THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT OF
BALDWIN M. WOODS
AN EXPLORER IN THE AIR SERVICE
I
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AN EXPLORER IN THE
AIR SERVICE
BY
HIRAM BINGHAM
FORMERLY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, AIR SERVICE, U. S. A.
NEW HAVEN
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON t HUMPHREY MILFORD, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
MDCCCCXX
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
D. B. UPDIKE, THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS, BOSTON.
Engineering
Library
TO
ANNIE OLIVIA TIFFANY MITCHELL
IN TOKEN OF AFFECTION
AND GRATITUDE
CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
I FIRST FLIGHTS 3
II TORONTO AND THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS 14
III WAR FEVER IN WASHINGTON 23
IV ORGANIZING THE SCHOOLS OF MILITARY AERONAUTICS 33
V SELECTING THE FITTEST 47
VI THE PERSONNEL OFFICE IN WASHINGTON 56
VII OVERSEAS 71
VIII THE DISADVANTAGES OF BEING A PILOT 78
IX THE PERSONNEL OFFICE IN TOURS 92
X A FEW HOURS AT THE FRONT 107
XI THE THIRD AVIATION INSTRUCTION CENTRE 116
XII TRAINING AVIATORS 126
XIII ADVANCED TRAINING FOR PURSUIT PILOTS 143
XIV OBSERVATION AND NIGHT PURSUIT 170
xv THE "PLANE NEWS" iso
XVI THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT 190
XVII IMPORTANT ACCESSORIES 199
XVIII SHOULD THE GENERAL STAFF CONTROL THE AIR SERVICE ? 217
XIX THE FUTURE OF AVIATION 231
APPENDIX 247
527015
ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing page
Field 9 : Frontispiece
Third Aviation Instruction Centre, Issoudun, France
Miami : Accident 8
Issoudun : 8
Major Du Mesnil of the French Army decorating Cafitain
R. S. Da-vis of Field 7 with the Croix de Guerre
In event of motor failing don't turn back 16
Landings should be made against wind 24
An Instructional Poster 32
Tyfiical of many received from the Royal Flying Corps
Nieuport 28-7, Monosoupape motor 40
Nieuport 27-7, 12O H.P. Le Rhone motor 40
Morane-Saulnier Monoplane, type 30, Monosoupape motor 46
Spad, 225 H.P. Hispano-Suiza motor 46
Redressing too high and stalling causes "pancaking" 54.
Danger of landing- -with wind results of overshooting- 70
Issoudun: Field 8 78
Nieuport 80, 23-meter, 80 H.P. Le Rhone motor 84
Avro, 110 H.P. Le Rhone motor 84
Two of our Best Squadrons 98
Formation Flying: Taking-ojf 108
Formation Flying: Group 108
Map of the Third Aviation Instruction Centre 116
General Harbord^s Arrival at Issoudun 122
Issoudun: Field 7 128
Field 2 : Instructor and Student starting- on a lesson 134
Field 2: Nieuport 81, 23-meter, 80 H.P. Le Rhone motor 134
Spiral 142
Frille or Spin 144
x ILLUSTRATIONS
Vertical Virage 146
Renversement 148
Wing- Slip 150
Method of Forming 152
Right Angle or Cross-over Turn 156
Taylor Stunt 158
Luf berry Show 160
View of part of Field 1O and a D. H.-4-, Liberty motor 170
Used on Night Flying: Sopwith Camel 174
Nieuport 33, 18-meter, 80 H.P. Le Rhone motor 174
Plane News (October 9, 1918) 180
Field 9'* Team in the Plane Assembling Competition: 184
End of Part I, Wings removed and packed Plane ready
for shipment on truck
Plane Assembling Competition: 184
Field 8's Team half through Part II, reassembling the Plane
Plane Assembling Competition: 186
Part II, reassembling the Plane
Plane Assembling Competition: 186
End of Part III, taking out the Motor
Plane Assembling Competition: 188
Beginning of Part IV, putting the Motor back in position
Plane Assembling Competition: 188
Cheering the "winning team from field 14
Issoudun: 196
Assembly and Repair Hangars on the Main Field
Issoudun: 204
The Main Barracks, the " Y," the Red Cross, and the Quar-
termaster Buildings
Issoudun: Foreground 204
Plane News (November 11, 1918) 214
PREFACE
THE writer began to fly at Miami in March,
1917; was on duty at Aviation Headquarters
in Washington from the first of May, 1917, until
the first of April, 1918; was then on duty with the
Chief of Air Service in the A. E. F. until the latter
part of August, 1918; was in command of the Third
Aviation Instruction Centre, Issoudun, until Christ-
mas, 1918; and, on return to Washington, was again
on duty at headquarters until March, 1919.
This book is a record of observations made during
those two years, and is concerned chiefly with avi-
ation training. It is hoped that it will be of interest to
those who were in the Air Service and their friends,
besides being of some assistance to future students
of military aeronautics. To many of the pilots it may
explain the reasons for some of the sufferings which
they endured. It may serve also as a warning of
the evil of unpreparedness. Nearly all of the errors,
mistakes, and delays to which it refers might have
been avoided, had the American people insisted on
having their representatives in Congress make suit-
able preparation for an adequate army and a well-
equipped Air Service in the event of our being thrown
into the World War.
xii PREFACE
It may fairly be said that the Air Service was a
genuine expression of the" American Idea/' defined
by Strunsky in one of his charming essays as "splen-
did courage accompanied by a high degree of dis-
order/' We lacked men of experience; we lacked
aviators of mature judgment; we lacked able exec-
utive officers with a sympathetic knowledge of avia-
tion ; we lacked airplanes fit to fly against the Huns ;
and we lacked facilities for building them. The air-
plane industry was still in the experimental stage.
No one really manufactured airplanes in the gener-
ally accepted sense of that word. No one had even
had any experience in the quantity production of
airplane motors. Yet in July, 1917, Congress appro-
priated $640,000,000, in the fond expectation that
before many months we could obtain 22,000 air-
planes. In other words, America expected to win
the war in the air and was utterly unprepared to do
so. The American people laid an impossible task on
the shoulders of the officers and citizens who obedi-
ently undertook to produce on a gigantic scale, and
without adequate plans, one of the most difficult arms
of modern warfare.
There is no question but that the Air Service suf-
fered because of its newness and because it was
PREFACE xiii
expected to grow in such an incredibly short time
from a relatively insignificant part of the regular
army to a force more than twice as large as that
army was before 1917.
When we entered the war, the Air Service had
2 small flying fields, 48 officers, 1330 men, and 225
planes, not one of which was fit to fly over the lines.
In the course of a year and a half this Air Service
grew to 50 flying fields, 20,500 officers, 175,000
men, and 17,000 planes. It was my good fortune to
witness this growth at close range, particularly as
regards the flying personnel.
Among the many officers and men whose devo-
tion to the cause of their country led them to help me
with all their strength in the work in which we hap-
pened to be engaged together were: Major J. Robert
Moulthrop, whose long interest in military history
and whose natural tact and excellent judgment made
his assistance in conducting the Schools of Military
Aeronautics of inestimable value; Colonel W. E.
Gilmore, who bore the brunt of the attack when
I was Chief of Air Personnel in Washington, and
who, with large-hearted generosity, gave freely
from the wisdom acquired in his twenty years of ser-
vice in the regular army ; Colonel Walter G. Kilner,
xiv PREFACE
whose ability as soldier, aviator, and executive were
excelled only by his loyalty to those who had the
good fortune to serve under him as I did ; Lieutenant-
Colonel Phil. A. Carroll, a pioneer among Reserve
Military Aviators, whose friendly counsel on in-
numerable occasions helped me out of many diffi-
culties; and Major Tom G. Lanphier, former star
full-back at West Point, veteran of the machine gun
defence at Chateau-Thierry and born flyer, whose
faithful cooperation as my executive officer at Issou-
dun was indispensable to success.
I only wish it were possible to mention by name
all of the officers and men with whom, at one time
or another, I had the honor to be associated. They
made me proud of being an American. In the face of
blind unpreparedness, stupendous obstacles, and the
necessity for utmost haste they strove valiantly and
unremittingly to make the Air Service worthy of
American traditions. Our chief regret was that we
were not sent earlier into the conflict.
HIRAM BINGHAM
Tale University, May, 1920
Acknowledgments are gratefully made to their editors for permis-
sion to make use of articles that have appeared in " The U. S. Air
Service," "Historical Outlook," " The Outlook," "Aircraft Journal,"
and "Asia."
AN EXPLORER IN THE AIR SERVICE
CHAPTER I
FIRST FLIGHTS
IN the latter part of 191 6, 1 had the opportunity of hear-
ing Mr. Herbert Bayard Swope of the New York World
tell of conditions in Germany as he had seen them that
summer. He convinced me of several things which had not
been clear in the censored press despatches. One was that
the British Navy had by no means solved the problem of
the German submarines, although the small number of sink-
ings at that time was so interpreted in our newspapers. A
corollary was that Germany was voluntarily restraining her
piratical activities until such time as she could secure enough
submarines to make anoverwhelmingdriveon trans-oceanic
commerce. And, finally, that such a drive was coming be-
fore very long. This information from such a well-posted
source led me to the conclusion, about the first of December,
that we should be at war with Germany within six months.
My next thought naturally was the question : In what field
would my training as an explorer offer the best opportunity
for service? Personal experience with mules, Spanish Ameri-
cans, pack oxen, Indians, ruined Inca cities, and Andean
highlands would be of little use in France!
A few days later, a distinguished member of the Yale
Mathematical Faculty brought back from a scientific meet-
ing in Boston news regarding the remarkable progress that
aviation was making on the western front. Major-General
George O. Squier, then Lieutenant-Colonel in the Signal
4 AN EXPLORER
Corps, had just returned from many months of service as
American Military Attache with the British Army. Himself
a scientific investigator of the first rank one of the few
army officers to have taken a Ph.D. "on the side," after grad-
uating from West Point, and while serving as a Second
Lieutenant at an army post not far from Johns Hopkins
University he had thrilled his hearers at the Boston meet-
ing with a vivid account of the hundreds of airplanes
then in use, and which the censor had permitted us to learn
little or nothing about. General Squier's contagious enthu-
siasm and his remarkable vision had so infected my friend,
the mathematician, that I too caught the disease and be-
came a crank on "Winning the War in the Air."
A fortunate circumstance took me to Baltimore about this
time, where Professor J. S. Ames of Johns Hopkins, a keen
student of aerodynamics, confirmed my belief that a rapid
development of the Allied Air Service was the best way to
defeat Germany quickly. Another bit of good fortune enabled
me to go to Miami, Florida, in February, 1917, and there to
talk with Glenn Curtiss, perhaps themost daring of all Ameri-
can inventors. His fondness for going faster than anybody
else and his willingness to be content with doing it only
once had led him to make a remarkable number of records,
both on land and sea, as well as in the air. With Orville
Wright, he represented America's leadership in the early
development of practical flying. His assurance that any one
who could ride horseback and sail a boat could learn to fly,
and the remarkable record for safety made by his flying
IN THE AIR SERVICE 5
boats, led me to decide to attempt some flights. His statement
that there were at that time less than twenty-five competent
flying instructors in the United States seemed to open the
door of opportunity.
Although then forty-one years old, it seemed to me that
with the experience I had had in riding mules for months
at a time in Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru, there was some
hope that the new field of exploration might not prove too dif-
ficult, especially as I have also always been fond of sailing.
My first flight was on March 3. The roar of the engine and
the terrific wind pressure encountered in sitting out in front
on the old F type flying boat spoiled the pleasure and nearly
overcame the thrill of that first experience. For two weeks
I took frequent flights with Harold Kantner over the beau-
tiful waters of Biscayne Bay. Kantner's skill as pilot, and
the experience which he had gained during the months that
he had been employed in teaching flying in the Italian Navy,
gave me great confidence in his ability. Nevertheless, I looked
with envy on the more speedy army planes. On March 17, 1
had my first ride in a land machine, a JN-4, piloted by Roger
Jannus. For a time I took lessons on both land and w r ater,
but after about ten hours' work in the flying boat, gave it up
for "military tractors," as we called them then.
The report of the Executive Committee of the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, published about this
time by Dr. Charles D. Walcott, gave me the information
that larger plans were being made for aeronautics in the
army than in the navy. The army had more room for be-
6 AN EXPLORER
ginners, so my first idea of going in for sea-plane flying was
given up in order to learn all I could about military, as dis-
tinguished from naval, aeronautics.
Fortunately, the Curtiss Company had established a school
near Miami, where some forty or fifty Sergeants in the Avia-
tion Section of the Signal Enlisted Reserve Corps were being
taught to fly at the expense of the Government. A few civil-
ians were admitted, and, thanks to the courtesy of Mr. Cur-
tiss, I was permitted to enjoy the privileges of the school.
In the light of what America afterwards did in the way
of flying schools, that school now seems ridiculously small
and inadequate, but considering the facilities which then
existed, we felt that we were fortunate indeed. There were
generally three or four planes in commission, but sometimes
only one. A severe hail-storm, which came at a time when
there were no hangars at the school, made more than two
hundred holes in the wings of the oldest, and put all "ships"
out of commission for a while.
Accidents were frequent Connecting-rods broke in mid-
air and frightened new pilots by smashing holes in crank
cases. Roger Jannus went up one day to test out a newly
assembled plane, and while turning a loop had the novel
experience of having his propeller fly to pieces. His great
skill as a pilot, however, stood him in good stead, and he
made a perfect landing on the usual little bit of turf known
as the airdrome. Inspection of what was left of the hub of
the propeller showed that the fault was with some dishon-
est propeller manufacturer. The first series of holes bored
IN THE AIR SERVICE 7
for the bolts which were to fasten it in place had been aban-
doned and plugged up. This naturally weakened the hub
to such an extent that as soon as any strain was put upon
it, the solid wood that was left gave way and the propeller
disappeared.
We thought little of possible interior injury to planes.
My first solo flight was made on an old ship that had been
turned over on its back twice during the preceding forty-
eight hours; in each case a new propeller had been put
on, a cabane and a strut had been renewed, and that was
all. We did n't worry about the longerons. We were glad
enough to get a chance to fly at all.
One day the student whose turn preceded mine had
engine failure after he had been up about seven minutes.
As soon as his engine stopped he switched off the magneto
and glided in, over-reaching the small field and landing in
the long grass and shrubs. The mechanics at once went
out to see what the matter was, made a successful at-
tempt to start the engine, listened long enough to convince
themselves there was nothing wrong, and then hauled the
plane back to the landing field. The young pilot was rep-
rimanded for having made an unnecessary landing and
told to go up again, which he declined to do. So the ma-
chine was handed over to me. Two days before, I had
made my first solo flight, and this was to be my third
attempt without a teacher. The motor started off well and I
had attained some little altitude after flying for about seven
minutes, when the motor unaccountably stopped. I switched
8 AN EXPLORER
off and started to glide for the field, when it occurred to me
that this trouble might not be anything serious and would
only lead to my getting reprimanded as had my predecessor,
so I switched on again, and to my delight the engine took hold
and went very nicely for about a minute. Various switch-
ings on and off succeeded in making the motor run occa-
sionally, until I noticed that the wind was driving me some
distance away from that little spot of dried everglade land
that meant safety. Between me and the airdrome, how-
ever, was one of the dredged everglade drainage canals
with twenty-five or thirty feet of limestone rock piled up
on each bank. If I had to land this side of the canal, it
would mean being tipped upside down, for the dried muck
was too soft to allow the landing wheels to run on it Con-
sequently, the temptation to extend the glide and get over
the canal to the hard ground beyond was irresistible.
Then, too, the engine occasionally gave a burst or two which
helped for a few seconds at a time. I got over the first bank
of the canal all right, and by nosing down toward the
water picked up just enough speed to clear the other bank
and enable me to pancake in the sand on the edge of the
airdrome. Fortunately, no damage was done. It certainly
was wonderful what those old JN-4's could stand.
By the time the mechanics got out to the plane, they
were able to start up the engine. It ran nicely for a few
minutes then stopped. After a while somebody found out
what was the trouble. The night before, an enthusiastic
Miami : The next day after this accident happened I was
sent up for my first solo fight in this same ship
Issoudun : Major Du Mesnil of the French Army
decorating' Captain R. $. Davis of Field 7 with the Croix de Guerre
for bravery shown during- his month at the Front
IN THE AIR SERVICE 9
pilot, in his mad desire to get in a few moments' flying
before dark, had hastily filled the gas tank and taken his
flight without putting back the ventilated screw top. He
went home with it in his pocket The next morning the
"sergeant" whose duty it was to fill the tank, not being able
to locate the proper plug, hunted around in the little ma-
chine shop until he found one that fitted and thoughtlessly
put it on, although it had no air vent in it Consequently,
after a little gasoline had run down out of the tank into
the carburetor, a partial vacuum formed and prevented
the engine from getting any gas until some air could leak
in and release a little. Hence the strange behavior of what
might have been a badly crashed engine.
One day a newly assembled plane, the wings of which
were not exactly of the same pattern, was piloted by an inex-
perienced teacher who had with him a new pupil on his first
or second flight They got into a tail spin and fell over 1500
feet, making a complete crash. The engine was partially
buried in the ground, and the plane was so flattened out that
hardly any of it was more than a foot above the surface.
It seemed like a miracle that neither one of the occupants
was killed. Both of them were out of the hospital and
hobbling around in about ten days. It gave us more con-
fidence to see what might happen without a fatal ending.
There was plenty of opportunity to learn practical rig-
ging and fitting. Tom Dee, who had been with the Curtiss
Company for several years and who had forgotten more
10 AN EXPLORER
about airplanes than most of us would ever learn, was
always willing to teach us how to repair damaged planes.
But he had no use for loafers or gamblers.
One day Sergeant (later Captain) Blake arrived as the
Government representative. He had been in the Signal
Corps for many years and was an excellent type of the old
regular army sergeant He had rather a hard time with
the noisy group of ambitious young pilots, who were im-
patient at delays in securing proper training equipment,
and who saw little to be gained in doing "squads right"
for an hour in the broiling tropical sun. Nevertheless, they
stuck to it faithfully. In the course of the next year and
a half several of them made enviable records in the Air
Service. At least four were promoted to Captaincies. Most
conscientious of all and most uniformly cheerful in the per-
formance of his duty was Hamilton Coolidge of Groton
and Harvard, who later earned the Distinguished Service
Cross, and was one of the American Aces. He was killed
by a direct hit from an anti-aircraft gun.
Others included John Mitchell, who also became a Cap-
tain in the Air Service and commanded a squadron at the
Front; Fred Harvey, born flyer, who was so greatly ap-
preciated that he was not permitted to go abroad until
shortly before the Armistice was signed; and Arthur Rich-
mond, who, like Harvey, was promoted to a Captaincy for
distinguished service in American training schools, but,
although he spoke French fluently, was denied the privi-
lege of getting to France. Never in my life have I felt so
IN THE AIR SERVICE 11
old as I did during the two months of association with
this brilliant group of young pilots, who had all been born
while I was in college or since I had graduated, and whose
youth and skill were to entitle them to render most merito-
rious and distinguished service in helping to win the war
in the air.
As soon as war was declared, I telegraphed the Adjutant-
General to ask that my former commission as Captain in the
Tenth Field Artillery, Connecticut National Guard, the so-
called "Yale Batteries," which I had resigned after the regi-
mentwas demobilized, be renewed, and that I be given flying
duty. His reply w^as an application blank for the Aviation
Section of the Signal Officers Reserve Corps. This I filled
out and sent with a letter to General Squier telling him why
it seemed to me that, even though well past the pilot's age
limit of thirty years, I might be of use at least as an instruc-
tor in the Air Service. On April 30 I passed my final test
for the Aero Club license and was brevetted as an "aviator
pilot" The next day, greatly to my joy, I had a telegram
from General Squier asking me to come to Washington
immediately to assist in selecting and training aviators.
Needless to say, I took the next train.
General Squier had recently been made Chief Signal Offi-
cer of the Army, and as such was in charge of all army Air
Service activities. He explained that he had sent for me be-
cause he believed my experience in exploration and teach-
ing, with the few months of intensive military training with
the Yale Batteries and flying at Miami, had given me good
12 AN EXPLORER
preparation for the new undertaking. He said the first thing
to do was to go to Toronto.
