. Ashley, H. H., Oakland, Cal. Bassett, James W., Coopers Plains, N.Y. — 219 Linden Avenue, Ithaca, N.Y. Bastine, Wilbur S., 574 4th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. Batson, Shelby H., 309 Bay Street, Hattiesburg, Miss. Beebe, David C, Syracuse, N.Y. — Englewood Club, Englewood, N.J. *Bellows, Franklin D., Welmette, 111. Bird, Allen T., Jr., Nogales, Ariz. — R.F.D. No. 6, Phoenix, Ariz. Bird, Stewart, Guyton, Ga. — c/o Ben B. Watkins Co., 19 Walton Street, Atlanta, Ga. *Bleckley, Erwin R., Wichita, Kan. Bottom, Raymond B., 1614 Third Avenue, Highland Park, Richmond, Va. Bolt, William A., Austin, Texas — 1739 Corcoran Street, Washington, D.C. Bowman, Seth R., 704 Harrison Street, Monroe, Mich. Bradley, Charles R., Old Fort, N.C. Brill, Daniel P., 203 N. 8th Street, Salina, Kan. Brown, Edward, R.F.D. No. 1, Wilkes Barre, Pa. Brown, Mitchael H., Rockwall, Texas — Donna, Texas. Brown, W. Bion, 622 Chandler Street, Danville, 111. Burrell, Chester D., Epworth, Iowa. Calhoun, Ben A., c/o Gordon Sewall & Co., Houston, Texas. Campbell, WiUiam L., 504 Olive Street, Kansas City, Mo. Cardwell, Oliver B., c/o Adj. Gen., War Dept., Washington, D.C. Cortwright, Edward M., Mauch Chonk, Pa. Catlin, Benjamin S., 3712 Grand Avenue, El Paso, Texas. Cole, Robert L., 1038 E. 105th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. Cooper, Carl B., 127 South Main Street, Homer, N.Y. Crisman, Don E., Sawyer, Wis. Darrin, Howard A., New York City — Aero Limited, Miami, Fla. Davis, Michael F., c/o Adj. Gen., War Dept., Washington, D.C. Dichinson, C. E., Lockport, N.Y. *Dodge, Gordon. Doles, John J., Rain Dealing, La. Dovre, Adolph O., Sleepy Eye, Minn. *Dryden, Ralph, Drayton, N.D. Duell, Everett A., 623 E. Third Street, Devil's Lake, N.D. Esslinger, Edgar E., Gurley, Ala. Evans, Russell E., c/o The Brown-Crummer Co., Kansas City, Mo. Feiner, Laurent G., Garden City, Long Island, N.Y. Fitzsimmons, Samuel G., Charlestown, N.C. Fox, Buell K., Arlington, Iowa. Frayne, William D., 506 W. 111th Street, New York City— 5816 Alder Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. French, Howard C, 195 Grand Avenue, North Portland, Ore. *Frissell, Patrick J. joth AERO SQUADRON 87 *Gardiner, Edward H., Boston, Mass. George, Alfred C, 2030 Main Street, Jacksonville, Fla. Ghent, Charles H., Cor. Third Street and Maria Avenue, St. Paul, Minn. *Goettler, Harold E., Chicago, 111. Graham, Maurice P., 520 West Alta Street, Monrovia, Cal. Hardin, Temple P., 221 N. 15th Street, Fort Smith, Ark. Hayes, Martin A., 1808 West End Avenue, Nashville, Tenn. Highnote, Leslie G., Corsicana, Texas. *Hoishoh, A. K. P., Berkeley, Cal. Hunt, D. M., 255 So. Farragut Terrace, Philadelphia, Pa. Hutchison, Earl W., 218 Langley Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. Jackson, William M., Hanover, Ind. Jagger, Kenneth R., Marion, Wayne County, N.Y. Johnston, S. B., Jr., Uvalde, Texas. Kaufman, David L., Lebanon, Ohio. Kear, C. E., Brightwater, Long Island, N.Y. Keane, James L., Whitneyville, Conn. Kloskey, Simon, Emmitsburg, Md. Kohn, Gus, Trinidad, Colo. Langley, Norman H., Abbyville, S.C. Lewis, Floyd C, 380 E. Main Street, Illion, N.Y. Lockwood, Milton K., 1853 North Avenue, Bridgeport, Conn. — c/o C W. Griffith & Co., Randolph Bldg., Memphis, Tenn. Martin, Philip P., 2496 East Street, San Diego, Cal. Mason, Ernest J., 224 W. Ottowa Street, Logansport, Ind. McCook, Forrest T., 215 South 15th Street, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. McCurdy, James E., Century, Fla. Morse, Daniel P., Jr., 150 St. James Place, Brooklyn, N.Y. — Business, McElwain, Morse & Rogers, Duane, Hudson and Reade Streets. New York City. Neely, William H., Mifflintown, Pa. Neidecker, Bertrand C, 6 East 45th Street, New York City, N.Y. Osment, Horace, Mount Juliet, Tenn. Page, F. A., Bayshore, Long Island, N.Y. Parker, Albert N., 430 Haverhill Street, Boston, Mass. ♦Phillips, George R., Lewiston, Pa. Pickerell, Floyd M., R.F.D. No. 2, Leon, Kan. Pribnow, Harry N., State Bank of Virginia, Virginia, Minn. Pursley, Charles A., San Benito, Texas — 8th Aero Squadron, McAllen, Tex. Roby, T. W., Kansas City, Mo. Rogers, Hubert H., Melissa, Texas. Rogers, Woodville J., McKinney, Texas. Schuler, Hollis W., 2015 Main St., Anderson, Ind. Sain, James E., Alice, Texas. Shope, Leslie R., 328 13th Street, Harrisburg, Pa. Sharrett, Harry A., Baltimore, Md. Skelley, John S., 58 W. Pomona Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Slater, Francis C., Orange, Cal. 88 30th AERO SQUADRON Smith, Edgar L., Edna, Texas. Smith, Harry D., 385 River Street, Santa Cruz, Cal. *Stevens, Henry L., Providence, R.I. Sweitzer, L. E., 50 Burbank Street, Pittsfield, Mass. Thompson, Arthur S., Gambier, Ohio. Thomson, WilHam A., Eagle Pass, Texas. Tyler, Norman, Crescent City, Cal. *Upton, Charles H., Arlington Heights, Mass. Walker, Clyde L., 213 Brook Street, Charleston, W.Va. Walter, Roy B., Selinsgrove, Penn. Watson, William F., 112 Second Street, Newport, R.I. Weissinger, William S., Montgomery, Texas. Wensley, William R., 13712 Euclid Avenue, East Cleveland, Ohio. Wessman, Robert H., Forrest Hills, L.I. Wehrle, H. F. Wilson, Stanley G., 532 Washington Square, Hagerstown, Md. Young, Roy L., Hattiesville, Texas. Whitten, Lacey R., 1120 S. Hackberry St., San Antonio, Texas. 'Deceased. ADDRESS LIST ENLISTED MEN 90 joth AERO SQUADRON ENLISTED MEN Adams, Edgar H., Bradford and Fulton Streets, Dover, Del. Adams, Forrest S., 1218 Ninth Street, Shawnee, Okla. Adams, John Q., Tallmansville, Upham County, W.Va. Algoode, Gideon, 4702 Artesian Avenue, Chicago, 111. Andre, Charles E., Hendley, Neb. Andrews, Guy H., 2001 College Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Archibald, John, 2200 Avenue A, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Barry, Robert T., Hackensack, N.J. Bauers, Charles G., Jr., 4729 Kimball Avenue, Richmond Hill, Long Island, N.Y. Bastian, Jay W., R.F.D. No. 7, Celina, Ohio. Beardslee, Alfred C, 2120 Delaware Avenue, Swissvale, Pa. Bedard, Clovis A., 159 Water Street, Lawrence, Mass. Benchley, Julian E., Box No. 106, Hope, Idaho. Benefiel, Hartsel F., Austin, Colo. Bellin, Thomas H., 255 West Lawrence Street, Albany, N.Y. Blatz, Charles, 21 Brady Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. Boisvert, Eugene, 115 Bullard St., New Bedford, Mass. Borg, John, 280 South Butte Street, Willows, Glen County, Cal. Birkenmayer, Lee R., Jerseyville, 111. Boston, Ward, Stanberry, Mo. Brendel, Marion J., c/o Brendel Mfg. Co., Piqua, Ohio, Bryan, Leland, Williamsburg, Ind. Brack, Daniel, 1858 Ogden Street, Denver, Colo. Buhl, Reginald V., 528 W. Ottawa Street, Lansing, Mich. Butler, John H., c/o Jack Hathaway Co., c/o Billboard, Cincinnati, Ohio. Campbell, George A., Sauk Rapids, Minn. Carroll, Henry, Gotebo, Okla. Carty, Floyd R., 409 N. 7th Street, Allentown, Pa. Casey, Lawrence J., 652 Cadillac Avenue, Detroit, Mich. Christian, Napoleon, 14 Church Street, Concord Junction, Mass. Colvig, John B., 1056 Main Street, Wheeling, W.Va. Collins, Michael F., 320 Eighth Street, Niagara Falls, N.Y. Collins, Stephen A., 196 Chestnut Street, Holyoke, Mass. Colmus, James, 908 Orange Street, Wilmington, Del. Conrad, George M., 3912 Wrightwood Avenue, Chicago, 