Just what I was to do in Toronto, apart from the fact that
representatives of several universities were to meet me there,
was not quite clear, but General Squier said that if I would
simply announce my arrival in Washington to Dr. William
F. Durand, the Executive Secretary of the National Advis-
ory Committee for Aeronautics, he would explain the whole
situation and tell me what to do. Dr. Durand's office was in
the Munsey Building, that busy hive which contained so
many of the activities of the National Council of Defense,
and which at that time seemed to be the home of most of the
dollar-a-year men. He greeted me with the disconcerting
question, "What brings you to Washington?"
However, matters were soon explained and he very kindly
gave me letters of introduction to the representatives of the
Universities of California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Cornell, and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who had been
invited to go to Toronto to see how the University of Toronto
was cooperating with the Royal Flying Corps in giving
ground school training to "would-be" military aviators. No
one appeared to know exactly how the plan was to be worked
out in this country.
The fact was, that our national policy of unpreparedness
had brought us actually into the greatest of all wars without
adequate plans for training aviators, although every one
knew we would need them by the hundred.
It may not be out of place to state here that during the
IN THE AIR SERVICE 13
first few months of my duty in Washington, the officer who,
under General Squier, was in immediate charge of the Avi-
ation Section of the Signal Corps, was not a pilot, had only
been up once or twice, was frankly afraid to fly even as an
observer, and went so far as to say to me that for the father
of seven sons to take flying lessons showed that he did not
love his children. I could not help wondering whether the
Secretary of War would expect an officer who was afraid of
riding horseback to direct the fortunes of the Mounted Ser-
vice School or even command a cavalry regiment success-
fully.
CHAPTER II
TORONTO AND THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS
THE contrast between Washington and Toronto in the
first week of May, 1917, was very striking. Both cit-
ies were at war, but one had scarcely begun to realize it as
yet, while the other could not forget it for a minute. Wash-
ington was at that time scarcely any different from its ordi-
nary self during the sessions of Congress. Our army officers
were not in uniform, although we had been at war nearly a
month. The orders came a week or two later. I never suc-
ceeded in discovering whether the delay was caused by the
disinclination of the Secretary of War to change from a
peace to a war basis, or whether some of the higher staff
officers, who had been putting on weight at Washington for
a number of years without the necessity of wearing service
uniforms, caused the delay in order that they might have
time to get proper sizes made before theorderwas published!
Toronto was full of men in uniform officers driving
* madly about in Government cars ; crippled soldiers sunning
themselves on warm corners near great hospitals; gigantic
posters urging further enlistments ; recruits training in quiet
streets. Toronto did more than her share toward providing
those splendid troops that Canada so early sent to the west-
ern front. The clubs and hotels of Washington were filled
with eager men in the prime of life anxious to find someway
of serving their country. The hotels and clubs in Toronto,
if you overlooked the presence of officers who had been in-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 15
valided home, were sad and deserted, most of the men bearing
marks of anxiety or signs of mourning.
Among the soldiers in Toronto, none carried themselves
with quite such a swagger and none saluted their officers
so smartly as those who wore in white letters across their
*
sleeves the words "Royal Flying Corps ; " and incidentally,
none seemed to have so many admirers on the street Many
of them had recently come over from England to aid in
carrying out the new project whereby Canadian aviators
and their more venturesome friends from across the bor-
der might receive preliminary and advanced training before
being sent abroad.
Our conference at Toronto was most interesting. Three
professors from each of the selected universities, chosen in
the main from the technical faculties, came prepared to
spend several days in visiting the flying schools, attending
classes at the School of Military Aeronautics at the Univer-
sity of Toronto, and listening to veterans of the World War.
We were most courteously received by General (then
Lieutenant-Colonel) Hoare and Major Allen at the head-
quarters of the Royal Flying Corps and given every facility
for studying their methods of administration and the course
of study which they had laid down. We were furnished
with typewritten copies of all the lectures used at their
School of Military Aeronautics, and were given sets of text-
books and service regulations. Every thing was done to make
us feel that although we had been unaccountably long in
joining the common cause against the Hun, now that we
16 AN EXPLORER
had come in, we were to be on a basis of perfect equality
with those who had been sacrificing everything for two
years and a half.
On the day following our arrival, it was arranged that
we should go out to Camp Borden, some seventy-five miles
from Toronto. At that time this was by far the largest and
most important flying field outside of Europe. We were
proud to find it commanded by an American, once the cap-
tain of a victorious Harvard crew, Major Oliver D. Filley.
He had been one of the first Americans to join the British
forces in the war, and had been for many months on the
western front. Seriously injured in an airplane accident,
he had recovered sufficiently to be placed in charge of this
great school. Afterwards he accepted General Squier's in-
vitation to come into our service, was commissioned Lieu-
tenant-Colonel, placed in charge of the Observers' School
at Fort Sill, and later had charge of training American Hand-
ley Page squadrons in England.
Colonel Filley gave us a most instructive day, the best
part of which was the opportunity to converse with the
most experienced officers of the Royal Flying Corps who
were on his staff. He knew what sort of boys we would
have to train and emphasized the kind of personnel needed.
He impressed it upon the university representatives that
the pilot was far from being a "flying chauffeur," as some
seemed to think. True, his power came from a gasoline
motor and the wheels beneath him were protected by pneu-
matic tires, but here the simile ended. "As a matter of fact,"
rn
O m
*"'
^f/
. ^-^ r -
-**r~
^
IN THE AIR SERVICE 17
said the Colonel, "the pilot is more like the knight of old,
or the modern cavalry officer ; he must first of all be (to quote
the hackneyed phrase) an officer and a gentleman." He must
be the kind of man whose honor is never left out of con-
sideration. He must be as highly educated as possible in
order that he may the more readily learn to adapt himself to
rapidly changing tactics of the land army as well as the air
forces. He must be resourceful, keen, quick, and determined.
The Colonel said that polo players and football quarterbacks
made excellent pilots. He did not recommend crew men!
A never-to-be-forgotten impression was made on the dele-
gation by Captain Bell-Irving, the officer in charge of the
repair shop, a member of a British Columbia family which
greatly distinguished itself in the war. Captain Bell-Irving
had been in the first Canadian force to be sent over, and
after having been on the western front for some time, and
wounded once or twice, had joined the Flying Corps and
become a pilot in an observation squadron. One day his ob-
server had succeeded in securing some very important pho-
tographs, when a shrapnel ball from a German anti-aircraft
battery struck him in the temple, passed above his eye, and
lodged itself above the brain. At first he was unconscious,
then as the machine fell out of control he regained con-
sciousness, and instinctively realized the precarious condi-
tion of his observer and the importance of getting his pho-
tographs back within the British lines. Wiping the blood
from his face with his sleeve, he successfully piloted the
machine back for nine miles and landed in safety not far
18 AN EXPLORER
from his own airdrome before again becoming unconscious.
The bullet was still in his head, since the surgeons had not
dared to attempt to extract it, and at times it gave him
frightful pain so that he could scarcely see. But he was
doing splendid work in his new job and was full of coura-
geous optimism. His few words of assurance that it was
most important to select the pilots with great care sank
deeply into the hearts of the men who were to be the guid-
ing spirits in the new United States Schools of Military
Aeronautics and left a profound impression.
It was borne in on us by all those with whom we talked
that the first necessity in the Air Service was to get the
right type of personnel : fellows of quick, clear intelligence,
mentally acute and physically fit; that the next thing was
to make soldiers of them and teach them the value of mili-
tary discipline; finally, that we should eliminate the unfit
as fast as possible and avoid giving them flying instruction
unless they proved themselves to be morally, physically, and
mentally worthy of receiving the most expensive education
in the world.
The next few days were spent attending as many classes
as possible in the buildings of the university, where the
Royal Flying Corps had established its local School of
Military Aeronautics.
The adjutant of the school, a keen, young, wounded vet-
eran of the war, was the son of one of the professors at the
university whose name is well known in our historical cir-
cles. I mention this relationship because it enables me to
IN THE AIR SERVICE 19
illustrate how much better our Allies kept their military
secrets than we did. The day after seeing the great flying
school at Camp Borden, I had the honor of lunching with
this officer's mother and father. The president of the uni-
versity was one of the guests. The conversation naturally
travelled around to aviation, and the wonder was expressed
as to where the Royal Flying Corps would put its new big
flying school. It had been on the tip of my tongue to speak
about our amazement at what we had seen the day before
at Camp Borden, when I suddenly realized that the secret
of what was being done out there was so well kept that
neither the president of the university which was housing
the ground school, nor the father and mother of the young
veteran aviator, who was its adjutant, was aware of what
was going on. In the course of time, the work at Camp
Borden came to be well known, but this incident and the
caution of our Allies gave us American delegates a new
sense of the importance of keeping our mouths shut con-
cerning the things that were so generously laid open to us.
It made us appreciate all the more the hearty cooperation
of our new allies, and we marvelled at their willingness to
offer us so freely all the secrets that they had learned at the
cost of so much blood and treasure.
We found that the University of Toronto was supplying
the Royal Flying Corps with buildings and grounds, but
that most of the instructors were veterans of the western
front, either pilots who had been injured or become stale, or
non-commissioned officers of long experience as sergeant-in-
20 AN EXPLORER
structors. While we could not hope to secure similar teaching
personnel for our own Schools of Military Aeronautics, it
was believed that by using trained instructors and giving
them the very latest information as a basis for their lectures,
we might not fall so very far behind our model.
Conferences with various instructors at the ground school
developed the fact which we had occasion later to notice
repeatedly that the veterans of the western front differed
radically on the importance of the various subjects of study
and the necessity for their being taught more or less thor-
oughly. All were agreed, however, that undisciplined, un-
military pilots were extremely undesirable, and that any
youth who followed individualistic tendencies to such a de-
gree as to make him appear to be a poor soldier should not
be trained as a pilot They said he would soon come to grief
over the lines where team play was so essential, and where
the carrying out of missions exactly as ordered was so easy
to avoid if the pilot were so inclined, or preferred to " go
after a Hun."
We learned that the principle was adopted of admitting
a new class of students each week and graduating them as
they were needed in the flying school. The idea was to fur-
nish a steady stream of pupils to the teachers of preliminary
flying and to eliminate the undesirables at the relatively
inexpensive ground school before they should have any op-
portunity of wasting the valuable time of flying instructors
and the very expensive facilities offered on an airdrome. We
felt that we could not do better than to copy as nearly as
IN THE AIR SERVICE 21
possible the curriculum adopted by the Royal Flying Corps
after more than two years of war. On the advice of several
of the chief instructors, we enlarged the course in various
particulars so as to make it cover eight weeks instead of
six. Later, this was still further extended. Great stress was
laid on the importance of developing ability to observe artil-
lery fire and to cooperate with both artillery and infantry.
The importance of a thorough knowledge of the machine
gun, the internal combustion motor, and wireless telegraphy
was emphasized. We decided to adopt the British method
of dividing the course into two parts : the first, of three
weeks, chiefly military studies and infantry drill ; the sec-
ond, of five weeks, technical aeronautics, with particular
emphasis on guns and motors.
These preliminaries having been decided, and a tenta-
tive programme of studies adopted, the delegates hastened
back to their respective universities to rush the preparation
for students who had already passed their entrance examina-
tions as given by the Aviation Examining Boards in various
cities, and who were anxious to commence their training,
even though it meant first going to a ground school instead
of being immediately put in an airplane, as so many of them
hoped would be the case.
Our meetings in Toronto were concluded on May 11.
Ten days later the six new Schools of Military Aeronau-
tics were ready to receive, and were actually receiving, their
first students. Of course special faculty meetings had to be
held, trustees had to vote credits, laboratories and classrooms
22 AN EXPLORER
had to be hastily adjusted to meet new demands, lectures on
new subjects had to be prepared from the material obtained
in Toronto, and plans made to receive a small army post
under the command of a recent graduate of West Point
and San Diego. In one case, at the University of California,
ground was immediately broken on the campus for a new-
building whose plans had been drawn on the train by the
Toronto delegates, a building designed to accommodate ex-
actly the needs of the new school. In every case, serious dis-
locations had to be quickly performed. It seemed incredible
that they could be ready in ten days. Small wonder that
General Squier endorsed my letter of May 13, informing
him that the universities would be able to commence in-
struction in the cadet schools not later than Monday, May
21: "Splendid. Am much pleased. Go ahead full steam."
And the universities made good !
If one did not know the tremendous loyalty and self-
sacrifice that pervades American universities, their imme-
diate response to the new demands of the Army Air Service
would have been incredible. Had it only been as easy to build
training planes and to obtain well-equipped flying schools
as it was to secure the full cooperation of enthusiastic, high
grade universities and use their equipment, the problem of
sending American aviators to the Front would have been
very much simpler.
CHAPTER III
WAR FEVER IN WASHINGTON
ON my return to Washington on May 13, the city
looked more warlike, for in the mean time orders had
been issued that all officers on active duty should wear service
uniforms. At the same time this brought out an amusing
feature of our unpreparedness which was particularly strik-
ing to one who had just been associating with the appro-
priately uniformed officers of the Royal Flying Corps. They
wore wings, but none of them wore spurs, while at Wash-
ington the officers in the Aviation Section of the Signal
Corps wore spurs, but did not wear wings. About six
months later, our military aviators were authorized by the
General Staff to wear wings, but when wearing boots were
still obliged to wear spurs. Six months later, the War Col-
lege, after we had been at war for a year, woke up to the
ridiculous side of forcing aviators to wear spurs, when ob-
viously from their wings they used airplanes and not horses,
and issued a new regulation that aviators when wearing boots
would not wear spurs. This was permitted, however, only
as long as we were actively engaged in war, and in the fol-
lowing December the rule was changed back again, so that
when I returned from France in January, 1919, I received
a similar shock to this one after my first visit to Toronto,
and found the unfortunate aviator once more compelled to
wear spurs when wearing boots.
It would be interesting to delve into the inner conscious-
24 AN EXPLORER
ness of the dear old boys down in the sancta sanctorum of the
War College. It is a queer sense of humor that requires
a field officer, who in the course of his duties suddenly is
called upon to mount his winged steed, to divest himself of
his spurs and put them in his pocket for safety. I speak the
more feelingly on this matter because of one Sunday after-
noon at Potomac Park, when I was invited unexpectedly to
fly with Colonel Lee of the Royal Flying Corps and had to
listen to the laughter of the crowd while I took off my spurs.
It would not have been so bad had I not been wearing wings
at the same time. However, we were not the only branch or
the only army to suffer from archaic uniform regulations. A
post-bellum issue of Punch portrays the embarrassment of
a natty young railroad transportation officer, smartly clad
in very "horsey" regalia, roughly accosted by an infantry
colonel just returned at the head of a victorious regiment,
who inquired w r hether the "engines were feeling frisky this
morning."
On the other hand, the courtesy of the regular officers of
the permanent establishment to the newly appointed reserve
officers during the early months of the war, when we were
all so green, made so many mistakes, and had so much to
learn of army procedure, was particularly noticeable. It was
very pleasant and gave one a feeling of being part of a cor-
dial family organization to have the older regular officers
meet a stranger on the street with their hearty " Good morn-
ing" when one appeared in uniform. This gracious recogni-
tion of the old army, however, soon died out as Washington
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IN THE AIR SERVICE 25
became swamped by the inrush of several thousand reserve
officers who had not been accustomed to bow r ing to a stran-
ger merely because he wore the uniform of the United
States Army.
As we look back from this distance and have in mind
the enormous structures which were built in Washington
in 1918 to meet the requirements of the War Depart-
ment, it is amazing to note the inadequate preparations and
the small vision of the requirements that prevailed in May
and June, 1917. Previous to our entry into the war, the
War Department apparently had made no plans as to
what it would do in case we were suddenly called upon
to become one of the great military nations in the world.
When the war, that is, our part in it, began, the Adjutant-
General's office, as I was told by one of the best informed
members of the General Staff, was receiving about three
thousand communications a day, and these were being
handled by six or eight officers and an adequate force of
trained clerks. Foreseeing in some degree that an addi-
tional force would be required, the number of officers and
clerks was merely doubled after we entered the war. On the
particular day on which I made my inquiries as to why a
certain communication had received no attention for nearly
two weeks, I was informed that the incoming mail that morn-
ing at the Adjutant-General's office consisted of over forty
thousand pieces, or about thirteen times as much as at the
beginning of the war, while the office force was still only
twice as large. Of course this was altered later, but it seemed
26 AN EXPLORER
to me at the time an adequate explanation of the reason
why my own communication had not been answered more
promptly.
During the month of May and part of June, my office,
as Director of the United States Schools of Military Aero-
nautics, consisted of a desk in a small room where, besides
myself and two assistants, there was also located the desk
of Captain (later Colonel) Aubrey Lippincott, who was in
chargeof the personnel division of the Air Service; two other
officers, who were in charge of the personnel of the Signal
Corps proper,and Mr. W. M. Redding, whose sixteen years
of service as one of the principal clerks in the office of the
Chief Signal Officer made him an indispensable source of
information as regards procedure and many other details.
From this small room, then, for several weeks went out
practically all of the correspondence covering the personnel
of the Signal Corps as well as that of the Air Service, in ad-
dition to that concerned with the ground schools. But that
was not all, for here between the hours of ten in the morning
and four in the afternoon, we were subjected to a stream
of callers, who wanted important information on every con-
ceivable subject. In June we moved over to the Mills Build-
ing, where the "Schools Division" had at least one room,
but this was speedily filled up with the desks of assistants,
clerks, and stenographers until there was scarcely a chair
for our importunate callers.
It may be interesting to know that within six months
of the time when we were all huddled together in that little
IN THE AIR SERVICE 27
room on the fourth floor of the State, War, and Navy Build-
ing, the Air Personnel Division had begun to use the ser-
vices of fifty officers and two hundred and fifty clerks, while
the Schools of Military Aeronautics Division required the
services of a dozen officers and forty clerks. Our growth was
attended by many difficulties and numerous moves. Each
move caused lossof time, misplacement of papers, and delays
which were disappointing, and were often misunderstood
by our friends and correspondents. As a matter of fact, the
Schools Division moved five times in about as many months.
These were feverish days of living from hand to mouth.
One never knew from week to week what new conditions
would have to be met either physically or mentally.
One of my first tasks was to have copies made of the lec-
tures used by the Royal Flying Corps at Toronto and send
these copies out to our new schools as fast as possible. There
were practically no stenographers available for this pur-
pose, but fortunately I was able to have the original lec-
tures photostated and sent out in this form.
While in the throes of trying to do a dozen things at
once, so as to give the greatest possible amount of assist-
ance to the universities that were struggling with their
new problems, I was suddenly presented with a highly
trained and most enthusiastic assistant, Frank C. Page.
General Squier had known him at the Embassy in Lon-
don and gave him a commission as Captain, which was
later increased to that of Major. What I should have done
without Major Page during the next few months is diffi-
28 AN EXPLORER
cult to imagine. His knowledge of aeronautics as well as
his editorial ability and his acquaintance with the ways of
the War Department enabled him to start right in, on the
day the General asked him to become my assistant, and with-
out a moment's hesitation to become immensely helpful.
General Squier, while wisely avoiding the tyranny of
details and refusing to become discouraged by, or inter-
ested in, the difficulties which he believed should be solved
by his subordinates, had a most remarkable way of gath-
ering in useful people to help the Air programme. He was
quick to realize that, notwithstanding a lamentable lack of
former military training, editors, college professors, secre-
taries of learned societies, former national tennis champions,
managers of large business enterprises, distinguished en-
gineers, and former police commissioners, all had something
of value in their make-up, as attested by their past history,
which would justify theAir Service in giving them commis-
sions and securing their services. He knew they would make
mistakes. His year and a half on the Western Front had
taught him, however, what, unfortunately, many of the older
staff officers found it difficult to learn before the Armistice
was signed, that this war, unlike any which had preceded
it, could use to the fullest extent men who had succeeded in
thecivilian world's occupations, even though they knew noth-
ing of Army Regulations, or of infantry drill. He did not ex-
pect them to develop into active commanders on the West-
ern Front. He repeatedly said that in the course of a few
months all the regular officers of the permanent establish-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 29
ment would be needed on the firing line in France. But he
did expect that the important positions in the War Depart-
ment at home would be filled by near-civilians, and to give
them the rank necessary for the places they were to fill did
not worry him in the least, even though they had never
served an eight years' apprenticeship as Second Lieutenants
in the Line, and could not do " Squads right."
Furthermore, General Squier saw clearly the tremendous
possibilities of the Air Service. His prophetic vision, rising
above the practical difficulties and annoying details con-
nected with such mushroom growth, soared away into space
like a veritable comet. Every time I had the opportunity of
a long conversation with my Chief, I came away filled with
a new inspiration and a clearer idea of the gigantic task
that lay ahead of us. Even in little things he saw more dis-
tinctly than any of us the requirements of our coming ex-
pansion. At a time when it seemed to me that two or three
office assistants and half a dozen stenographers would be
all that I should need, he waved the idea aside with the
remark, "You must get ready to have at least a dozen of-
ficers and fifty clerks." And his vision was correct. It needed
just about that many to handle the correspondence and the
details of running the Schools of Military Aeronautics after
they finally got going under full steam.
I think General Squier expected more of us than we could
possibly perform. He had seen what miracles were being
done in England and France, and he had the greatest op-
timism regarding American youth. Our Chief followed the
30 AN EXPLORER
principle of giving his subordinates the widest possible
authority and permitting them to make decisions of the
greatest importance. Seldom did he deny our requests. Our
opportunity was tremendous and our responsibilities in-
creased from day to day, but we always felt that we had Gen-
eral Squier behind us. His optimism was contagious, and
his belief in the great future of the American pilot spurred
us on to work at high speed early and late. Holidays were
welcome because they meant a freedom from callers and the
opportunity to accomplish more constructive work than on
ordinary week-days.
The universities cooperated to the utmost of their ability,
and showed unusual patience with the frequent changes of
plan and curriculum that were necessitated by military ex-
igency. Just as we would get comfortably settled in one course
of study, word would come by cable from General Pershing,
urging that more stress be laid on something else. The truth
was, that the General Staff knew practically nothing about
Military Aeronautics. Neither then, nor for many months
afterwards, was there a singleGeneral Staff officer in Wash-
ington who had attended a flying school, or who 1 understood
through practical experience the needs of a School of Mil-
itary Aeronautics. We had to work out our own salvation
and keep going at the same time. Fortunately we had the
constant aid and assistance, during these difficult first six
months, of Colonel L. W. B. Rees, of the Royal Flying Corps,
who had been decorated for his extraordinary courage in
attacking single-handed ten German planes.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 31
Colonel Rees had been used in England as an instructor,
so his advice was particularly valuable. We learned to turn
to him on all doubtful questions. That we did not make
more mistakes was due chiefly to his long experience and
good judgment. On my first tour of inspection of the cadets
in the ground schools I had the good fortune to be accom-
panied by Colonel Rees, and to witness the enthusiasm which
his presence aroused among the cadets and the eagerness
with which the members of the various faculties plied him
with questions both before and after his lecture. Merely to
get a glimpse of him as he limped across the campus and to
realize what he had done was enough to increase appreci-
ably the zeal of the cadets.
He was in charge of a squadron at the Front just before
the Somme offensive. Annoyed, as he whimsically relates,
by the continual ringing of the telephone and the repeated
asking of unnecessary questions by junior officers at Head-
quarters, he decided to take a patrol himself. At that time
it appears to have been the custom for single machines to
make patrols. Later, patrols were taken by flights or entire
squadrons. While on his solitary patrol he saw a squadron
of ten German machines headed for France. As I remember
the story, they were two-seaters, and probably constituted a
day-bombing squadron. With almost unparalleled daring,
he attacked the squadron, broke it up, sent down at least
three, if not four, of the enemy aircraft in flames, and had the
satisfaction of seeing the others hurry homeward in a de-
moralized state. During the latter part of the engagement,
32 AN EXPLORER
he was suffering from the effects of a machine gun bullet,
which entered his thigh and lodged near his right knee.
This did not prevent him, however, from completing his
victory by demolishing his last opponent and flying safely
home to his own airdrome. He spent the next six months
in the hospital, but eventually had the satisfaction of having
the "V. C." pinned on his coat by the King himself.
It was only with the very greatest difficulty that one could
get Colonel Rees to speak of his great fight, even in pri-
vate. His lectures were confined to a discussion of recent
developments in aerial tactics and amusing stories of mis-
takes that had been made by British pilots, due in some
cases to inability to read maps, and in others to disobedi-
ence of specific instructions. His readiness to help us on the
minutest details was particularly appreciated by Lieutenant
John C. Farrar, whose duty it was to collect for the use of the
schools all the latest information regarding military aero-
nautics. Lieutenant Farrar 's keen enthusiasm for his work
enabled him to unearth much that was of the greatest value
both in Washington and Toronto, and later in France. We
continually received the very latest confidential information
prepared by the Royal Flying Corps. Its use in the courses
at the ground schools was of great psychological value. It
raised the morale of the cadets and made them take pride
and interest in the course of instruction. Unfortunately, it
could not help them to get to the Front any sooner.
An Instructional Poster, typical of ma
THE ,
eceived from the Royal Flying' Corps
CHAPTER IV
ORGANIZING THE SCHOOLS OF MILITARY
AERONAUTICS
THE United States Schools of Military Aeronautics
were organized on a basis which permitted the Com-
mandant, a regular officer of the permanent establishment
and responsible directly to the Chief Signal Officer of the
Army, to have complete control over the whole institution.
As assistants to the Commandant there were an adjutant, a
supply officer, and an officer in charge of military instruc-
tion.The Commandant's right-hand man, however, on whom
more than on any other one person depended the success of
the school, was the civilian President of the Academic Board,
to whom the faculty were directly responsible, and who
appeared to the students as a kind of Dean.
The commandants were drawn from the ranks of the
junior officers in the Signal Corps. The newness of army
aviation, and the unwillingness of older officers to take the
risks associated with aviation training, had one unfortunate
effect The handful of regular army officers who had had prac-
tical experience in military aeronautics was for the most part
composed of recent graduates of West Point, very young
men, who had failed to secure that six or eight years' experi-
ence in handling men which was the ordinary lot of lieuten-
ants in the infantry before being called upon to assume posi-
tions of responsibility. Most of them had had six months
with troops, but neither their experience at West Point nor
34 AN EXPLORER
their training at San Diego had made them super-men. Due
to the rapid expansion of the regular army at the beginning
of the war, these second lieutenants almost immediately be-
came captains, or rather majors, for the operation of the law
regarding Junior Military Aviators gave them additional
rank.
The fact that an officer was a major in the regular army
and a graduate of West Point and San Diego made him
liable to have great responsibilities thrust upon him, which
few men of twenty-five (and most of our new J. M. A. Ma-
jors were not over twenty -five years of age) had either the
experience or the judgment to assume successfully. Conse-
quently, it was not surprising that some of them encountered
difficulties in their new work, and that the Inspector-General
of the Army very severely criticised the manner in which
some of the ground schools, and also some of the flying
schools, were conducted.
The ground schools had an easier time than the flying
schools because the work was, after all, not so very different
from the ordinary work of the long-established universities
where they were located. Furthermore, they were under the
sympathetic supervision of college presidents and consci-
entious deans, whose long experience with college students
and university faculties enabled them to keep the new schools
running smoothly, even when the young majors in charge
were dismayed at the extent and variety of their new re-
sponsibilities. At the flying fields most of the professional
instructors at that time were civilian flyers, whose training
IN THE AIR SERVICE 35
was for the most part not of the kind to lead to results that
would please an Inspector-General.
Owing to the shortage of flying field officers, it became
necessary to replace the Junior Military Aviator Majors in
many cases with older officers, whose experience in the regu-
lar army enabled them to put the ground schools on a sounder
basis. They were carefully selected with particular reference
to their having had previous experience in instructional
work. Their arrival was welcomed by the Presidents of the
Academic Boards. The more mature years of the new com-
mandants, their experience in dealing with civilians and sol-
diers, and longer years of service in various parts of the army
enabled them to overcome the drawbacks that arose at first
from their lack of knowledge of aeronautics.
One of the things which had to be worked out was the
proper division of authority between the Commandant and
the President of the Academic Board. After several months
of experiment, the following system was adopted : The Com-
mandant had general supervision over the entire school, and
inparticular was thecommandingofficerof the troopson duty
at that school. It was his duty to make frequent inspection of
the tuition furnished by the university in accordance with the
terms of its contract with the War Department. It was also
his duty to report to the President of the Academic Board
any discrepancies in instruction or the work of the instruc-
tors. The President of the Academic Board was expected
to discharge such instructors as in the opinion of the Com-
mandant were not competent.
36 AN EXPLORER
The President of the Academic Board was in charge of
all technical instructors, and instructions to them were is-
sued by him rather than by the Commandant, but the Com-
mandant was in direct charge of all students, since they
were enlisted men, and orders to them were issued by him
or by officers authorized by him. It was found to be imprac-
ticable for the President of the Academic Board to have direct
connection with the military side of the school. At the same
time, there was a strong desire on the part of many of the stu-
dents to "take their troubles to the Dean" rather than to the
C. O. The rule was established that students should obtain
permission from the officer in charge of their barracks be-
fore conferring with the President of the Academic Board.
In this way, the general practice in the service of reaching
higher authority through proper military channels was em-
phasized. One of the most difficult things for the average
officer and man in our great new army to learn was that the
rule concerning "military channels "was not designed to pre-
vent him from reaching the highest authority, but was only
intended to facilitate his doing so.
The Commandant was urged to establish cordial relations
with the students and to make himself easy of access. He was
held responsible for the character of the instruction, both
military and technical. While it was necessary that the Presi-
dent of the Academic Board and the officer in charge of the
Department of Military Studies should be independent of
one another, it was equally important for the Commandant
to coordinate and unite the efforts of these separate branches.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 37
Under our contract with the universities, they furnished
all equipment except Government publications, quarter-
master supplies, and special aeronautical equipment, such
as motors, airplanes, and spare parts. Machine guns, am-
munition, and confidential material were also furnished by
the War Department. The universities furnished the neces-
sary instructors and other facilities needed for the proper
operation of the school. In return, the Government agreed
to pay a specified tuition fee for each man receiving in-
struction ($10 per week for the first four weeks and $5
per week thereafter), to furnish equipment of a special
nature not procurable by the university, the curriculum of
instruction to be followed, and such special information of
instructional character as could be secured by the War
Department from time to time. At first cadets received
$33 per month ; later, $100 per month, plus allowances for
rations. July 1, 1918, the pay of cadets was again reduced
to $33, a procedure that did not raise the morale of a volun-
teer corps where actual danger to life and limb in the flying
schools was very great.
The course of study consisted of eight weeks, later in-
creased to twelve. The Junior Wing of three weeks was
given over to intensive military training, instruction in mili-
tary topics, and practical work on the machine gun and the
radio buzzer. The Senior Wing consisted of five weeks of
lectures and laboratory instruction, and included signalling
with buzzer, lamp, and panelled shutter, and a few lectures
on the care of the radio apparatus ; care of machine guns,
38 AN EXPLORER
and practice in clearing jams ; lectures on bombs, theory of
flight, cross-country flying, meteorology, and night flying ;
explanation of instruments and compasses ; practical work
in map reading ; lectures on types of airplanes ; classroom
work in aerodynamics ; practical work in rigging and re-
pairing ; lectures on the principles of internal combustion
motors and on the care of motors and tools ; practical work
with various types of engines ; a little practice in trouble
shooting ; lectures on the theory of aerial observation, with
special reference to observing artillery fire ; practical work
with the buzzer on a miniature artillery range ; and a few
lectures on liaison with infantry, and the latest tactics of
fighting in the air.
In order to standardize the instruction in the British
Schools of Military Aeronautics, the Royal Flying Corps
had found it necessary to have all examinations set and
read by a central office. This scheme was practical in Eng-
land because the schools at Oxford and Reading were so
near to London. It was entirely impractical in America, on
account of the great distances separating our schools from
Washington. So we met the necessity of keeping the schools
at uniform grade by sending out frequent inspectors and by
having all examination papers sent to Washington after they
had been read and marked. Questions were set by the teach-
ers who taught the courses. The marks which they gave
were accepted by us as final. Our ability to hold "post mor-
tems" on their work, however, enabled us to check up on in-
structors who showed lack of imagination in inventing new
IN THE AIR SERVICE 39
questions or whose fatigue had interfered with their using
good judgment in grading the papers.
We secured the services of trained college readers like
Captain S. Merrill Clement and Lieutenant Stanley T.
Williams of Yale and Captain Cobb of Amherst and Lieu-
tenant Clarence G. Andrews of Ohio State University to ex-
amine the examination papers. While it was not necessary
for them to read every one of the thousands of papers that
were sent in, they were able to make cross-sections through
the mass. When weak spots were discovered, thesecould then
be further investigated. For instance, one week all the papers
in the "Theory of Flight" examinations in all eight schools
were read and the type of instruction in this subject as given
in each school was thereby brought out. If it proved on in-
vestigation that the papers from one of the eight schools
were noticeably much better than the others, investigation
of all the papers in that subject from that school was made,
and the result sometimes showed that the excellence of
these papers was due not to the excellence of instruction,
but to the fact that the majority of the questions had been
used repeatedly in recent examinations, so that it had been
very easy for the careful student to prepare beforehand to
meet just those questions. On the other hand, if one of the
sets of papers was distinctly inferior, the attention of the Pres-
ident of the Academic Board of that school was invited to
the specific details wherein this particular instructor was
not maintaining the desired standard.
We kept a very careful record of the percentages of
40 AN EXPLORER
failures at each school, and whenever this made a marked
departure from the general average, our examining officers
would read all the papers from that school on all subjects
for the past month. A full report of this investigation was
then forwarded to the school. It was a new experience for
most of our instructors to be checked up in this manner.
Some of the schools liked it and immediately took advan-
tage of the reports to improve and strengthen their meth-
ods of instruction. Others resented it as being an unwar-
rantable attack on that kind of academic freedom which does
not like to be criticised or too closely inspected.
It has always seemed to me that there was no more reason
for a college instructor to feel hurt at frequent inspection of
his work on the part of his superiors than the captain of a
military organization at the weekly inspection carried on by
his superior officer. I know there is a tradition in many col-
leges that the classroom or lecture-room of a Professor is sa-
cred to him and his class. During some fifteen years of col-
lege teaching at four American universities, I do not remem-
ber ever to have had the president of a university, the dean
of a college, the head of my department, or a member of the
corporation or board of trustees, enter my lecture-room or
sit through a class exercise. As in the case of the great ma-
jority of instructors, my work, instead of being carefully in-
spected at regular intervals as it was in the army by represen-
tatives of the Inspector-General's Office, was judged partly
by the character of my published books and articles, partly
by the high marks or number of failures given in my classes
Nieuport 28, Monosoupape motor
Nieuport 27, 120 H.P. Le Rhone motor
IN THE AIR SERVICE 41
in the course of a year, and partly by such undergraduate
gossip as came to the ears of my superiors. In the army,
an officer is never judged on barrack-room gossip.
Frequent inspections were made by various officers from
our own office in Washington. In this way the schools were
kept in touch with one another and with the latest devel-
opments in the air programme, difficulties which could not
easily be put in writing were informally discussed, and it is
believed that much good was accomplished. The following
extracts from the report of one of our inspectors concerning
methods of teaching at the Cornell school may prove of in-
terest, particularly since he had had many years of experi-
ence as a college professor.
The theories of the gas engine, of carburetion, of ignition, etc.,
are given in lectures. After each period a man is given a chance to
see and work on the subject of that lecture in the laboratory and to
settle any question that may be troubling him. The laboratory classes
are conducted on less military lines than others, giving men a chance
to gather around the engines, ask questions of the instructors, and
figure things out for themselves. The head instructor is in the labo-
ratory constantly, going from group to group, explaining, watch-
ing, and criticizing. I have never seen in any laboratory so much
interest in work and cooperation between instructor and student.
The attitude of the men is one of careful interest, which cannot help
but follow them on to hangars both in this country and abroad.
The engines are left at a certain point of assemblage at the end of
each period. Every squad finds one engine in exactly the same con-
dition when it comes again. A log book is kept of both men and
engines and checked off so that every man will get exactly the same
amount of work and the engines will be kept at the proper stages.
Laboratory work at present is observation and explanation of
42 AN EXPLORER
the engines with some work on them, and one three-hour period
devoted to the sketching of parts. Small clear sketches of various
parts have been prepared and mounted on wood. These are given
to the students to copy. Instructors are present during the entire
period for consultation, and when a man has finished his sketches
he must submit them for approval with his own explanation of the
part drawn. This serves a double purpose it gives an understand-
ing of the part and furnishes the student with a good drawing for
his notebook. Fourteen lectures are given in all, the last one being
a lantern-slide lecture of various engines and their parts. The head
instructor in this department has been much interested in the devel-
opment of what he calls an entirely new method of teaching. When
he first started he says that he had no idea that men could be
taught so much in eight weeks. His lectures are very carefully pre-
pared and mapped out, with a quiz each week. He and his assist-
ants have been very progressive in the preparation of large colored
charts, and they have also made two wooden models showing skill-
fully the action of a rotary motor and the principle of the four-
cycle engine.
Whenever helpful accounts of methods were received, or
when significant paragraphs came in the weekly reports
from the Commandant of any school, they were immedi-
ately sent out to all the schools as suggestions. Instructors
were encouraged to visit flying schools and other ground
schools on their short vacations. Sometimes this led to their
coming back with increased pride and satisfaction with their
own institution, while at other times new methods of teach-
ing proved worthy of adoption and caused changes at home.
The cadets all felt that too much stress was laid on mil-
itary discipline, but the following cablegram from General
Pershing was responsible for the rigorous manner in which
IN THE AIR SERVICE 43
military discipline was enforced at the ground schools. It
read as follows :
I cannot too strongly impress upon the War Department the absolute
necessity of rigid insistence that all men be thoroughly grounded in
the school of the soldier. Salutes should be rendered by both officers
and men in most military manner with especial emphasis on right
position of soldiers in saluting and when at attention. A prompt mil-
itary salute is often misunderstood by our people but it simply em-
phasizes an aggressive attitude of mind and body that marks the true
soldier. The loyalty, readiness, and alertness indicated by strictest ad-
herence to this principle will immensely increase the pride and fight-
ing spirit of our troops. The slovenly, unmilitary, careless habits
that have grown up in peace times in our army are seriously detri-
mental to the aggressive attitude that must prevail from highest to
lowest in our forces. Strict methods used at West Point, in training
new cadets in these elementary principles, have given the Academy
its superior excellence. These methods should be applied rigorously
and completely in the forces we are now organizing.
PERSHING
This was sent us, by order of the Secretary of War, for our
"information and careful guidance," and we made every
effort to carry out General Pershing's request
It was conceded by British officers who visited our schools
in the summer and fall of 1917 that some of them were
quite as good as the similar schools of the Royal Flying
Corps. Perhaps they were trying to flatter us, but remem-
bering that British officers have very poor reputations as
flatterers, we felt greatly encouraged. The school which par-
ticularly aroused the praise and admiration of our visitors
was that maintained under the auspices of the University
44 AN EXPLORER
of Texas at Austin. The credit for this was due in part to
Major Ralph E. Cousins, J. M. A., who organized the school
and was its efficient Commandant for the first five months
of its existence. His success was due largely to his faith in
the academic members of the faculty, and in particular in the
President of the Academic Board, Professor J. M. Bryant.
Professor Bryant had been one of the delegates to Toronto,
and had shown great enthusiasm for the courses there and
the possibility of adapting them to the needs of American
students. His weekly reports forwarded to Washington by
the Commandant showed a remarkable power of grasping
new problems as they arose and dealing with them in a spirit
of most cordial cooperation with the army. It was chiefly
owing to his skill as an administrator, and his remarkable
devotion to securing the best possible results with the stu-
dents that were sent him, that this school achieved such suc-
cess in securing the highest praise not only from the British
officers who inspected it, but also from General Squier and
his subordinates. General Squier said the cadets here re-
minded him more of West Pointers than any he had ever in-
spected. The success of this school was due also to President
Robert E. Vinson of the University of Texas, whose whole-
hearted patriotism made him grant immediately every re-
quest which we made of him at a time when local difficul-
ties and the animosity of the Governor of Texas might easily
have justified him in hesitating.
In a similar manner, Professor B. M. Woods, President
of the Academic Board in the school at the University of
IN THE AIR SERVICE 45
California, by his enthusiastic and whole-hearted coopera-
tion built up a plant that won General Squier's warmest
praise. Excellent work was done at Berkeley. The Regents
of the University of California deserve to be particularly re-
membered for their prompt action. At a time when all parts
of the country were willing to do their utmost to cooperate
in winning the war, no Board of Trustees showed greater
speed in voting credits and erecting temporary structures to
meet the needs of a new school.