111. Conroy, John, 26 Townsend Ave., Stapleton, N.Y. Cornell, Gordon, 922 Seventeenth Street, Detroit, Mich. Craig, J. David, Rowlandsville, Md. Crisanti, Hector C, 16 Welsh Street, San Rafael, Cal. Grossman, James E., 41 Grand View Avenue, Wollistown, Mass. Croft, Sidney F., Jr., 204 S. Meyers St., Charlotte, N.C. Davis, Robert W., 500 Bixel Street, Los Angeles, Cal. *De Camp, Floyd R., Rochester, N.Y. De Lapp, CHfford L., 2001 Western Avenue, MinneapoHs, Minn. Doyle, Edmund F., 163 Union Avenue, Jamaica, Long Island, N.Y. Downey, Lawrence C, 3501 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., Washing- ton, D.C. Druyer, Frank, 2945 Garnett Street, Toledo, Ohio. 50th AERO SQUADRON 91 Dublin, James V., 322 Spruce Avenue, Altoona, Pa. Dulin, Grover C, R.F.D. No. 2, Oxford, Miss. Dye, John A., Pomeroy, Wash. Eagan, Harry E., 204 Stuart Avenue, Syracuse, N.Y. Ehrenfeld, George E., 305 Spruce Avenue, Altoona, Pa. Eikenberry, Russell E., 1110 N. Anderson Street, Ellwood, Ind. *Eppert, George E. Ector, John J., 5022 Twenty-first Avenue, N.E., Seattle, Wash. Emerson, Donald D., 250 Michigan Avenue, East Lansing, Mich. English, Alex, Richmond, Ky. Fiane, Phillip A., 1245 Hollister Ave., San Francisco, Cal. Fitch, J. Fred, Miltonvale, Kan. Falk, John A., Milltown, N.J. Foster, Ross W., 1808 College Avenue, East St. Louis, 111. Fowler, Lloyd E., 418 Milo Street, Bucyrus, Ohio. Frantz, William, 3283 West 54th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. Furbee, Benjamin, Alma, W.Va. Gammon, Myron M., Des Moines, Iowa. Geidel, Henry A., Cedar Hurst, Long Island, N.Y. Grimes, Dan, Silver Valley, Texas. Grady, Edward M., 297 N. Main St., Waterbury, Conn. Gibbs, Alexander S., 2746 Moyston Street, Wheeling, W.Va. Gould, Ray W., Sister Lake, Mich. Green, Wayne K., Richmond, Vt. Greenland, Robert B., 617 Orchard Street, Bellewood, Pa. Gruber, Ellsworth J., 141 James Circle, Springfield, Mass. Haberlein. Philip F., 1400 University Avenue, New York City. Hansen, Frederick H. P., 1401 Carlisle Avenue, Racine, Wis. Halverson, George, Chelsea, Vt. Hamstrom, Edward C, 617 Sheridan Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. Hart, George V., 59 W. Main Street, Plymouth, Pa. Heffner, Herbert, 1017>4 East Main Street, Muncie, Ind. Hellene, Edward, c/o Anna Lamb, 602 Iowa Street, Davenport, Iowa. Herzfeld, Grover C, 30 Nelson Street, Detroit, Mich. Hibert, David D., Chinook, Mont. Hill, Howard J., c/o First National Bank, Cleveland, Ohio. Hoogland, Jack, Box No. 36, Baraga, Mich. Howard, Russell B., Putney, Vt. Howell, Robert E., R.F.D. No. 1, Elizabeth, Pa. Hyter, Elmer E., 664 Humbolt Street, Toledo, Ohio. Jenkins, Henry B., Perkins, Okla. Kane, Patrick J., Wood River, 111. Kaney, Ralph J., Springdale, Pa. Kennedy, William F., 219 Oak Street, Palmyra, Pa. Keck, Hugo H., 142 S. Vine Street, St. Marys, Ohio. '^Kleinhenz, Harry K., Tiffin, Ohio. La Veck, Edward, 523 Buffalo Street, Fulton, N.Y. Leonard, Jesse, R.F.D. No. 2, Delaware, Ohio. Leritz, Joseph D., 6341 Willsmar Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. Levey, Leicester C, 574 W. 182nd Street, New York City. Levering, Walter, 908 Jackson Street, Morristown, Pa. Lindersmith, Guy E., Edgarton, Ohio. Logan, Nelson E., Mitchell, S.D. 92 30th AERO SQUADRON Lorah, Elwood A., 938 Eleventh Street, Reading, Pa. McCluskey, Thomas J., 36 Quincy Street, Roxbury, Mass. McDowell, Harry P., 1625 S. Madison Street, Muncie, Ind. McCarthy, John A., 16 Briggs Street, Salem, Mass. McGinnis, Thomas H., Armona, Cal. McNeil, John, 457 St. Johns Place, Brooklyn, N.Y. McQueen, James A., 4221 W. 29th