The Trustees of Princeton University gave us the use of
their newest dormitories, and her officials determined to do
everything in their power to make their school the best of
the eight President Hibben's long devotion to the cause of
Preparedness had led us to expect that Princeton would not
be behindhand in offering special facilities for carrying on
the work of her ground school, and we were not disappointed.
In November this school was visited by the late Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote me that he was "immensely
pleased" with it and with the character of the men in it.
Cornell was fortunate in being able to devote her mag-
nificent new armory entirely to our needs. President Schur-
man strained every nerve to meet our requirements and to
make the school successful. Its location near the Thomas-
Morse airplane factory gave the Cornell students an oppor-
tunity of coming into closer touch with the progress of
American flying than the students at the other schools. Cor-
nell's excellent course in motors has already been described.
The success attained by the school at the University of
46 AN EXPLORER
Illinois was due chiefly to the untiring efforts of Dean David
Kinley, and the determination of his faculty to put their
school first in point of advanced methods of teaching.
Under the zealous supervision of President Thompson and
later of Professor Blake, the school at Ohio State University
was also fortunate in securing special buildings for its use.
It was most encouraging during moments of depression
at Washington to receive visits from earnest patriots like
President Thompson and President Hibben, and to realize
the extent to which they were willing to go to enable the air
programme to succeed.
The Georgia Institute of Technology at Atlanta and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge also
had engineering laboratories well adapted to the needs of the
new schools. At Atlanta two student dormitories were as-
signed to our use, while at Cambridge barracks were estab-
lished in available quarters of that splendid new group of
buildings. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was
the only one of the eight schools that had for several years
past been developing special courses in aerodynamics. Con-
sequently, it was particularly well situated for training Aero-
nautical Engineers, when the need arose for having a special
school for that purpose. The Georgia School developed a good
course in Military Studies under Captain Blake formerly
Sergeant on duty at Miami and was selected to train
Aviation Supply Officers. Adjutants were trained at Ohio
State University. Thus three of the ground schools came
to be used largely for the training of non-flying officers.
Morane-Saulnier Monoplane, type 3O, Monosoupape motor
Spad, 225 H.P. Hispano-Suiza motor
CHAPTER V
SELECTING THE FITTEST
for commissions in the Air Service
were secured from civil life, Reserve Officers Training
Corps, colleges, and the Regular Army. The objects of the
schools of military aeronautics were: first, to teach the can-
didates their military duties and to develop in them soldierly
qualities and prompt obedience; second, to give a certain
limited amount of training in such things as could properly
be taught at a ground school, namely, aerodynamics, gun-
nery, radio, internal combustion motors, aerial tactics, and
cooperation with other arms of the service; and third, to
weed out those who were mentally, morally, or physically
unfitted to become flying officers.
In view of the large number of applicants, the tens of
thousands of young men who were anxious to fly, the enor-
mous expense of flying instruction (our allies estimated that
it was costing them about $25,000 for every military avia-
tor sent to the Front), the shortage of training equipment,
the scarcity of flying schools (our flying schools were not all
completed even by the time the Armistice was signed), and
the necessity of getting the best men trained as rapidly
as possible, it was felt that the most important function
of the ground school was the elimination of those who did
not give immediate promise of becoming good flying offi-
cers. About twenty-five per cent of those who passed the
physical examining board and the preliminary "once over"
48 AN EXPLORER
given by the aviation examiner, were dropped from the
ground schools and given an opportunity to enlist in some
other branch of the service, or to join an air squadron as
enlisted men and take their chance of later being recom-
mended by squadron commanders as worthy of being given
a second opportunity to train as candidates for commission.
The plan was adopted, and during the six months of my
occupancy of the directorship of the Schools of Military Aero-
nautics rigidly adhered to, of permitting the commanding
officers of the schools to discharge a man for cause, or to
grant those students who failed in any subject the oppor-
tunity of being placed on probation. One more failure, and
the student was automatically dropped and his place filled
by a new aspirant. This system undoubtedly worked hard-
ship in many cases and deprived us of the services of many
men who would have made excellent pilots. On the other
hand, it justified itself in the results on the flying fields,
where it was seldom necessary to interfere with the expen-
sive flying training of a pilot because of his stupidity or the
inferiority of his mental or moral calibre.
While it seemed doubtful to some military aviators at
first whether the professional, but non-flying, instructors of a
university would be able to pass the right kind of pilot per-
sonnel, the results soon convinced them that the system was
right Two of the first cadets to go from the School of Military
Aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
disappointed the officers at the Mineola Flying School. One
of them was rapidly eliminated and the other had been or-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 49
dered before the board for elimination, when word was re-
ceived that both of these students had in reality failed to grad-
uate, but due to the ramifications of red tape had not received
their discharge papers before being sent to Mineola. This
circumstance naturally increased the confidence of the flying
officers in the work of the ground school instructors.
While at that time there was no suitable physical means
of determining whether a man lacked the proper sense of bal-
ance to become an acrobatic flyer, the severe requirements
of the ground schools, the necessity for learning a large num-
ber of new things in a very short time, the need of working
under high pressure for several weeks without breaking
down, and the skill, enthusiasm, and good judgment dis-
played by the self-sacrificing instructors, who were willing
to give up the opportunity for more brilliant service abroad,
combined to produce a splendid body of graduates.
There were undoubtedly a number of cases where we lost
some excellent personnel owing to mistakes in judgment on
the part of officers charged with determining the standards
and setting the tests. It was General Squier's feeling, however,
that where so many thousands of the best youth of America
were striving to get into what we believed, and what they
believed, to be the most attractive branch of the service, we
were justified in declining to continue as candidates any
about whom there should arise the slightest doubt. To the
individuals concerned, the adverse decisions seemed unac-
countably severe and often unfair. From an intimate know-
ledge of how these decisions were reached during the first
50 AN EXPLORER
ten months of our participation in the war, I can say without
fear of contradiction that our sole motive in making these
decisions was the desire to see the American Air Service
contain only the most efficient, mentally alert, physically
perfect, and soldierly body of young men to be found in the
American Army. Over and over again senators, represen-
tatives, distinguished citizens, and depressed parents came
to beg special consideration for sons, nephews, cousins,
friends, and acquaintances. Their calls used up a lot of time,
but their importunity deserved the most sympathetic treat-
ment Due to the remarkable efficiency of Miss F. Pol, who
was in charge of our files, we were able to answer questions
quickly and locate the cause of the trouble, even though
this seldom completely satisfied our callers.
The average American citizen took the attitude that any
young fellow who was willing to enter the hazardous game
of aviation was thereby exhibiting such tremendous patri-
otism and extraordinary courage that he ought to be lightly
wafted on his way into the air, notwithstanding any men-
tal deficiency which the ground school examinations had
disclosed. One congressman even wanted imperfect eye-
sight to be waived !
The fact that there were at least 50,000 young Ameri-
cans all eager to become pilots, and that the War Depart-
ment could not afford to give "the most expensive education
in the world" to any except those who were best qualified to
use it, did not appeal to the caller who had been so deeply
impressed by the willingness of the one young man in whom
IN THE AIR SERVICE 51
he was interested to take the "fearful risks" of military
aviation. Some callers were more insistent than others. In
the ten months that I was on duty in Washington, I do not
remember receiving a single communication from a New
England senator asking for special consideration for one of
his constituents, although the rate of failure was very high
in the School of Aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, and the New England Examining Boards
declined to pass more than half of their applicants. In strik-
ing contrast was the extraordinary amount of correspond-
ence that poured in over the signatures of some of the south-
ern senators. I suppose some one will be able to offer a con-
vincing reason for this extraordinary disparity.
We tried to see that each one got a square deal, but we
insistently refused to make exceptions and grant favors even
to senators who happened to be members of the Military
Affairs Committee, or owners of powerful newspapers who
felt that because they had supported the Administration they
deserved special consideration. Some of their young friends
went to Canada. It was quite obvious that, by placing at-
tractive flying schools so near our large centres of population,
the Royal Flying Corps had reasonable expectations of secur-
ing many very capable volunteers from the United States
who could quietly travel across the line and pass themselves
off as Canadians if they so chose. As a matter of fact, a large
number did so elect, and some of the most brilliant pilots of
that splendid corps were young Americans who either could
not wait for our slow grinding machinery to reach them or
52 AN EXPLORER
else had not been able to measure up to the physical or men-
tal requirements which we were able to maintain by reason
of the enormous supply of first class material that was offered
to us. The British had been fighting for so long, and both they
and the Canadians had been so lavish of their finest youth,
that it was obvious they were unable, in 1917, to maintain
as high a mental or physical standard as we were.
On July 14, 1917, when the first class of 132 graduated
from the ground schools, 1570 cadets had been accepted
for training, and 1370 had been sent to the ground schools.
Four months later, when I left the Schools Division to take
up my new duties in the Personnel Division, 6670 cadets
had been sent to the ground schools, 3140 had been gradu-
ated, and of these, more than 500 had already been grad-
uated from American flying schools as Reserve Military
Aviators.
A great many of those who successfully passed the ground
schools and became pilots, in looking back on their courses,
were grateful for the excellent teaching they had received
in the fundamentals of machine gun care and operation,
motor construction, and radio sending and receiving. On
the other hand, many became pursuit pilots in France and,
therefore, had no occasion to send or receive radio, nor op-
portunity to use the Lewis machine gun (which had been
the only one available in the early days of the ground schools),
and no occasion to use the Curtiss or Hall-Scott motor (again
theonly ones available for early instructional purposes). They
felt that their eight weeks in the ground schools had been
IN THE AIR SERVICE 53
a total loss of time. No one can blame them for feeling so.
Very few of them appreciated the fact that the elimina-
tion of those not so mentally alert as themselves was greatly
to their advantage and aided materially in speeding up
the work at the flying schools. The first graduates were
less inclined to feel any gratitude to the ground schools be-
cause of what happened in France but that is another
story.
From the date of establishment of these ground schools,
May 21, 1917, up to their discontinuance, the following
number of flying cadets were handled :
Total number of cadets entered 22,689
Total number graduated 17,540
Total number discharged 5,149
The distribution of cadets was as follows :
Opened Closed Entered Dis- Orad-
charged uated
UNIVERSITY OF CAL., May 21, 1917 Feb. 1,1918 3,737 705 3,032
Berkeley, Cal.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, May 21, 1917 Nov. 23,1918 3,645 833 2,812
Ithaca, N. Y.
GA. SCH. OF TECH., July 2,1917 May 11, 1918 406 79 327
Atlanta, Ga.
UNIVERSITY OF ILL., May 21, 1917 Nov. 23, 1918 3,453 809 2,644
Urbana, HI.
MASS. INST. OF TECH., May 21, 1917 Sept. 7,1918 797 175 622
Cambridge, Mass.
OHIO STATE UNIV., May 21, 1917 Aug. 31, 1918 1,291 199 1,092
Columbus, Ohio
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, July 2,1917 Nov. 23, 1918 3,586 1,088 2,498
Princeton, N. J.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, May21,1917 Feb. 1,1919 5,774 1,261 4,513
Austin, Texas
54 AN EXPLORER
In addition to the above mentioned cadets, there, were also
entered and trained during this period the following :
Entered Discharged Graduated
Supply Officers 963 111 852
Engineer Officers 964 238 726
Adjutants 887 98 789
In the spring of 1918 an Aviation Concentration Camp
was established at Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas, for prelimi-
nary training of ground school candidates awaiting assign-
ment to ground schools, and graduates of ground schools
awaiting assignment to flying schools.
The last curriculum under which the schools operated
provided a course for bombers and observers, but owing
to the signing of the Armistice, these courses were never
actually put into effect
Such text-books as the following were used in connection
with our courses : Sherrill's Military Map Reading, Audel's
Gasoline Engines, Von Verkatz's New Methods of Machine
Gun Fire, Barber's The Aeroplane Speaks, Loening's Mill-
\j{
tary Aeroplanes, Grieve's Map Reading, Ellis & Carey's
Plattsburg Manual, Rees' Fighting in the Air, Moss' Offi-
cer^ Manual, Milham's Meteorology, Carlson's Notes on
Radio Telegraphy, Dyke's Working Models of Engines and
Magnetoes, Burl's Aero Engines, Keene's Aero Engines, Page's
Aero Engines, Mathew's Aviation Pocket Book, Zahm's Aerial
Navigation, Savage Arms Co. Machine Gun Catalog, to-
gether with the following Government publications : Equip-
ment for an Aero Squadron, Manual of Physical Training,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 55
Infantry Drill Regulations, Army Regulations, Field Service
Regulations, Manual of Courts Martial, Silhouettes of Air-
planes, Small Arms Firing Manual, Interior Guard Duty,
Signal Corps Manual, Unit Equipment Manual.
My right-hand man during the summer and fall was
Major J. Robert Moulthrop. He was an invaluable assistant
He later took entire charge of the schools. He was in turn
succeeded by Captain George A. Washington, whose legal
training and long interest in militia activities made him par-
ticularly well qualified for his duties.
CHAPTER VI
THE PERSONNEL OFFICE IN WASHINGTON
ON November 20, 1917, General Squier asked me to
take charge of "Air Personnel." Lieutenant-Colonel
Lippincott, who had been in charge, was promoted to a full
Colonelcy, placed in command of the second regiment of
Air Service Mechanics, and sent overseas. At that time the
Personnel Section of the Air Division was occupying part of
one floor in the old Southern Railway building at 119 D
Street. Most of the clerks had but recently entered the War
Department. Many of them were school teachers, who had
never used a filing cabinet or acted in any clerical capacity
whatsoever. Few had had any training in a business office.
Although they all worked with goodwill and patriotic devo-
tion, they greatly needed careful instruction and practical
experience.
The congestion and confusion were appalling. Desks were
placed as closely together as they could possibly be jammed
and still leave a narrow space whereby the occupant could
come and go. Thus those that occupied interior desks were
unable to move without asking two or three others to move
also. No effort was made to keep out callers, and every one
of the twenty-five or thirty officers then in charge of the one
hundred and fifty clerks was subject to continual interrup-
tion on the part of both candidates and officers in the Air
Service, as well as their friends and congressmen. Fifty
filing clerks, most of them entirely without training, were
huddled together at long tables where their elbows touched,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 57
and where the conditions under which they labored were
such as to produce the greatest possible confusion in the
files. It usually took over an hour to find a desired paper,
and frequently two or three hours would be spent in a vain
search for a valuable document. Too often papers could not
be found at all, as many unfortunate candidates will re-
member only too well.
Our incoming mail consisted of about three thousand
pieces daily, or as many as in that of the Adjutant-General
of the Army at the beginning of the war. We were much
worse off than he was, however, for the officers on his staff
were men of long experience in the regular army dealing
with familiar problems on a well-established basis, while
with one or two exceptions the officers then on duty in Air
Personnel were near-civilians with very slight knowledge
of army paper work. They were dealing with entirely new
problems and constantly changing regulations. Furthermore,
many of the clerks in the Adjutant-General's office had been
in the War Department for years and were thoroughly fa-
miliar with the ramifications of red tape. Our clerks, on
the other hand, were nearly all entirely new to War Depart-
ment requirements.
There was no adequate system of distributing the mail.
The girls at the distribution desk did the best they knew
how, and when in doubt put the letters into the basket of
Captain Dunham, whose remarkable memory enabled him
to carry on his desk an enormous amount of detail. Distri-
bution baskets were labelled with the names of officers in-
58 AN EXPLORER
stead of with the titles of subdivisions of the office. In other
words, the division was suffering from growing pains.
Fortunately, there was in the division an officer who had
had experience in reorganizing partly defunct factories
a graduate of the Harvard School of Business Adminis-
tration, Captain Willard P. Fuller. He understood thor-
oughly the means for securing a scientific distribution of the
incoming mail. He arranged a chart which showed the dis-
tributors exactly to which section any kind of inquiries
should be sent. In each one of the sub-sections separate
distributing desks were established, so that all mail could
promptly reach its proper destination. It seems like a simple
thing now, but as a matter of fact there had been little time
to develop a proper organization for the office during the
period of its phenomenally rapid growth.
When I first saw the division, in May, 1917, its work
was being performed by one officer and half a dozen clerks.
It seems incredible that Captain Lippincott should have
been able to receive callers as well as run the office and
dictate letters. He worked nights and Sundays. The rapid
growth of the office and the tremendous increase in the
amount of mail soon snowed him under. Greatly handi-
capped by lack of space and lack of trained assistants, it
soon became almost impossible to handle the volume of
business that was coming in. To add to these difficulties, there
were constantly increasing demands on the part of con-
gressmen and other government officials that their friends
receive special and speedy attention.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 59
My first month at his old desk was like a nightmare.
It will be remembered that it was in the middle of Decem-
ber that the new draft law went into effect, so as to prevent
any further voluntary enlistment of those within the draft
age. As the date approached, our callers became more nu-
merous, until they reached more than 500 per day. Had
it not been for the yeoman's service rendered by Lieuten-
ant Walter Tufts, we should have been completely over-
whelmed. Applications for non-flying commissions rapidly
increased. During the week ending December 6 there were
only 80 ; during the week ending December 13 they rose to
1500 ; and the following week there were almost as many.
During the first week in December we received 2700
applications from would-be pilots who had made up their
minds to take their chances as aviators rather than as soldiers
in the draft army. In the week ending December 19 we re-
ceived 2900 applications for flying commissions, but the
following week, after the day of voluntary enlistment was
passed, applications, although still permissible, fell to 1100;
and to 700 in the week after that. Many of these last appli-
cations, however, came from soldiers already in uniform.
The growth of the Air Service, during the four months
in which I was familiar with the details of the Air Per-
sonnel Division, went from a total of about 30,000 enlisted
men on the 20th of November, 1917, to 126,000 on the 21st
of March, 1918. About the first of December, General Squier
had said to me that it looked as though the difficulties of
securing enough planes and motors had been solved, but
60 AN EXPLORER
that we were not going to have enough personnel to take
care of them. Consequently we made a strenuous drive dur-
ing the first two weeks of December so as to attract into
the enlisted ranks of the Air Service as many skilled me-
chanics as possible before they should be caught in the draft
and assigned to some branch of the service that might not
appeal to them as strongly as ours. As a result of this drive,
we gained about 50,000 recruits. Captain Clayton Dubosque
was largely responsible for this. His training in publicity
work was of great value.
In the mean time I had made every possible effort to se-
cure more space for our hard-working staff. This resulted
in our being transferred to a large loft in the building occu-
pied by the Union Garage. Here we had space enough,
to be sure, but the fumes and poisonous gases that came up
from the garage caused severe headaches and greatly re-
duced the efficiency of the staff. Meantime, the other sec-
tions of the Air Division had moved to the Barrister Building,
which further increased the difficulty of operation. About
this time, in order to enable quicker action to be taken, the
Personnel Section of the Air Division was made a separate
division under the title of Air Personnel Division, in the of-
fice of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army.
Notwithstanding the fact that every time we moved we
lost at least two days, due to confusion and the necessity
of getting settled in new quarters, it was determined shortly
before Christmas to move again, this time into the old
post-office building on K Street near the railroad station.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 61
This proved to be most satisfactory. Here we had three
entire floors plenty of room and light, comparative quiet,
and freedom from the noises and odors of the garage. Offices
were established on the ground floor for giving special at-
tention to visitors. It was found necessary, also, to establish
under the very able direction of Captain (later Lieutenant-
Colonel) John B. Reynolds a branch to handle the con-
stantly increasing correspondence and inquiries made by
members of Congress and other government officials. It
was believed, however, that the resulting freedom from
interruption that was thus granted to the heads of all other
branches in the office enabled our work to be carried on
much more expeditiously and efficiently. Colonel W. E. Gil-
more as Executive Officer of the Division was a tower of
strength in meeting and solving difficult points. Colonel Harry
Bull kept an eagle eye on the candidates and accomplished
wonders in eliminating undesirables.
A few more highly paid, thoroughly experienced clerks
were obtained under special dispensation, and the work of
training our clerical personnel for their particular tasks and
seeing to it that misfits were avoided wherever possible was
given special consideration. The files, which were increas-
ing at an astounding rate, were still far from satisfactory.