Street, Bryan, Texas. McBain, John B., 1805 W. Third Street, Dayton, Ohio. MacFarland, Leslie B., 1130 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, 111. Mandeville, Clarence A., 4115 Oregon Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. Matthews, Bayard H., 409 W. Maple Avenue, Merchantsville, N.J. Marter, Percy A., 800 N. Normandy Avenue, Los Angeles, Cal. Meek, Frederick H., Osceola Mills, Pa. Mildstead, Fred H., 4047 West Pine Street, St. Louis, Mo. Miller, Bert A., Point Place, Toledo, Ohio. Miller, John H., 410 Figueroa Street, Santa Barbara, Cal. Miller Grady R., Marietta, Okla. Mills, Seth S., 4412 Ambrose Avenue, Los Angeles, Cal. Moore, Thomas P., Clover, Cambria County, Pa. Morin, Raymond E., 107 Lyman Street, Holyoke, Mass. Morrison, John A., 151 Cameron Avenue, Detroit, Miss. Mott, Paul, 257 Concord Street, Greensburg, Pa. Muckel, Willard A., 542 Walnut Street, Allentown, Pa. Munderloh, Charles F., New Underwood, S.D. Neely, Odie B., Obion, Tenn. Nickel, Emil E., Dodge Center, Minn. Nowlin, Gilbert S., R.F.D. No. 1, Lawrenceburg, Ind. Palmer, Ralph E., 544 E. 25th Street, Erie, Pa. Parker, Stephen B., R.F.D. No. 1, Apex, N.C. Perlik, Charles, 1517 East Street, N.S., Pittsburgh, Pa. Peters, William C, 8373 Church Road, St. Louis, Mo. Pieretti, Thomas, Elko, Nev. Pierson, Alvin D., 345 S. Water Street, Decatur, 111. Potter, Raymond K., 1809 Douglas Avenue, Springfield, Mo. Price, William W., South Market Street, Wheeling, W.Va. Quinlan, Reggis, 228 Third Street, Marietta, Ohio. Radcliflfe, Charles W., Pen Argyl, Pa. Ross, Rolston B., Mississippi City, Miss. Rotvold, Ole J., Box No. 619, Great Falls, Mont. Rouse, John L., Crittenton, Ky. Rozelle, Fred M., 405 South Topeka Avenue, Wichita, Kan. Ruell, Joseph A., 263 South Washington Avenue, Kankakee, 111. Scearce, Robert L., c/o A. W. Hirsch Printing Co., Kansas City, Mo. Scholl, Christian, 2129 East Federal Street, Baltimore, Md. Schrader, Edward H., 17 North Lakewood Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio. Schmidt, Frank K., 260 Butts Street, Willows, Cal. Screem, George E., 33 East North Street, Bethlehem, Pa. Shakely, Clarence E., Franklin Street, Evans City, Pa. Shaw, Frank K., 211 West Water Street, Middletown, Pa. Shea, John J., 324 Hampton Street, Holyoke, Mass. Sherby, Ernest, 25 Walnut Street, Pontiac, Mich. 30th AERO SQUADRON 93 Shockey, Harold C, 702 North Delaware Avenue, Mason City, Iowa. Sims, William B., 1830 Sunnyside Avenue, Chicago, 111. Singleton, Martin B., 716 Oak Cliff Boulevard, Dallas, Texas. Skinner, John R., Atlanta, Mich. Smith, Joseph P., Hamburg, Iowa. Smith, Simon E., c/o L. M. Smith, Henrietta, Pa. Snyder, James A., Virginville, Pa. Sorenson, James A., 1017 Center Street, Racine, Wis. Stepp, Amos R., R.F.D. No. 2, Eighty-Four, Wash. County, Penn. Stevens, George E., Trappe, Talbot County, Md. Stiering, Herbert, Stapleton, Staten Island, New York City. Tally, William E., Woodsboro, Texas. Taylor, Kenneth M., 611 Fifth Street, North Bergen, N.J. Thorn, William E., 229 Bedford Street, Cumberland, Md. Thomas, Alex. F., 196 Field Street, Rochester, N.Y. Thulin, Bengt A., 46Sj^ Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Mich. Van Camp, William H., Sauk Center, Minn. Vogt, Algert F., Okauchee, Wis. Wagner, Erastus E., Abington, 111. Wagner, Martin J., 1731 Michigan Street, Toledo, Ohio. Walkowiak, Frank J., 2241 Armitage Street, Chicago, 111. Wall, Richard J., 95 Judd Street, Bristol, Conn. Walsh, John J., 54 Spring Street, Cambridge, Mass. *Waples, Ray M., Nokomus, 111. Waterman, Rupert D., R.F.D. No. 4, Attleboro, Mass. Warner, Gordon