Accordingly, an expert and twelve assistants were put on
a night shift with orders to make a thorough and compre-
hensive examination of all the files. As a result, hundreds
of errors that had occurred during the days of confusion
and congestion were discovered and corrected. It became
62 AN EXPLORER
possible to reduce the number of filing clerks and at the
same time secure greater rapidity of service, so that by the
first of March one could secure the papers of any individual
in less than two minutes.
In order to reduce the causes of friction with the Ad-
jutant-General's office and other divisions of the War De-
partment, including the various branches of the Air Ser-
vice itself, a number of officers were designated as Liaison
Officers, whose duty it was to make daily visits to the va-
rious officers with whom we had dealings, listen to their
complaints, and work out methods of improving the service.
A weekly meeting was held of the chiefs of all sections.
Reports were presented and results were shown on graphic
charts prepared by Captain Fuller and hung on the walls
of my office. Competition between the different sections was
keen. Due to the lack of familiarity with army regulations
and also to the constant changes brought about by new de-
cisions, it was found expedient to establish an Authorities
Section, to which copies of all letters containing decisions
and new policies were sent Thanks to the skill and devo-
tion of Captain Hamilton Hadley, it soon became possible for
the officers and clerks of the division to submit here all doubt-
ful points and learn the established rules and procedure.
When I became Chief of the Air Personnel Division,
about 7500 candidates for flying commissions had passed
the aviation examining boards and been accepted for train-
ing. Under the able direction of Major John B. Watson and
Captain C. C. Little, we established aviation examining
IN THE AIR SERVICE 63
boards at most of the great concentration camps and in
thirty-two of the principal cities of the country. They were
able to examine about 2500 candidates a week. The work
of the examining boards was found to be very uneven. For
instance, the board in Omaha would be rejecting, say, twenty-
five per cent of all applicants, while that in Boston would be
rejecting sixty per cent. It was found necessary to give the
Examining Boards Section of the office a sufficient staff to
enable the boards to be inspected and their work constantly
correlated and compared, so as to approach a uniform stand-
ard as far as possible.
The board which had the most pressing and difficult
problems was the Washington board. Here Major William
Larned, Major Robert Wren, and later Major William J.
Malone toiled and strove with all possible tact and judg-
ment to unravel knotty problems.
During the next four months the number accepted for
training increased to 19,500 ; a large proportion of these had
been sent to the ground schools, and 2000 had been taught
to fly and been recommended for commission. These figures
will give a little idea of the amount of work that had to be
transacted in our office, where the orders were issued and
records filed. As a matter of fact, it kept 50 officers and
250 clerks very busy six days in the week and quite a num-
ber of them on Sundays as well. Undoubtedly many mistakes
occurred because of the amount of work that had to be placed
in inexperienced hands. Every effort was made to expedite
routine. "Passing the buck "was eliminated as far as possible.
64 AN EXPLORER
Speaking of this ancient game in which a piece of work
or any other disagreeable duty is passed from one person to
another in such a manner " that the smallest possible por-
tion of the work or duty is accomplished and the identity of
the person whose duty it is to do it is hidden from the per-
son interested in having it done," the following article which
came to my desk in France from an anonymous source in
the summer of 1918 may prove of interest to those who
have suffered, and will certainly arouse sympathy among
many who have endeavored to get something accomplished:
"PASSING THE BUCK"
The claim often advanced by American enthusiasts that the game
originated in the United States is not founded on fact. The game is as
old as history and as widespread as geography.
Wherever and whenever it originated, its development and per-
fection in the United States have made it to all intents and purposes
an American game, as inseparably American as chewing-gum itself.
Introduced into America in early Colonial times, the game won im-
mediate and lasting popularity among all classes, but its greatest
impetus came from its semi-official adoption in Government circles
as the National Indoor Sport. Its growth has been as steady and as
rapid as the increase in population, except in the District of Colum-
bia where the population has n't been able to keep up. In no other
country of the world is the game played by so many people, or with
such great skill and daring.
Army Regulations and the Quartermaster's Manual are the two
principal rule books of the game. A careful study of them will give
the beginner a fairly good understanding of this fascinating sport.
Besides these, there are many other rules, some of which will be found
on the backs of the numerous forms used in the game, but most of
which have never been printed. New rules are being made every day
IN THE AIR SERVICE 65
to cope with the new duties and labors that come with war. The
official umpires are the Auditor for the War Department and the
Comptroller of the Treasury. They are seldom appealed to except
to umpire big league games, but their services are available to all
players, from the newest beginner to the most skilled.
It is impossible to give in this short space anything like a com-
plete description of the game, or even a comprehensive summary of
the rules. There are, however, certain general principles and a few
rules that must be observed in counting points, and which may profit-
ably be mentioned here.
First of all, the new employee should bear well in mind that
rendering service to the public, or trying in any way to please it, is
not a part of the game. New employees entering the service from
civil life often bring with them a fund of enthusiasm of this nature
that is difficult to control. This enthusiasm takes the form of an in-
sane desire on their part to make themselves useful and agreeable to
the general public with which they come into contact, and to their
fellow employees. This is a thing most studiously to be avoided. Its
harmful effects are threefold. It counts against the player himself in
the game; it spoils the game for other more experienced players; and
it stores up trouble for the new player against the time when constant
floundering in the meshes of red tape will have choked from him the
last gasp of whatever splendid enthusiasm he may once have had.
When there are ten or more players in the game, and the buck is
passed to each and by each, in turn, until it makes a complete circle,
and then is thrown aside without any actual work having been ac-
complished, a perfect score is said to have been made, and everybody
gets a hundred.
Although there are many notable cases of new players having
been conspicuously successful from the start, the finished players are,
for the most part, men who have been long in the service and grown
up with the game. The present generation owes them a great deal.
The skill of some of them is such that they count their perfect scores
by dozens, and even by hundreds. It is said that the man who com-
66 AN EXPLORER
piled the Quartermaster's Manual was voted a life championship
certificate, and then permanently disqualified from further compe-
tition in amateur games on the ground that he had become profes-
sional. It was feared that if he continued to compete in amateur
games his phenomenal success might discourage other players from
putting forth their best efforts. This would cause a lagging of inter-
est that might bring about the death of the game and drag Govern-
ment work down to the level of ordinary business procedure.
Every one who could do so was glad to escape from the
"meshes of red tape." At the beginning of the war our swords
were sharp and we could cut red tape freely, but as time
went on, the necessity for playing according to rule in-
creased, and we had to make some ourselves !
Apart from the difficulties of organizing and operating an
office which utilized the services of so many officers and clerks
who had had no army experience, our greatest difficulty lay
in the fact that the General Staff had failed to prepare an
adequate programme or set down in advance suitable rules
for our guidance, and adequate tables of organization. About
the middle of February we received a memorandum from
the Air Division stating that fifty thousand more enlisted
mechanics would be required for air squadrons during the
next six or seven months. A determined effort to secure these
resulted in our exceeding the specific official authorizations
made by the General Staff. It was apparently understood by
the officers of the Air Division that the General Staff would
increase these authorizations as fast as necessary, but I be-
lieve it was ultimately found imperative to transfer a con-
siderable number of our men to other branches of the service.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 67
In order to get things done promptly, it was frequently
necessary to go far beyond what had been authorized and
approved. Oral indications of the desires of the Chief Signal
Officer, and intelligent guesswork, had to be relied upon to
a great extent. The work could not have been done had it
not been for the splendid enthusiasm of officers like Lieu-
tenant Geroid Robinson, Captain Julian Ripley, Major Fickel,
Major Litchfield, and Major C. B. Cameron, who brought
all the experience they had gained in their previous occu-
pations as men of business or professional men, and with it
a willingness to work early and late, Sundays and holidays,
with the sole desire of getting everything possible done to
promote the air programme.
While most of the work was a steady grind of routine,
there came through the mail occasional flashes of humor
that were passed around to cheer up every one in the office.
Here is a sample reproduced verbatim except that the names
are changed :
SA-VOY CAFE
New Tork, 1917
WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, DC.
GENTLEMEN:
receive your letter some time ago and papers which to sign but
as i were going to sign i dropped a bottle of ink on it, and so i am
asking you to forward me another one also gentlman i wishes to ask
you by reading the letter you state that i have to have three years of
recognized university and a theoretical knowledge of or practical
experience with internal combustion engines so i wishes to say that
68 AN EXPLORER
if any man that wanted to join the aviation section will have to learn
so i only asked senator to recommend me to you so which he
did and which i thank him for doing so. also if i can do any thing for
this govment i wiU be glad to do so but if i can not get in there i
wish you would be kind enough to please give me the best position
so please give me a position before they go to conscrip before i would
be conscriped i would go to the army so please do so at once.
yours
SAJED N. LOOMID
I am an american born syrion
i am five feet and six inc.
i weight at about one hundred & fourtyfive
i have went high as the sixthgreade but have
a verry good education also i have a verry good
and smart mind and am verry healthy young man in
every reform so what else a man must have.
Here is another one that gave us courage and cheered us on
our way :
Richmond, Fa.
October 11, 1917
GENTLEMEN :
To who it may consern.
I Sam Jones, wishes to know what chances you will give me in the
aviation corps. I wont something that will let me fly in France after
6 moths in school none of This America stuff. My teeth are not in
so bad condition that is my lower ones, But my uper ones are false
will you Please give spacial Permition my health is fine everything
except my teeth. I stand 5' 8" waight 143. Penn. Birth and nerve
enuff To fight a Bull dog with both hands tied behind me nerves fine,
eye sight splendid.
I remane
Your ever,
S. J.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 69
The enthusiasm to get into the Air Service was general
throughout the country. Woe betide the unfortunate Avia-
tion Examining Board which declined the application of a
youth whose father or whose uncle was locally of political
importance. Some senators,like my classmate, "Jim" Wads-
worth, regularly declined to interfere with the routine deci-
sions of examiners; others were continually calling, writ-
ing, or telephoning in regard to the cases of "sons of our
best families" who for some reason or other were being
thwarted in their commendable desire to fly in France.
Here is part of a letter that objected strenuously to the
action of the Indianapolis Examining Board. It illustrates
some of the difficulties in the correspondence that we had
to carry on :
I certainly regret that the Indianapolis Board gave an unfavor-
able report upon my examination for I believe that I really am eligible
to the above service, for several reasons, and I certainly do wish that
you would permit me to be reexamined.
At no time have I ever noticed any forces other than balanced ones
at work upon my body or intuition in any activity.
My fainting has always been due to a mental shock I receive when
I allow my mind to ponder upon pain.
Please do allow me another trial for I certainly do feel that I can
make it.
Occasionally proposals of another sort got into our mail-
bag and had to be passed along to the technical experts.
70 AN EXPLORER
There was, for example, this plan for disguising our sub-
marines and enabling their work of discovering enemy sub-
marines to proceed more successfully :
By using a hull, shaped exactly like a whale composed of inner
steel lining, outside wood casing, and a rubber covering, with power
furnished by a submarine that is fastened underneath, with jaws that
open and close and which is an inlet for water that is later on forced
out of the blow hole on the whales head, this being done with the aid
of a force pump.
The eyes are fitted with strong lenses, while the nostrils are made
on the pattern of conical shutters, and which can dialate instantly to
allow the sending of a torpedo. Then by using a storage battery and
motor of good strength and with a gyroscopic rudder, a torpedo
could be given a definite course; and be able to travel a far greater
distance.
As a rule, however, most of our callers were concerned
with the disaster that had overtaken them or their friends
in not being able to pass certain "unimportant" examina-
tions.
Captain Reynolds, who received many of our callers,
had many trying experiences, but his tact and courtesy were
unfailing. He saw many people at their worst. He was
sometimes roundly abused by influential visitors who failed
to have the rules altered or overlooked in their favor. But
there were no complaints of unfair treatment or favoritism.
Captain Victor Henderson and Lieutenant Avery Tomp-
kins also were of invaluable assistance in smoothing out
difficulties.
CHAPTER VII
OVERSEAS
ON February 18, 1918, there came a cable from Gen-
eral Pershing which contained the following para-
graph:
Urgently request that at least 12 experienced administrative and
executive officers be sent to France within the next six weeks to assist
in organization and training of air service personnel in France, Eng-
land and Italy.
Feeling that the work of reorganizing the Air Personnel
Division, which had been given me three months previously,
had been virtually completed, so that my services could per-
fectly well be spared at this time without in the slightest
degree interfering with the progress of that department,
I wrote on February 25 to General Squier, asking to be
selected as one of the twelve officers to be sent to France
"within the next six weeks." My request was favorably
considered, and after the twelve names had been chosen
and sent to France for approval and a cable received di-
recting that the twelve be sent immediately, I was given my
orders in the last week in March and immediately left for
Hoboken.
The trip across on the Aquitania was interesting as
a study in psychology. She was at that time almost the
largest ship on any ocean, and a fairly good target for a sub-
marine. It was her first voyage with American troops, and
there were rumors that the Germans were going to make
72 AN EXPLORER
a special effort to spoil it When we got about half-way
over, we began to follow an extremely irregular course, zig-
zagging at frequent intervals day and night, so as to make
it difficult for a submarine to figure out where we would
be at a given moment and lie in wait for us at that point.
This zigzagging had an interesting result One night
when the sea was running rather high, we had frequently
to proceed in the trough of the sea. This caused an amount
of rolling which had not been at all anticipated when the
Aquitania was constructed, and for which no provision had
been made by securely screwing down all tables and chairs.
As it was, we woke up to hear a terrific amount of noise.
It was occasioned by tables, chairs, trunks, boxes, anything
in fact that was not rigidly fastened down, rolling about on
the decks and in the staterooms. The adjutant's office just
over my cabin was nicely wrecked by tumbling typewriters !
As we approached the active submarine zone, we were
warned to have our life-preservers always at hand, never to
appear without them, and to sleep in our clothes. There was
a certain amount of excitement visible on all faces that even-
ing. The next morning, when a loud explosion occurred at
dawn and the ship trembled violently and there was a sound
of breaking glass, followed by several shots from the ship's
guns, we all supposed that we had been struck by a tor-
pedo. It appeared, however, that the unusual noise and con-
cussion were caused by one of our own six-inch guns firing
at a periscope, or what the gun crew and the guard watch
believed to be a periscope, which suddenly appeared along-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 73
side the steamer and only a few feet away. The concussion
from the shot, which passed very close to the port bulwarks,
was sufficient to blow in sheets of plate-glass three-eighths
of an inch thick in the cabins on that side.
Colonel Butts, of the 2d Division, who slept in one of
these cabins and who supposed, as did every one that was
aroused by the shot, that we had been attacked by a sub-
marine, told me that his first thought was of wonder as to
how his regiment (none of whom had ever been under fire)
would take their first experience. Others said their first
thought was of extreme anger. A distinguished civilian
whose diplomatic duties had forced him to cross several times
during the war, and who had become more hardened to sub-
marine attacks than the rest of us, said his first thought was
of the intense coldness of the water and the "very unpleas-
ant" idea that he would soon be shivering in the icy waves!
We landed in Liverpool on April 11 after a fairly ex-
citing passage in which we fired some fifty or sixty rounds
at what were supposed to be periscopes. The chief result
of our firing, so far as I could learn, was to irritate the cap-
tains of four or five destroyers which were convoying us
during the last three days of our journey, and which had
several narrow escapes from our shells.
In Liverpool the children on the streets looked fairly well
fed. The dock laborer did not appear to take the war too
seriously. A few days before, notwithstanding the extremely
critical situation in France (the great German spring drives
began in the latter part of March), he had insisted on tak-
74 AN EXPLORER
ing his three days' Easter holiday as though nothing were
happening. The bill of fare at the hotels was very meagre,
however, and we were unable to get any meat, since we were
transients and had no meat cards.
In London it was the same way, only there the war was
felt much more keenly. Children showed the effects of the
shortage of butter and milk. Some of our friends were par-
ticularly hard hit. It made one's heart ache. Yet on the chan-
nel boats from Southampton to Havre there was abundance
of everything, including meat and bread.
I landed at Havre on April 14, and discovered that my
confidential order from the War Department to "Report
by wire to the Commanding General, etc.," was a joke
played on all casual officers who went overseas. One or two
had actually attempted to make their presence known to
General Pershing, with somewhat unsatisfactory results !
The great majority of us meekly consented to being ordered
by the very polite first lieutenant, who met us here, to pro-
ceed via Paris to Blois.
In Paris the daily bombardment by Big Bertha was going
on and causing great congestion in south-bound trains.
While there was neither butter nor sugar at the hotels, there
did not appear to be a shortage of anything else. Bread cards
were coming into use, but were not as rigidly demanded as
a few months later. It was an interesting commentary on
the food habits of the two nations that while meat tickets
were required in England, none were needed in France.
On the other hand, in Paris bread tickets were in use while
IH33NIDN3
IN THE AIR SERVICE
75
e necessary in London. Travellers who remember
ous "roast beef of Old England" and the surpass-
cy of French rolls will need no further explanation,
cturesque old town of Blois with its charming his-
ateaux and its winding hilly streets on the banks
ire was the scene of more heart-burning, so far as
ican Army was concerned, than any other spot in
n the first place, here were gathered hundreds of
cers of all ranks who had come over, many of
request received in special cable from General
" to do definite and "very important" work, w r ith
es of being able immediately to take their share
ng this war to a triumphant close. Here they sud-
nd themselves herded together with others equally
ate in an unimportant town far from G. H. Q.
er from the front line trenches, and at quite a con-
distance from any of the important posts to which
re so anxious to be sent.
ew received welcome orders to proceed elsewhere and
report on a real job after they had been here only three or
four days. There were many others who could sympathize
with the young Lieutenant in the Sanitary Corps, an im-
portant specialist in some branch of Army Sanitation who
had been "specially cabled for," and who, when I saw him,
had been in Blois nearly six weeks doing nothing. He was
standing in the lovely old garden of the Bishop's palace
looking out toward the chateau of Chambord. In reply to
my question he murmured: "I was trying to discover if
74 AN EXPLORER
ing his three days' Easter holiday as though nothii
happening. The bill of fare at the hotels was very
however, and we were unable to get any meat, since
transients and had no meat cards.
In London it was the same way, only there the
felt much more keenly. Children showed the effect
shortage of butter and milk. Some of our friends we
ticularly hard hit It made one's heart ache. Yet on thj
nel boats from Southampton to Havre there was abul
of everything, including meat and bread.
I landed at Havre on April 14, and discovered tl
confidential order from the War Department to "
by wire to the Commanding General, etc.," was I
played on all casual officers who went overseas. One!
had actually attempted to make their presence knl
General Pershing, with somewhat unsatisfactory rl
The great majority of us meekly consented to being ol
by the very polite first lieutenant, who met us here,
ceed via Paris to Blois.
In Paris the daily bombardment by Big Bertha was going
on and causing great congestion in south-bound trains.
While there was neither butter nor sugar at the hotels, there
did not appear to be a shortage of anything else. Bread cards
were coming into use, but were not as rigidly demanded as
a few months later. It was an interesting commentary on
the food habits of the two nations that while meat tickets
were required in England, none were needed in France.
On the other hand, in Paris bread tickets were in use while
IN THE AIR SERVICE 75
none were necessary in London. Travellers who remember
the delicious "roast beef of Old England" and the surpass-
ing delicacy of French rolls will need no further explanation.
The picturesque old town of Blois with its charming his-
torical chateaux and its winding hilly streets on the banks
of the Loire was the scene of more heart-burning, so far as
the American Army was concerned, than any other spot in
France. In the first place, here were gathered hundreds of
casual officers of all ranks who had come over, many of
them by "request received in special cable from General
Pershing" to do definite and "very important" work, with
high hopes of being able immediately to take their share
in bringing this war to a triumphant close. Here they sud-
denly found themselves herded together with others equally
unfortunate in an unimportant town far from G. H. Q.
still farther from the front line trenches, and at quite a con-
siderable distance from any of the important posts to which
they were so anxious to be sent
A few received welcome orders to proceed elsewhere and
report on a real job after they had been here only three or
four days. There were many others who could sympathize
with the young Lieutenant in the Sanitary Corps, an im-
portant specialist in some branch of Army Sanitation who
had been "specially cabled for," and who, when I saw him,
had been in Blois nearly six weeks doing nothing. He was
standing in the lovely old garden of the Bishop's palace
looking out toward the chateau of Chambord. In reply to
my question he murmured: "I was trying to discover if
76 AN EXPLORER
there were any place within the radius of a day's walk that
I had not yet seen. You see I have to report at least once a
day for orders." It certainly gave one a helpless feeling to
be unexpectedly dumped into this reservoir. As a matter of
fact, General Pershing and his staff were drawing from it,
as fast as needed, officers required for different positions.