E., Hamilton, Va. Weil, Charles H., 1443 Fourteenth Street, Detroit, Mich. Weil, Louis A., 1443 Fourteenth Street, Detroit, Mich. Westerlund, Elmer E., 7104 Francis Street, Jackson, Mich. Weyhruch, Walter A., Rothsay, Minn. White, James F., R.F.D. No. 2, Carrollton, Ohio. Whitehead, Charles C, Manor, Westmoreland County, Pa. Whitmore, Elwyn C, Middletown, Conn. Whitney, Harvey A., 6 Catherine Street, Rensselaer, N.Y. Williams, Evan J., 442 Liggett Street, Scranton, Pa. ^Wilder, John R. Wilson, Joseph P., 4414 Classon Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. Wingate, Richard W., Tyrone, Pa. Wood, Samuel A., R.F.D. No. 1, West Lebanon, N.H. Workman, Rufus C, 230 Bostwick Avenue, Grand Rapids, Mich. Wright, Peter A., Seventh Street, Willoughby Beach, Va. Wyand, Frank M., 4716 Ashland Street, St. Louis, Mo. *Young, Davey R. Zearfass, Clarence G., Greenwood Street, Tamaqua, Pa. - — I •Deceased. A _k 94 30th AERO SQUADRON Handbill circulated in the last few weeks of the war to the infantry: FROM THE AMERICAN SCRAPPERS IN THE AIR TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS ON THE GROUND DOUGHBOYS: While you are giving the Boche hell on the ground, we are helping you to the limit in the air, .The Artillery are behind you, anxious to help you with their shells. Headquarters is trying through us to keep in close touch with you and to render aid zvhenever you are checked or outnumbered. Keep us posted at all tiin^es as to where your front lines are, either with Bengal lights, panels, or — if nothing else is available — wave a zi*hite towel or any zvhite cloth. Your signals enable us: To take news of your location to the rear. To report if the attack is successful. To call for help if needed. To enable the Artillery to put their shells over your head into the enemy. We prevent the enemy planes from telling the enemy Artillery where you are ; we bomb and machine-gun enemy troops whenever the chance offers. If you are out of antmunition and tell us, we will report it and have it sent up. If you are surrounded, we will deliver the ammunition by airplane. We do not hike through the mud with you, but there are discomforts in our work as bad as mud, but we won't let rain, storms, Archies nor Boche planes pre- vent our getting there with the goods. Do not think that we are not on the job when you cannot see mj — most of our planes work so far in front that they cannot be seen from the lines. Some enemy planes may break through our airplane barrage in front of you, and may sometimes bomb and machine-gun you; but in the last month we have dropped ten tons of bombs for every one the Boche has dropped. For every Boche plane that you see over you, the Boche sees ten Allied planes over him. For every bal- loon that he burns, we burn eight. Our losses of aviators correspond to your losses, but for every one that we lose the Boche has to pay with heavy interest. Whenever a Boche plane is brought down in your sector, do not collect souve- nirs from it — you may remove an article or marking that would have given val- uable information to us. If Boche aviators are not dead when they lafvd, wait ten minutes before approaching within one hundred feet of the plane after they have left it— sometimes they start a time bomb, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING IN A BOCHE PLANE — they sometimes carry innocent-looking infernal machines. Use us to the limit, shoiv your panels, burn the signal lights, wave a cloth, any- thing to tell us where you are and what you need. After reading this hand it to your Buddie, and — remember to show your signals. YOUR AVIATORS.