Blois also contained another and more serious group of
unfortunates, namely, those officers who had failed to make
good on the job to which they had been first assigned and
who had been sent back for reclassification. When one con-
siders the fact that the United States was faced with the ne-
cessity of commissioning several thousand officers after
only three months' intensive training in camps like Platts-
burg, and that many men were graduated from those camps
with the rank of Captain of Field Artillery who had never
seen at close range a modern gun until a few weeks previ-
ous, it is small wonder that there were a goodly number who
failed to please the critical staff officers in the advanced
training area, or who failed to measure up to the require-
ments of rapidly changing tactics at the Front. So far as
one could judge, there was no partiality. Efficiency was the
only watchword, and it made no difference whether an of-
ficer was a member of the regular permanent establishment,
a national guardsman, or a recently appointed reserve offi-
cer. If he failed to satisfy those who were held responsible
for his performances, he was quickly relegated to Blois.
Naturally his presence here did not conduce to the cheer-
fulness of the historic town, but thanks to an enlightened
IN THE AIR SERVICE 77
policy which has been described as "salvaging human
material" he was in most cases speedily fitted into another
job which the Classification Board decided was better suited
to his capacity. A few were sent home.
It is not a pleasant sight, however, to see forty or fifty
"failures" gathered together to come before an "Efficiency
Board," and this undoubtedly added to the anxiety of the
recently arrived casual officers. To be sure, a few of the
younger ones were kept busy drilling replacement troops
and casuals just out of the hospital, but most of us, after
having walked through the Chateau three or four times and
having exhausted our ingenuity in attempting to get word
to General Pershing that in accordance with his cabled
request we had arrived, found the time hang rather heavily
on our hands.
At last, however, the orders came for me to go to Tours,
which was at that time the headquarters of the "S. O. S."
Services of Supply, kno\vn at various times by the names
of Lines of Communication or Service of the Rear. Here we
found that it was so many weeks or months since we had
been cabled for that "they" had in the interim forgotten just
what it was we were particularly wanted for. Furthermore,
the plan of campaign had altered materially, due to the in-
ability of the French airplane manufacturers to deliver the
planes needed for service at the Front. Consequently it was
necessary to "have patience for a few days more." Mean-
while I heard some sad stories and began to realize how low
the morale of many of our aviators had fallen.
CHAPTER VIII
THE DISADVANTAGES OF BEING A PILOT
TWO or three weeks before the first class graduated
from the ground schools, word had come by cable
from Air Service representatives in France that they had
been able to arrange with the French flying schools to take
a considerable number of our graduates. A few weeks later
we received the request to send across the ocean five hundred
cadets a month for training in France, and were assured by
cable that they would be able to take care of even more than
this number. Acting on this information, and on other cables
that reached us from time to time, we were able to offer to
honor graduates of the ground schools the privilege of being
immediately sent to France to receive training on the latest
type of French planes. This offer, coupled with the natural
desire of every young man to get to France as soon as pos-
sible, and the fact that the new American flying schools
in the United States were slow in getting under way, and
inadequately provided with airplanes, added tremendous
zest to the work in the ground schools. Experienced teachers
at Cornell and elsewhere assured me that the amount of
work which these new students were able to do -in a few
weeks and the amount of knowledge and skill they were
able to acquire was a perfect revelation. Never before had
any attempt been made to teach so much in so short a time.
Never before had it been assumed that the average student
would work ten hours a day and w r ould strive to his utmost
to be included in the upper ten of the class. Never before
IN THE AIR SERVICE 79
had there been such powerful incentives to succeed in the
classroom and the laboratory. On the other hand, never had
there been such keen disappointment awaiting those who
failed on a second attempt to pass a single examination.
Every one worked with an intense devotion to the matter in
hand. The fortunate ones who graduated with honors, as the
result of almost unparalleled student industry, were sent
rejoicing to the port of embarkation.
Later on, as the cables called for more cadets, en tire grad-
uating classes were despatched to France. In the latter part
of October we were told that we must send at least six
hundred a month overseas. By this time our own flying
schools were getting into shape to receive more than we could
send them, but it was insisted that the greatest need and the
greatest opportunity lay in the flying schools of France. So
our graduates were rushed to Garden City and Hoboken
as fast as they could pass the final examinations. Here the
rushing stopped.
Due to the ramifications of red tape, the necessity of
securing satisfactory certificates of typhoid inoculation,
cumbersome methods of shipping service records, and the
general inability of the War Department to expand sud-
denly from the requirements of a generation of comparative
peace to the demands of a World War, there were weeks of
delay at the port of embarkation in sending over the first
few hundred cadets. Hence there was lost some of the pre-
cious summer and fall which might have been used to great
advantage on French flying fields. Added to this was an ex-
80 AN EXPLORER
traordinarily long period of bad weather in the fall of 1917,
which prevented the usual amount of flying, and which in-
terfered with the progress of our own new flying school at
Issoudun. Meanwhile, General Squier was not kept well
informed of the actual progress of the training programme
in France and had to act on meagre cables.
About December first an entirely unexpected cable came
like a bolt out of the blue, directing that no more cadets be
sent to France until further notice. The sailing orders of
perhaps two hundred and fifty cadets were immediately can-
celled, and everybody was kept in suspense for several weeks,
until it appeared that the plans for rapid training in France
had completely broken down, and that no more cadets were
to be sent abroad for many months to come. As a matter of
fact, no more were ever sent until after they had passed their
preliminary flying tests, and as Reserve Military Aviators
earned the right to wear wings, and the bars of a Lieutenant.
Never did a bright, iridescent soap-bubble burst more
disappointingly. Nothing that I know of in the war caused
more mental suffering or greater loss of morale than the
failure to provide properly for the honor graduateswho went
to France as cadets. As I remember it, about eighteen hun-
dred cadets had been sent to France with the understanding
that they were to receive immediate instruction in foreign
flying schools. When they arrived there and found them-
selves confined for months at a time in concentration and mo-
bilization camps far from sight or hearing of an airplane,
forced to study over and over again the very subjects which
IN THE AIR SERVICE 81
they had mastered with so much enthusiasm at American
ground schools, treated by despairing officers as though
they were "draft dodgers" who needed military discipline
and who deserved reprobation rather than sympathy, their
souls were filled with bitterness and their minds with evil
thoughts against the War Department in general, and those
officers in particular who commanded them in France.
Some of these cadets had no opportunity to receive flying
instruction for six months after they reached France. It has
been well said that the greatest tragedy of youth is being
obliged to wait When in addition to the necessity of wait-
ing is added a burning sense of injustice due to lack of faith
and failure to keep promises, the result is truly appalling.
There was worse to come, however, for in the spring of
1918 there began to arrive in France as First Lieutenants,
wearing wings, and speedily to be placed in positions of
authority, the very classmates of these unfortunate cadets,
who had not been quite keen enough to graduate with
honor from the ground schools, had accordingly been sent
to American flying schools, received their preliminary
training, passed their tests as Reserve Military Aviators,
received their commissions, and been sent abroad in re-
sponse to other cables asking for a certain number of flying
officers. It was hard enough to have to wait weeks and
months for one's flying training, but it was adding insult
to injury when, as a cadet with the rank of Private, First
Class, and the status of an enlisted candidate for commis-
sion, you had respectfully to salute and take orders from
82 AN EXPLORER
these young officers whom you had passed in the race,
months before, thanks to your own diligence and hard
work. And there was the added bitterness that when you
finally received your commission, you would still be out-
ranked, due to the priority of their commissions.
Feeling as keenly as I did about this terrific disappoint-
ment that had been the lot of the earliest and most brilliant
graduates of the ground schools, I made every effort when
I arrived in France in the spring of 1918 to try and dis-
cover who was responsible for the hideous mistake, and
why we had received no warning before that cable of the
first of December. But I never obtained any satisfaction on
these points. So far as I could learn then, no one person,
but rather a series of events, was at the bottom of the
trouble.
To our first representatives who went abroad in the late
spring and early summer of 1917, the French airplane
manufacturers (naturally anxious to be as obliging as
possible) had optimistically promised a large number of
airplanes both for training and fighting purposes, to be
delivered at the rate of about one thousand per month. Their
hopes were vain, and their promises were not carried out.
Some of the raw material which they had counted on was
sunk by Hun submarines ; some of it was diverted to our
own programme of building in this country. Perhaps, also,
our representatives had not properly discounted the natural
optimism of manufacturers anxious to obtain huge Ameri-
can contracts. So far as I could learn unofficially, at a time
IN THE AIR SERVICE 83
when we should have been in receipt of seven thousand
airplanes, we had received about one thousand. As a matter
of fact, it was not until June, 1918, that the deliveries be-
gan to come anywhere near our demands and expectations.
Then, of course, planes came through faster than we could
use them, and caused another sudden dislocation of plans.
But that is another story.
As so often happens, it takes "outsiders" to see what is
the matter with a factory. The men who have been consci-
entiously trying to make it run become blinded to condi-
tions which an outsider, called in to criticise, sees at first
glance. Accordingly, it was not strange that when General
Foulois and his large staff of Air Service officers arrived
in France in November, 1917, they at once saw things in a
new light Before many days they came to the conclusion
that no more cadets ought to be sent to France. Hence, the
cable of December first.
In the mean time, enormous damage had been done to the
morale of the cadets. The problem of caring for the eighteen
hundred who were on hand demanding flying instruction
was one that required earnest consideration for many months
to come. As has been stated, the difficulties were intensified
by an unusually bad winter. Furthermore, the French sys-
tem of training, which we were forced to adopt, was not
nearly as rapid as the English system or our own. The pre-
liminary training plane in general use in France was the old-
fashioned Caudron, which has no ailerons and no fuselage.
In order to fly it you have to warp the wings, a process re-
84 AN EXPLORER
quiring a considerable amount of exertion and a very heavy
hand. Rough landings can be made almost with impunity.
The ship will not dive fast. It is in general a very safe old
"bus," resting on long skids and having no wheels. It flies at
low speed, can be landed almost any where without crashing,
and is very amusing to one accustomed to modern planes.
It was the type of plane used by Vedrines when he made
his sensational landing on top of a department store in Paris
in the spring of 1919.
All of these things mean that, in our opinion, it was not
nearly so well adapted to teach preliminary flying as the
Curtiss JN-4 or the English Avro. When one considers that
the next step in advanced flying, after having mastered the
Caudron, was to learn to fly a Nieuport, which is almost the
exact opposite of a Caudron, it seems as though the French
officers who designed this system had purposely made it as
difficult as possible. Instead of being slow on the controls
like the Caudron, the Nieuport is extremely sensitive to
handle. It will dive with great rapidity. It is difficult to land,
and bad landings cannot be made with impunity. For ex-
ample, on Field No. 2 at Issoudun where advanced stu-
dents received their first instructions in flying a Nieuport,
using the Nieuport 23-meter, dual control, with an experi-
enced teacher in the front seat eighty-three machines were
put out of commission on the landing-field in two days of fine
weather in May, 1918. As I remember it, the four remain-
ing machines did not last long on the next day. To be sure,
the cause for this amazing casualty list was an entire lack
Nieuport 8O, 23-meter, 80 H.P. Le Rhone motor
Avro, 1 1O H.P. Le Rhone motor
IN THE AIR SERVICE 85
of wind and the tendency of the Nieuport to make a cheval-
de-lms, or spin around on the ground as in an old-fashioned
square dance. When there is a little wind, it is fairly easy
to keep the Nieuport rolling straight ahead, as it loses speed
after landing, but when there is no wind to assist the be-
ginner in maintaining steerage-way, a cheval is difficult to
avoid. Since the Nieuport had no wing skids and since it
was very difficult to adjust suitable skids to the bottom of
the single " V "-shaped strut, this tendency to cheval was
continually causing the breakage of lower wings.
Many of the pilots declared that it was like learning to
fly all over again when one went from a slow-going, safe
old bus like the Caudron to the fast, delicate, tricky Nieu-
port. Men who had been trained to fly on the Curtiss JN-4
made much better progress, and those who received their
first instructions on an Avro went even faster. Our cadets
in France in the winter of 1917-18, however, had to de-
pend upon receiving their first instruction on Caudrons.
Furthermore, some of the cadets who left New York in No-
vember, 1917, had no opportunity even to get into a Cau-
dron before June, 1918.
In the mean time, the Secretary of War had been to
France and become personally acquainted with the woes
of these unfortunate candidates for commissions. As a re-
sult of his visit, those cadets who had not yet passed their
flying tests were commissioned in May and June, these
commissions being conditioned on their eventually being
able to fly, and subject to cancellation in case they did not
86 AN EXPLORER
succeed. This relieved the situation so far as pay and rank
were concerned, but it did not actually hasten their arrival at
the Front The goal for which they had worked so hard in
those strenuous days in the ground schools in the summer
of 1917, namely, the opportunity to get into squadrons and
fly over the lines, was still far away.
Then there came another blow, which seemed directed
at what little vanity remained, and intended to destroy
whatever satisfaction they might feel in having at last be-
come officers. In common with all other student officers in
France, they were forbidden to wear the insignia of an offi-
cer while in a training camp. As most of them were faced
with the necessity of spending several months longer in at-
tending the courses in advanced and specialized flying, this
seemed almost like taking all the pleasure out of life. To be
given a commission and then told you could not wear the
insignia connected with it was like giving candy to chil-
dren and telling them they could not eat it
There were several reasons for this decision on the part
of G. H. Q. In the first place, it had been the custom in the
Officers Training Camps at home for officers who held re-
serve commissions and had been sent to these camps to re-
ceive further instruction to remove their student insignia as
long as they were student officers. In the second place, many
of the cadets were very unmilitary, and it was believed that
it would be easier to secure adequate military discipline if
the students did not obviously outrank the instructor ser-
geants who were giving lessons. In the third place, there
IN THE AIR SERVICE 87
was a story that what finally brought about the issuance of
the order was an occurrence in one of the advanced schools
of the staff or the line. It seems that a number of field offi-
cers arrived to take the course. An efficient young second
lieutenant who had been at the Front for several months
attempted to take them in charge and have them march in
an orderly manner to their barracks. To this the colonels and
majors made amused protest and decided to go along as they
pleased, feeling that it was not necessary to take orders in
this manner from a second lieutenant. Consequently, in order
to enable the efficient but youthful instructors to accomplish
their ends with greater facility and less embarrassment to
themselves and to their students, the general order was issued
that student officers would remove insignia while in school ;
an order which our young pilots felt was directed particu-
larly against them.
In the course of time this was changed, but in the mean
while, although it probably was of assistance in maintaining
discipline, it did not help to cheer up the student officers of
the Air Service. To be sure, in itself it was only a little thing,
but coming as it did on top of so many other indignities and
disappointments, it was felt very keenly.
The loss of morale that followed in the wake of cadet
delays and disappointments showed itself in a number of
ways, which in turn reacted on the fortunes of the un-
happy flying officers. The sentries at the gate of one of the
flying schools would stop young officers with the irritating
question : "Are you an officer or a flying lieut?"
88 AN EXPLORER
Some of the pilots had been so badgered and tormented
by their superior officers that they no longer desired to be
good soldiers. Some instructors maintained that many of
their students did not wish to learn to fly, were afraid of
the air, and were anxious to avoid its dangers. It was said
that the students seized every opportunity to offer excuses
for not flying. It was claimed on the part of the students
that their teachers were often unsympathetic and even brutal
in their attitude, and that it was impossible to do good work
under such methods of instruction. The truth was that
officers in charge of flying, working under a great strain,
sometimes failed to take into consideration the reasons for
this loss of morale and attributed it most unfeelingly to
other causes. Undoubtedly there were serious instances of
harsh treatment by instructors, occasioned by misconduct
on the part of students, but causing in their turn still fur-
ther lowering of morale and loss of interest in the Air Ser-
vice.
Another disappointed hope was that of becoming Junior
Military Aviators. The boys used to refer to the printed
statements that on completing the R. M. A. test, the pilots
would be commissioned First Lieutenants, and that on com-
pleting the more difficult J. M. A. test, the pilots would se-
cure an advance in grade and 50 per cent increase in pay.
There were very few of the thousands of young men that
came into the Air Service during the first few months of the
war that did not expect to be Captains before very long,
provided they could learn to fly at all. This was one of the
IN THE AIR SERVICE 89
reasons why they volunteered to undergo the most danger-
ous training of any branch of the army. Having enlisted in
the Signal Enlisted Reserve Corps, and having started on
the aviation road, there was nothing for them to do but swal-
low their disappointment when, as the months went on, they
discovered that most of them were destined to be Second
Lieutenants, and that they were never to be allowed to take
the J. M. A. test and secure additional rank and pay as con-
templated by Congress and set forth in the original official
bulletins.
This disappointment was a source of constant grumbling
and complaint and the cause of many accusations of breach
of faith and unfair dealing. No business organization which
failed so glaringly to keep faith with its employees could ex-
pect to have their loyalty. It was certainly most unfortunate
that the unwisdom of promising so much rank and pay to
youthful, high-spirited boys of nineteen and twenty could
not have been foreseen earlier.
An immense amount of complaint was caused by the
necessity of arbitrarily setting a date which affected thou-
sands of cadets who had been accepted as candidates for a
First Lieutenant's commission and were then undergoing
or awaiting training, and stating that if they graduated
or took their R. M. A. test after this date, they would auto-
matically become Second Lieutenants. In a majority of cases
it was entirely beyond the control of the cadet as to what
date he should graduate. In many cases injustice was un-
avoidable. The consequent lowering of morale due to in-
90 AN EXPLORER
fection and contagion from the disappointed and disaffected
aviators was very natural.
There were other causes of dissatisfaction : the amount
of power, rank, and promotion given to non-flying officers ;
the slowness of promotion among flying officers; the un-
willingness of the army to provide a comfortable blouse for
the pilot ; and the failure on the part of the army to realize
that different standards of work and discipline should be
expected of a highly technical and purely voluntary service
like aviation, where individual initiative and high morale are
so necessary. It would seem obvious that in no branch of the
service should more attention be given to preparing carefully
thought-out plans which it will not be necessary to change
in such a way as to destroy confidence and hope. Changes
that disappoint and hurt the feelings of those whose morale
must be built up should be avoided at all costs. Everything
should be done to make the young pilots glad they belong
to such a keen corps instead of being sorry, as so many of
them were, that they had ever been misled into joining the
Army Air Service.
The story of the flying cadets is the worst page in the
history of the Air Service. They were forced by a combi-
nation of circumstances, over which no one seemed to have
any control, to suffer serious and exasperating delays, dis-
appointments, and "raw deals," which tended to break their
spirit and destroy their self-respect. Notwithstanding this,
the great majority of them completed their training and
IN THE AIR SERVICE 91
performed such duties as were assigned to them to the best
of their knowledge and ability. It should not be forgotten
that their sufferings were due fundamentally to the blind
unpreparedness with which we drifted into war.
CHAPTER IX
THE PERSONNEL OFFICE IN TOURS
ON the last day of April, 1918, I was designated as
Chief of Personnel for the Air Service, A. E. F., in
which position I continued until August 23 of the same
year. Air Service Headquarters in Tours were located at
Beaumont Barracks, which had only recently been com-
pleted for the use of French Cavalry, but had never been
occupied until it was leased by the American Expeditionary
Forces. It was by far the pleasantest of any of the barracks
used in Tours by the Services of Supply.
At the time of my arrival a general reorganization in the
Air Service in France was going on. In other words, they
were doing what we had done so often at Washington
attempting to make the clothes fit the rapidly growing child.
By the time the clothes were altered, the child had grown so
much more that they were still too small. This particular
reorganization was eifected after several weeks of study
on the part of a board composed of the most efficient Colo-
nels on duty in the office of the Chief of Air Service. The
general result was to give more responsibility and authority
to the Section Chiefs, namely, the Chief of Training, Chief
of Personnel, Chief of Supply, and Chief of Balloon. The
Chief of Balloon also had under his jurisdiction the Infor-
mation Section, the Photographic Section, and the Radio
Section.
In general, the organization was well conceived and prac-
ticable. The feature of grouping Balloon, Radio, Photogra-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 93
phy, and Information under one head was satisfactory only
because of the ability of Colonel Chandler, who filled this
unique position. His long experience, even temperament,
unfailing courtesy, and wide technical knowledge enabled
him to give satisfaction in a position that probably would
have brought disaster to any one else.
The chief stumbling-block to the success of the new plan
lay in the fact that the sections could not all work in the
same place. The Supply Section was obliged to be near the
principal sources of supply, that is, the offices and factories
of the French in Paris. The Personnel Section was obliged
to be in Tours because all orders were issued by Head-
quarters S. O. S., located in Tours. The Training Section
should have been at Chaumont, in close touch with the
Training Section of the General Staff, in constant liaison
with the activities at the Front, and able to reach all schools
in the S. O. S. As a matter of fact, it was located so far away
from the Front as to earn the adverse criticism of organiza-
tions at the Front and the distrust of the General Staff.
The Chief of Air Service, himself, found it necessary to
spend a great deal of time on the road and to maintain
three separate offices, one in Chaumont, one in Paris, and
one in Tours. As a result, it was difficult to keep in touch
with him, and many decisions had to be made either with-
out consulting him or with inadequate information on his
part During the whole period of my stay in France, the ne-
cessity for the Chief of Air Service to be in three places at
once militated very seriously against the success of our pro-
94 AN EXPLORER
gramme. The hopelessness of the situation would seem to
emphasize the need of a different kind of organization. It
was foolish to expect one man to fight for supply with the
French and British Governments and manufacturers, to
direct the movement and training of all personnel in such
widely diverse activities as balloon, radio, photography, and
flying, and at the same time be in charge of aerial activi-
ties at the Front, direct the movements and activities of the
squadrons and companies in the zone of advance, and at-
tend to the details of squadron organization.
The new scheme went into effect shortly before the first
of May, but it did not last long. In the latter part of May,
General Foulois was sent to take command of active oper-
ations at the Front and General Mason M. Patrick of the
Engineer Corps, who had never been in the Air Service
but had been in charge of the Division of Construction
and Forestry, was made Chief of Air Service. There is a tra-
dition in the army that any regular officer can take any
army job, and General Patrick certainly justified this tra-
dition. Notwithstanding his unfamiliarity with aviation and
his belief that at his age he could give better service by
travelling on the ground than in the air, he rapidly assim-
ilated a thorough knowledge of the Air Service in the A.E. F.
His remarkable memory and extraordinary capacity for the
mastery of minute details enabled him in a very few weeks
to secure a thorough grasp of the situation and to under-
take a new reorganization.
His office memorandum No. 23 reorganized the duties of
IN THE AIR SERVICE 95
the officer in charge of Air Personnel, and it explains better
than anything else my duties as they were in the summer
of 1918.
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF AIR SERVICE
Tours
OFFICE MEMORANDUM No. 23.
1. There will be an Officer in charge of Personnel, upon whom
will rest the responsibility for providing the man power needed to
carry out approved programs and estimates of needs furnished to
him. The Chief of Personnel will have charge of the Personnel Sec-
tion of the Office of the Chief of Air Service and of Air Service
Replacement Concentration Barracks. He will be a member of the
Strategic Section and will be furnished as far in advance as possible
with copies of approved programs and estimates of personnel needs.
2. The Personnel Section has the following duties:
(a) To procure and assign officers, cadets, candidates, enlisted men
and civilian personnel, for the Air Service, and to coordinate and
list requests for the same in their relative order of emergency.
() To keep track of all incoming personnel and to give desti-
nations for it as long as possible in advance.
(c) To notify the Commanding Officer at the destination to which
incoming troops are to be sent as far in advance as possible so that
proper provision may be made for caring for such arrivals.
(X) To provide the requisite number of officers for all squadrons,
particularly for those which are being sent to the front.
(e) To prepare plans for the distribution of these squadrons in
accordance with the approved Air Service program.
(y) To request from proper authority orders for travel and change
of station.
(^)To handle all correspondence relative to personnel and keep
such records and files pertaining to Air Service personnel as may
properly be kept in the Office of the Chief of Air Service.
(A) To keep a list of officers by rank, grade and occupation.
96 AN EXPLORER
(i) To refer to properly constituted examining boards the names
of approved candidates for flying training. To receive the reports of
these examinations and review the action of the board before for-
warding report to higher authority.
3. Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks [St. Maxient]
has the following duties:
(a) To classify all officers and men that maybe sent there for duty.
() To complete the Quartermaster and Ordnance equipment of
enlisted men passing through this station.
(c) To examine the organization of squadrons passing through
the barracks, and see that these organizations conform as far as pos-
sible to that laid down in the approved tables of organization. To
organize squadrons from available troops. To see that all squadrons
passing through are provided with suitable ground officers, and in
general act as the agent of the Personnel Section in organizing squad-
rons according to the plan of mobilization for squadrons as laid down
by the Chief of Air Service.
(W) To maintain a ground school for aviation students in accord-
ance with the program laid down by the Chief of Training, who will
exercise direct supervision of the course of study, designate instructors,
inspect the school, nominate a liaison officer who shall be a member
of the staff of the Commanding Officer of the Barracks to represent
the Chief of Training in all matters pertaining to the ground schools
for aviation students.
(e) To maintain a ground officers' school for training adjutants,
supply officers and engineering officers in accordance with program
laid down by the Chief of Personnel who will exercise supervision
of the course of study, nominate instructors and be responsible for
the proper training of ground officers, and for providing such train-
ing for flying officers who have temporarily or permanently lost fly-
ing ability as will enable them to be useful for other than flying duty.
(Signed*) MASON M. PATRICK,
Major General, N. A.
C. A. S.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 97
To assist me in this undertaking there were in the Per-
sonnel Office in Tours some sixteen officers, and seventy-five
enlisted men who acted as clerks ; while at St. Maxient
there was Colonel A. Lippincott, the commanding officer of
the post, and his staff. All worked with unremitting energy
to carry out the programme as laid down.
Of the difficulties that were due to lack of proper office
equipmentand scarcity of efficient stenographers, it is hardly
necessary to speak, for they were not in any way confined
to our office, but were well-nigh universal in the A. E. F. It
was a pleasure to see how every body strove to overcome allob-
stacles. Particular mention must be made of Captain Cleve-
land Cobb, whose careful attention to the details of the Offi-
cers' Section brought it to a high state of efficiency ; Captain
Hamilton Hadley, whose thorough familiarity with army
regulations and the latest authorities oiled the wheels of our
intercourse with other branches of the service ; Lieutenant
Walter Tufts, whose courtesy and tact in dealing with anx-
ious visitors permitted the routine work of the office to pro-
ceed with a minimum number of interruptions ; and Master
Signal Electrician Walter Buchanan, whose long experience
in the care of records and files made possible the smooth run-
ning of that machinery on which a personnel office depends
so largely for its efficiency.
In my new position I had an opportunity to learn much
about the kind of personnel in our squadrons. The enlisted
personnel of the Air Service was remarkable for its high-
grade technical ability and splendid devotion to duty. In the
98 AN EXPLORER
face of many difficulties the enlisted men always showed a
willingness to accept disagreeable assignments as well as
to perform their regular duties at unusual hours that was
extremely praiseworthy. Many of them came from highly
paid trades, and a large number had enlisted expecting to
fly. The way they did their work and accepted the inevitable
was very fine. It was my observation that it would have been
difficult, if not impossible, to have secured better men. I be-
lieve that it was fortunate that enlistment in the Air Ser-
vice was possible at a time when enlistments in most branches
of the army were forbidden. Consequently we had an op-
portunity to secure the more intelligent American me-
chanics.
I believe it would have been better had we earlier adopted
a plan whereby enlisted men above the grade of corporal
could have become candidates for non-flying commissions.
When an enlisted man had done extremely well, and was
anxious to fly, but was turned down by the doctor as being
physically unfit to be a pilot, there was no hope for him to
secure a commission in most cases, unless he left the service
in which he had received his training. Therefore it was
unfortunate that so many of the positions of Adjutant, Sup-
ply Officer, and Engineer Officer were given to men without
military experience. To have reserved a large number of
these places for enlisted candidates would have furnished an
additional incentive and stimulated competition. As would
be expected, however, our enlisted mechanics frequently
showed remarkable ingenuity and inventiveness. Some ef-
fa
*
IN THE AIR SERVICE 99
fort was made to procure from the enlisted personnel descrip-
tions and drawings of their inventions and ideas.
In the Personnel Office we also saw and heard many
things about the conduct of our cadets and even of our flying
officers. It should be remembered that the cadets were, for
the most part, drawn from among a class of young, irrespon-
sible, venturesome, athletic boys, who were willing to take
the risks of aviation training at a time when about four per
cent of all advanced students were killed in training. They
felt they were gambling with their lives whenever they went
up. Had they had a greater sense of responsibility, it is
doubtful whether many of them would have volunteered
for flying duty. Consequently it is not to be wondered at
that many of them committed indiscretions of conduct in
public which brought upon them severe criticism. The fact
that they wore wings or special white hatbands made them
particularly conspicuous, and made it possible for the aver-
age person to identify them with the Air Service. Officers
or candidates of other services could not be so readily iden-
tified by casual observers. The destruction of morale by the
long period of disappointment and delay which most of the
cadets encountered showed itself in an unsoldierly attitude
toward military rules and discipline, which, while repre-
hensible, was not surprising. The noteworthy and remark-
able thing is that so many of them did so well.
The same remarks apply to a large percentage of the
flying officers. It was particularly hard for student flying
officers to submit to the necessary discipline. I believe that
100 AN EXPLORER
in the future it would be far better to postpone the actual com-
mission of the pilot until his training is completed and he
is ready to take his place in a squadron.
Had the older flying officers of higher rank done more
flying, they could have raised the spirits and enthusiasm
of the younger men. It would be hard for a cavalry regi-
ment to be commanded by a colonel who either did not
know how to ride horseback or who was afraid of a horse. It
is just as hard for a group of aviators to be commanded by
an officer who does not know how to fly or is afraid of the
air. It was most unfortunate that circumstances demanded
the presence in the Air Service of so many non-flying offi-
cers. I believe there should be no officers in the Air Service
who have not earned their wings, and are not willing and
ready to make frequent flights, either as pilots or observers.
It was also unfortunate that quite a proportion of the
non-flying officers sent to France had received little or no
military training, having been commissioned in the sum-
mer of 1917, before schools for non-flying officers with their
keen competition and stringent examinations were estab-
lished. Some of these officers did well ; while others, who
had no experience in handling men, were failures, as was
to be expected. I believe that in the future non-flying posi-
tions in the Air Service should be filled by former flyers or
by candidates from among the best enlisted men in the
squadrons, who, after being selected, should be required to
take thorough courses and pass strict and competitive exam-
inations, both on the ground and in the air.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 101
Feeling as I did about the necessity of having the older
officers ready to assume at any time the risks of flying, I
wanted to fly as much as possible myself. While on duty
at Washington there had been no opportunity to fly after I
passed my Reserve Military Aviator test. Some members of
my family and many of my friends insisted that it was fool-
ish for me to take the risks of flying when not required to do
so by the nature of my work. After giving the matter con-
siderable thought, I sent the following communication to the
Chief of Air Service :
. . . request to be allowed to use such time as can be spared from
my duties as Chief of Personnel, without seriously interfering with
the business of this office, in continuing my flying instruction which
ended at Mineola last August with the passing of my R. M. A. test.
My principal reason for making this request is the belief that it is
good policy for the older flying officers in the Air Service to keep up
with their flying. It is believed that it is not beneficial for the morale
of the Air Service that Field Officers, who are in charge of impor-
tant parts of the Air Service program, should seldom ever fly them-
selves. It is believed to be just as important for the Field Officers in
the Air Service to subject themselves to the ordinary risks of flying
as it is for the Field Officers in the Infantry Regiments to subject
themselves to the ordinary risks of trench warfare.
My request was approved, and whenever occasion offered
I continued flying. I learned how to fly a Caudron and a
23 -meter Nieuport, but it was difficult to fly regularly, and
I had two crashes, one due to my own stupidity, and one
due to engine failure.
The first thing that impressed me after my arrival at Air
102 AN EXPLORER
Service Headquarters in Tours was that some of the older
officers of the regular army who were in positions of author-
ity in the Air Service appeared to be more interested in
the progress of the Infantry in the trenches than in the
problems of the Air Service. I may have been mistaken, but
that is the way it seemed to me. Furthermore, it was evi-
dent from their conversation that several of them who had
been in the Air Service in France for five or six months,
and who had been given advanced commissions in the Air
Service, had made little or no attempt to study Military
Aeronautics. Some of them were unfamiliar with the ordi-
nary terms used on a flying field. They had spent very little
time with pilots or aeronautical engineers. They could not
talk the same language. That such men should have the
power to make important decisions and determine aviation
policies was bound to lead to discontent and dissatisfaction
on the part of the aviators.
The failure of a large proportion of the regular army
officers who accepted commissions as Colonels and Majors
in the newly expanded Air Service in the fall and winter of
1917, to make any effort to qualify either as pilots or ob-
servers and who did not even travel cross-country as pas-
sengers, made it hard for the young pilots to accept ungrudg-
ingly some of their decisions. The situation was quite similar
to what would happen if a Captain in the Navy were put
in charge of a Cavalry Post and never was seen to mount a
horse or attempt to learn to ride, or if a Captain in the Army
IN THE AIR SERVICE 103
was put in charge of a battleship and never went out of port.
At the flying schools it was most essential that the com-
manding officer be a flyer if he were to secure the respect of
his staff, and be able to command his post with sympathetic
understanding. A few incidents which were' current gossip
among the pilots will serve to show why some of the non-
flying commanders of flying fields failed to make good, even
though they had had long experience as infantry or cavalry
officers in the regular army. At one of the largest fields, the
commanding officer on his first tour of inspection was greatly
astonished to see several relatively new airplanes badly
smashed up and hopelessly out of commission. He inquired
whether they had been properly made and properly inspected
on their arrival, and when he was assured that this was the
case, asked, " Why, then, are they out of commission now
when they are only a few weeks old?" "Rough landings,"
was the laconic reply of the officer in charge of flying. " This
new bunch of cadets will persist in making bad landings."
"I will remedy that," said t;he new C. O. And the next day he
issued a written order that there should be "no more rough
landings."
To his mind, trained by a dozen years in the cavalry, it
was like saying that horses went lame because they were
not shod properly, and he proposed to insist that in the future
this deficiency should be remedied as it could have been in
the cavalry by issuing a military order. Thoughtlessness or
perhaps utter lack of experience in learning to fly naturally
104 AN EXPLORER
made him suppose that rough landings were caused entirely
by carelessness and disregard of the value of Government
property.
Another excellent cavalry officer at another flying school
signalized his arrival to take command by ordering a hitch-
ing-post erected in front of his headquarters. He had been
accustomed for many years to performing his outdoor
duties on horseback, and it was perfectly natural that he
should wish to continue the practice. As soon as he got his
hitching-post put in he ordered his orderly to bring his
horse, and proceeded to attempt to inspect the flying field
on horseback ! His horse took exception to the noise caused
by several machines whose engines were being warmed up
"on the line" in front of the hangars. As his horse pranced
around in front of the planes, he waved his hands, and as
soon as he could make himself heard, shouted out the order,
"Stop those fans! Don't you see they scare my horse?" It
may be easily imagined how glad the young pilots of the
flying school were to take orders from one who was so keenly
interested in their work.
The ignorance of some of these old cavalry officers of the
very A B C of aeronautics was quite extraordinary. One
of them in command of one of our flying fields in France
had apparently never even read that the Wright Brothers
had solved the secret of practical flight by making the wings
of their first airplanes capable of being warped. This warp-
ing of the wings, while no longer used in most planes, was
still a feature of the Caudron biplane with which his school
IN THE AIR SERVICE 105
was largely provided. Soon after he took command of the
school he learned that the Caudron was not popular with
the young pilots, who gave as one of the reasons for their
dissatisfaction with this old-fashioned bus, that instead of
its being equipped with ailerons, the wings warped. To this
he immediately replied that he would prevent that in the
future, and ordered that all planes be immediately taken
into the hangars and not left out in the sun "where their
wings could warp." It was at this school, as I have been told
by several pilots, that their morale reached its lowest point,
and that many of them would have been glad to be able to
get out of the Air Service and into the trenches.
No body of pilots ever had a keener sense of loyalty to
their leaders or better morale than the Royal Flying Corps.
There is a story told about General Brancker, one of the
chief officers in the R. F. G, that illustrates how far the
higher officers of the British Air Service carried the idea of
the importance of using airplanes rather than motor cars
for their tours of inspection. General Brancker was not a very
good pilot and frequently made rather bad landings and
crashed his running gear, but this never deterred him from
the belief that it was better not to adopt any safer means of
transportation than were used by his own pilots. One day in
landing on an airdrome for the purpose of inspection, and
before he had time to take off his helmet and goggles, the
young Officer in Charge of Flying rushed up greatly ex-
cited, told him to get out of the machine and never to
enter one again, and that he was a disgrace to the service.
106 AN EXPLORER
"I do not think you know who I am," said the distinguished
pilot, adjusting his monocle. "I am General Brancker." "Oh,
I beg your pardon, sir," replied the horrified Lieutenant. "I
thought you were that young 'Hun' who hopped off just
three minutes ago to try and make one more landing and
prove to me that the instructor was wrong who had given
him up as hopeless." Nobody cared that General Brancker
did not fly as well as the younger pilots. What they did care
about was that he played the game and was not afraid.
It is true that in the summer of 1918 orders were issued
in Washington encouraging all officers in the Air Service
to learn to fly, but these orders could be carried out only par-
tially in France, where facilities for preliminary instruction
in flying were extremely limited, and where every training
plane was needed to hasten the progress of cadets and flying
officers on their way to the Front.
CHAPTER X
A FEW HOURS AT THE FRONT
WE watched the German advance toward Paris
in the spring of 1918 with alarm. Most of the
French factories were in the Paris area, and many of them
were north of Paris. It was the location in that "north of Paris "
district of such a very large percentage of French munition
factories, as well as airplane works, that made the situation
so serious.
It will be remembered that after the downfall of Russia,
the Huns gathered themselves together for a series of
crushing attacks in great force on the Western Front The
first came in March and resulted in a gain of about thirty
miles. The second came in the early part of April and caused
the dissolution of the British Fifth Army and netted another
gain of about thirty miles for the Germans. The third came
in the latter part of May and netted still another thirty miles.
This time the Huns reached the River Marne at Chateau-
Thierry, and were stopped only by the timely arrival of Amer-
ican troops, in particular by the remarkable work of the 7th,
8th, and 9th Machine Gun Battalions. Their performance
was all the more noteworthy because they had arrived in
France only six weeks before and had not completed their
training.
The story of how they marched north to Chateau -Thierry
in the face of thousands of war-weary retreating French
troops, and of how they refused to be discouraged by the
sight of French machine gun battalions, veteran troops, hur-
108 AN EXPLORER
rying south by the same roads on which they were slowly
working their way north, is one that will always make
Americans proud. Our men had never been in action before,
yet they displayed a courage and coolness which won un-
stinted praise from the French Generals who witnessed their
performance. The French generously and frankly admitted
that it was the Americans who had stopped the Germans at
Chateau -Thierry.
It should not be forgotten, however, that in this third big
push the Huns had practically reached their objective before
our troops came into action. Each one of the three big drives
had been successful in gaining about thirty miles advance
ground. If they could manage to do it once more and there
was no apparent reason why a fourth attempt should not
be as successful as the first three it would bring them so
near Paris that the great manufacturing area in the district
inorth of Paris would either be captured or entirely destroyed
by artillery fire. This would mean the loss of what was the
source of more than eighty-five per cent of the munitions
that were at that time supplying not only the French Army,
but ours. We understood that this referred particularly to
ordnance and aeronautical supplies.
Furthermore, such an advance on the part of the Germans
would enable them to bring so large a number of guns
to bear on Paris itself as to necessitate a move south on
the part of the French Government. Plans for this move
seem to have been perfected in the latter part of June and
early part of July. For several weeks thousands of motor
Formation Flying: Taking-ojf
Formation Flying: Group
IN THE AIR SERVICE 109
trucks waited for a "hurry call" to take official Paris to
Bordeaux.
Had this happened, it is doubtful whether Clemenceau
could have retained his hold on the Government. His min-
istry would probably have fallen. The Socialists under
Briand would have come in; and they might have been
willing to accept favorable terms from the Germans. The
situation was grave in the extreme. It looked as though
there was an excellent probability that the Germans would
offer such attractive terms to the new French Government
as to force them to realize that the loss of the great manu-
facturing district north of Paris made it impractical and un-
wise for them to attempt to continue the conflict any longer.
Fortunately, the thousands of trucks never were needed.
The rapid arrival of fresh American troops, brought over
at the expense of adequate shipments of supplies, turned
the scales. The distribution of these troops up and down
the Western Front was one of the master strokes of Mar-
shal Foch. The presence of American soldiers encouraged
the weary troops of the Allies, and the fact of our being able
to fight under the eyes of the war veterans encouraged our
men to perform feats of valor practically unheard of in the
annals of green, inexperienced armies.
One other thing seems to have been of paramount im-
portance. That was the development under Marshal Foch
of aerial night reconnaissance. The success of the great Hun
drives of March, April, and May, 1918, had been due in a
large measure to the old-fashioned element of surprise, an
110 AN EXPLORER
element which aerial photographers and the progress of
photographic interpretation had almost eliminated in 1917.
The German General Staff met this situation by moving
their troops at night, and by doing it in such a manner as
to leave no marks which the aerial photographers could
secure the next day. The enemy troops were ordered to
stick to the roads and carefully instructed to make no new
paths. In the daytime they were entirely concealed in vil-
lages and woods. At night they moved on foot and not in
trains, so that balloon observers and others accustomed to
spotting the movement of trains would be baffled in their
attempts to analyze the situation. Furthermore, no effort was
made to prevent Allied aerial reconnaissance in the daytime
as had usually been the case in regions where large bodies
of troops were concentrating. Finally, the shock troops, whose
movements it is to be presumed were kept under peculiar
surveillance by Allied spies, and who were in villages fifty
miles behind the lines the day before the attack, were put
in motor trucks at the last possible moment and moved from
their rest billets directly into the front line trenches on the
night of the attack. In fact, it was said that they got out of
the trucks and rushed immediately into action.
In the great drive which ended at the bridge of Chateau-
Thierry we heard that the French General in command
of that sector of the line had learned of the attack which
was to demolish him, only two or three hours before it
was upon him. He barely had time to bring up his reserves.
His whole army was crushed by a single blow. The Huns
IN THE AIR SERVICE 111
merely had to march along comfortably for the next two
or three days, capturing an enormous amount of material,
including several hundred hangars and a large number of
the latest French airplanes.
To prevent a repetition of this complete surprise, Mar-
shal Foch developed aerial night reconnaissance. His planes,
equipped with lights and flares, were instructed to fly very
low over the roads so low, in fact, that they could closely
observe the movement of troops and estimate the character
and extent of this movement. The German General Staff
was not able to devise any efficient means of stopping this
night reconnaissance. Accordingly, when the time came in
the middle of June for the next great Hun push which was
to have captured Paris and the munitions and airplane fac-
tories, Marshal Foch knew just exactly where, and when,
it was coming. He made his own plans accordingly, and
started a gigantic offensive on his own account at the very
same sector of the line, and a few minutes before the Ger-
mans were ready to begin theirs. As a result, on July 18
the tide turned and France was saved. All honor to those
brave French pilots who, in the face of extraordinary diffi-
culties and unknown dangers, were the first to develop suc-
cessfully aerial night reconnaissance.
My only experience at the Front was on a tour of inspec-
tion while Chief of Personnel in the latter part of July, when
it was my good fortune to be permitted to see our squad-
rons and balloon companies in operation in the Chateau-
Thierry sector on July 23 and 24. The Second Balloon
112 AN EXPLORER
Company was only two or three miles from the retreating
Germans at that time, and had been severely shelled a few
hours before my visit. One of the shells, a six-inch projectile,
had passed through the peak of a shelter tent, exploded in
the rocky hillside immediately in front of the tent, and de-
stroyed the tent and the tree behind it, without in the least
injuring the lanky sergeant who had been resting within,
his feet only a few inches from where the shell struck.
I had the opportunity of going with Captain Philip J.
Roosevelt over the battlefields of the preceding two or three
days near Belleau Wood and Vaux, where the dead were
still lying as they had fallen, and where one could not fail
to be impressed with the enormous waste of men and ma-
terial which spells the modern battlefield. It was amazing
to see the thousands of hand grenades and hundreds of
thousands of rounds of small arms ammunition that had
been left on the field without being used.
The thing that surprised me most and which we in the
rear had heard least about was the large number of bal-
* f
loons that were being used for artillery observation. One
could judge very easily the approximate position of the lines
by the balloons. In the early days of the war the reconnais-
sance airplane, using a small radio set, rapidly developed
great efficiency in regulating artillery fire. The old type of
spherical balloons bobbed about in the air to such an extent
that the observer in the basket was frequently made most
uncomfortable. The new type of kite balloons, invented and
developed during the war, provided a far more suitable plat-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 113
form for the observer than anything that had previously
gone up in the air. The harder the wind blew, the steadier
rode the balloon at the end of its cable. By perfecting the
hauling-down mechanism it was possible, when the bal-
loon was attacked, to bring it safely to its nest faster than
the fastest passenger elevator descends.
In the mean time, the Germans had learned how to make
artillery observation from an airplane very difficult by means
of improved anti-aircraft fire, and very unsatisfactory by
using powerful radio to counteract the radio messages sent
out by the reconnaissance planes. Consequently, the balloon
observer was at a great advantage over the airplane observer.
The balloon observer could talk by means of a telephone
whose wire ran down through the cable that held the bal-
loon, and could communicate most satisfactorily with the
artillery commander without any danger of having his line
cut by the Germans except when an attack by their air-
planes caused his hydrogen-inflated balloon to burn up and
necessitated his seeking safety in a parachute descent. Not-
withstanding the danger of being shot down and the un-
pleasant features of the parachute, only one man was killed
on the Western Front in a parachute descent, and this acci-
dent was caused by the parachute catching fire from the
burning balloon.
Had we been able to inflate our balloons with helium, a
quantity of which was already on the docks when the Ar-
mistice was signed, there would have been no danger from
fire, for helium is non-explosive and non-inflammable. Had
114 AN EXPLORER
we been able to perfect helium-filled balloons with numer-
ous compartments, it would have been extremely difficult
for the Germans to have shot our balloons down. In the
future, this should greatly change the whole process of
artillery observation. It will also affect warfare in another
way. The Zeppelin raids over London were given up be-
cause it was so easy for an airplane, by firing a few shots,
to bring down the expensive dirigible in flames. The use of
helium and of a gas container made up of many sections
will make the rigid dirigible a very potent factor in bombing
raids.
My few hours at the Front not only convinced me of the
great value of lighter-than-air ships for certain important
purposes; it also made me realize more than ever the neces-
sity for close and constant cooperation between the Training
Schools and the Front. Hostility due to failure to under-
stand conditions and inability to appreciate the point of
view of the hard-working pilot at the other end caused
mutual suspicion and unfriendliness. There should have
been more rotation of the flying personnel. Those at the
Front naturally are sure they know best what it is they
want. Those at the schools in the rear, conscious of their
own keen desire to go to the Front and to risk all that any
one is risking, but compelled by force of circumstances to
miss the thrill of actual combat, are obliged to take what
satisfaction they can in developing what they think is the best
system of training. Each mistrusts the other.
One of the most serious faults of our conduct of the war
IN THE AIR SERVICE 115
so far as the Air Service went was the unwillingness
of those in command to allow highly efficient officers to be
transferred from front to rear and vice versa; from France
to America, and from America to France. We were grad-
ually coming to this in the autumn of 1918. It is only a pity
we did not adopt that policy earlier. I saw men at schools
who were stale. I saw men at the Front who were stale. It
should be remembered that no matter how good or how im-
portant a man is, he is likely to get into a rut and become
stale if he is kept too long working at one job under the
high pressure of actual war conditions. His efficiency will be
increased and the whole service will be improved if he is not
kept too many months at a very interesting or highly im-
portant piece of work.
CHAPTER XI
THE THIRD AVIATION INSTRUCTION CENTRE
IN August another reorganization of the Air Service took
place. More activities were centred in Paris, and the or-
ganization of squadrons was taken out of the hands of the
Chief of Personnel. General Patrick at the same time had
pity on the woes of an explorer who had been tied for many
months to office work and sent him to Issoudun to take com-
mand of his largest flying school.
All the American flying schools in France were at that
time (August 23, 1918) under the immediate direction of
Colonel Walter G. Kilner, Chief of Training for the Chief
of Air Service. Colonel Kilner was the best Chief that anyone
in the Air Service could ask to have. A graduate of West
Point and of the aviation school at San Diego, he had served
on the Punitive Expedition into Mexico, had had interest-
ing experiences with Mexican bandits and old-fashioned
"ships," was in command at Mineola when I took my tests
as a Reserve Military Aviator, and had gone overseas with
General Foulois. He had shown extraordinary ability at Is-
soudun in bringing order out of chaos during the winter
of 1917-18. He had taken the school at a time when it is
said that General Pershing had called it "the worst mud-
hole in France," and in five months had made it "the most
comfortable camp in the A. E. F." His military education,
his technical training, his ability as a pilot, and his skill as
an administrator made him an ideal Chief of Training. He
was later decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal.
Map of the Third
Kilomerers
A7//ss
Numbers refer to Flying fields
,0
LES
STE-
ion Instruction Centre
IN THE AIR SERVICE 117
The First Aviation Instruction Centre established near
Paris had early been abandoned, possibly because it was
too near Paris. The Second Aviation Instruction Centre was
built up from the old French airdrome and flying school
on the plateau across the river at Tours. It was gradually
enlarged to meet the needs of the American service, and
for a long time was the principal place for the preliminary
training of flying cadets. For this purpose it was equipped
with the old-fashioned Caudrons. Later on it was developed
entirely as a school for training aerial observers, and as such
was most successful under the very competent direction of
Lieutenant-Colonel S. W. Fitzgerald.
The story of Issoudun, where the Third Aviation Instruc-
tion Centre was located, is one full of lights and shadows.
Located on the arid plains between the villages of Vatan
and Lizaray, the camp was some seven miles west of the
historic town of Issoudun, made famous by Balzac. It was
right in the heart of France, about twenty-five miles north of
Chateauroux, about sixty -five miles due south of Orleans,
and twenty-five miles west of Bourges. It was not far from
two of the largest American supply depots, Gievres and
Romorantin. The land was of clay mixed with small shaly
rocks. The soil was so poor that villages and farmhouses
were relatively few and far between. This gave the large
open spaces necessary for the flying fields; but the ground
was so impervious to water that it did not dry readily and
was frightfully muddy for months at a time. In order to
reach the selected location, an American railroad nine miles
118 AN EXPLORER
in length was built to connect with the French lines near
the town of Issoudun.
The " Third A. I. C," as our post was usually called,
consisted of a main camp containing headquarters, hospi-
tals, instruction barracks, quartermaster stores, aero supply
warehouses, repair shops, sleeping quarters for about 4000
men, and an assembly and test field ; and within a radius
of five miles a dozen other fields, covering all together about
fifty square miles of French territory. We had over a thou-
sand airplanes and could accommodate about the same
number of students. There were nearly 5000 enlisted men
on duty, a number which was soon increased until there were
all together about 8000 persons, including officers, men,
Chinese laborers, and German prisoners, occupied in keep-
ing this school in operation. Our function was to take avi-
ators who had received their preliminary flying training else-
where and give them advanced and special training, thereby
fitting them to become pursuit, observation, or ferry pilots,
as the needs of the war and the abilities of the pilots might
indicate. More than 2000 pilots were graduated here.
One's first impressions of Issoudun depended entirely on
how one approached it. To the enlisted mechanic of a squad-
ron arriving at night after a long and tiresome journey in
a freight car, it must have seemed like getting into any other
American camp where there was plenty of mud under foot,
a group of rough board barracks all around, and the satisfac-
tion of knowing that total ignorance of French was not going
to spoil the comfort of his billet. On the next day, or rather
IN THE AIR SERVICE 119
the next Sunday afternoon, when he found that he was many
miles from an interesting town, it was not so amusing.
It was my good fortune to see Issoudun first from an
elevation of about ten thousand feet. In May, Major Spatz,
then Commanding Officer, had kindly flown me over from
Tours. Fortunately, I did not know that he had recently
been the victim of two bad accidents and had crashed two
machines in succession on landing. Otherwise, I might not
have taken such pleasure in my ride ! Seated for the first
time in my life in the front seat of a small Nieuport, I
greatly enjoyed my first cross-country view of France from
the air. After passing for some distance up the lovely valley
of the Cher and over some extensive wooded areas, we came
at last in view of widespreading plains. As we drew nearer
I made out little groups of hangars here and there, and
finally realized that an interesting gray patch, colored some-
what differently from the surrounding plain, was a group of
buildings that included the main barracks, shops, and head-
quarters of the Third Aviation Instruction Centre.
It was always a pleasure to take a visitor up and show
him our camps and fields from an airplane, for it was by far
the easiest way to give him an adequate idea of the extent
of our plant and the admirable way in which Colonel Kilner
and his assistants had laid out the fields so as to utilize all
the available air space within easy reach of the main repair
shops. For this reason we were keenly disappointed when
Assistant Secretary of War John D. Ryan, then in charge
of the Army Air Service, arrived on his first and only tour of
120 AN EXPLORER
inspection, and declined to go up. We had arranged to have
a very comfortable DH-4 prepared and ready for this pur-
pose, and had detailed to it the most experienced and con-
servative pilot on the post We hoped that Mr. Ryan would
thus get a comprehensive idea of his largest flying school.
I remember that he gave as his reason for not caring to go
up that he had made the rule that civilians must not be
taken up in army planes, and he felt that he ought not to
break his own rules !
It was also a keen disappointment to be visited at night
by one of the most influential members of the Senate Mili-
tary Affairs Committee. He arrived after dark, and left be-
fore midnight There were so many things that one would
like to have had him see and personally understand! Of
course, there were many other places in France which needed
his attention worse than ours did, but that did not allay our
dissatisfaction with his nocturnal tour of inspection.
To the visiting officer who came into our camp by motor
car there was nothing very comprehensive or picturesque.
It was not nearly as striking as the average military camp
in the United States, nor one-quarter as impressive as the
splendid aviation fields at home. Aviators arriving from El-
lington Field or Dayton were rarely enthusiastic about it It
had grown from very small beginnings, and had been built
of whatever materials Colonel Kilner could get hold of. The
barracks were of various sizes and kinds. The shops were
of different vintages. The hangars were a medley of canvas,
steel, and imitation concrete.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 121
The first sign that caught the eye on entering from the
highway was POLICE, PRISON AND LABOR OFFICER. The fact
that a few minutes later one found one's self on the corner
of "Broadway" and "Fifth Avenue "only partially alleviated
the shock one had received from the sign at the entrance.
We tried to be neat and soldierly. So we were greatly
pleased when a visiting Brigadier-General of Cavalry told
us that our men saluted more snappily than those in any
camp he had visited in France. And we tried to be as effi-
cient as possible, but we had no time to go in for handsome
outward appearances, and the original plans had not con-
templated thrilling the natives by any display. Nevertheless,
when we really managed to get a visiting officer up in the
air, it was a pleasure to see the surprise and satisfaction
on his face as he looked around over fifty square miles of
territory and noted the evidences of American energy and
enterprise.
So far as I know, the only General Officer ever to arrive
at Issoudun by airplane was General Harbord, when he
was in command of the Services of Supply. He came down
from Tours one day on a short tour of inspection and was
piloted by Colonel Kilner, then Chief of Training. General
Harbord took a keen interest in aviation and sent the follow-
ing paragraph about our pilots to the editor of the Plane News,
our local paper :
In War, as it is being waged on the Western Front, the heir of the
Knights of other days is the pilot of the pursuit plane. The fighting
pilot, like the Knights of old, goes forth to individual combat, where
122 AN EXPLORER
two may meet but one alone depart. The greatest of Knights were the
finest men, and let America's crusaders ever uphold this tradition
chivalrous, clean and fearlessly fighting until we wipe from the earth
this scourge of German Kultur.
Colonel Kilner made us frequent visits by air, and enor-
mously increased the enthusiasm of the pilots for Air Ser-
vice management by his own personal enthusiasm for fly-
ing and fearlessness in travelling about France wherever he
needed to go by air instead of by road. He had had several
crashes in his career, both in Mexico and California, as well
as in France, and he was thoroughly familiar with the psy-
chology of discomfort following a bad crash, but this never
induced him to accept the excuse of being "too busy" to fly,
or of claiming that it was so important that he reach a given
point on time that he could not afford to take the risks of
aerial transportation. I know from personal experience after
two bad crashes how easy it is to accept the belief that one
is not feeling well enough to fly. Everybody knows that one
ought not to fly except when feeling well !
In administrating the Third Aviation Instruction Centre
I followed the general principle of giving the heads of de-
partments, and in particular the Commanding Officers of
the outlying fields, the fullest measure of responsibility, ex-
pecting certain results, but not directing the details or the
methods by which these results were to be achieved. Where
results did not materialize, where inspection disclosed un-
satisfactory conditions, where criticism did not bear fruit,
the responsible heads were quickly removed and the best
IN THE AIR SERVICE 123
men available put in their places. On the other hand, where
results were satisfactory, encouragement was given to those
who were responsible for the results, their recommendations
for promotion were almost invariably accepted, approved,
and forwarded, and their wishes and desires were given the
utmost possible consideration.
Every day at noon there met with me my chief assist-
ants, includingthe Post Executive Officer, the Post Adjutant,
the Chief Aeronautical Engineer, the Construction and
Maintenance Officer, the Officer in Charge of Flying, the
Chairman of the Medical Research Board, the Commanding
Officer of the Hospital, the Post Quartermaster, the Com-
manding Officer of Student Officers, Commanding Officers
of outlying fields, the Liaison Officer, the Police, Prison and
Labor Officer, the Post Disbursing Officer, the Personnel Offi-
cer, and the Officer in charge of Aerial Gunnery. At this
meeting every one had a chance to report progress, to air his
grievances, and to become familiar with the successes and
failures of the others.
Special stress was laid on the fact that my staff officers,
visiting outlying fields and speaking in the name of the Post
Commander, must give their instructions through the Com-
manding Officer of the outlying field, who was personally
responsible to the Post Commander in the same compre-
hensive manner that the Post Commander was responsible
to the Chief of Training at Headquarters. This method of
administrating a post that included nearly 6000 enlisted men,
450 German prisoners, 250 Chinese coolies, and from 1100
124 AN EXPLORER
to 1400 officers, most of them student officers, proved to be
satisfactory. The Inspector-General, in his report to the Com-
manding General, S. O. S., dated November 26, 19 18, on the
subject of his inspection of the Third Aviation Instruction
Centre, took occasion to commend the Post Commander "for
the efficient condition of this Centre."
He also spoke of the competition between the fields which
was used to maintain a high standard of efficiency and said,
"A spirit of friendly rivalry exists which has kept up the in-
terest of the personnel since the signing of the Armistice."
President Lowell of Harvard University once published in
the Atlantic Monthly an article on the importance of com-
petition as a stimulant for undergraduate activities, both
physical and mental. Ever since reading it I have been a sin-
cere believer in the value of competition as a spur to high
endeavor.
The nature of the Nieuport plane, which was the only
one available in large quantities for training purposes, was
such as to require a graded course, as will be described in
another chapter. It was not an ideal course, but was, I be-
lieve, the best that could be devised in view of the equipment
available. However, the principle of having a large number
of small fields under semi-independent commands, each
using two or three hundred enlisted men, and doing a cer-
tain amount of repairing, and using the main field for as-
sembly and rebuilding and for the principal warehouse,
hospital, quartermaster, etc., worked out extremely well.
These fields were generally about two miles apart, so that
IN THE AIR SERVICE 125
the air was not crowded even when there were several hun-
dred planes in commission and a thousand students being
taught. Daily meetings of the Commanding Officers of the
fields, frequent meetings of Engineer Officers, Officers in
Charge of Flying, and Supply Officers enabled proper co-
ordination to take place and homogeneous planning to be
carried out. I believe that the ideal aviation training cen-
tre consists of a central plant easily reached by road and
air, and a dozen surrounding fields where preliminary, ad-
vanced, and specialized flying and aerial gunnery are taught.
My duties at Headquarters were greatly facilitated by
the skill and long army experience of Captain Lester Cum-
mings, who was my first Adjutant, and who later took
charge of preparing squadrons for departure. My second
Adjutant was Captain William V. Saxe, whose success was
due to his unselfish zeal for whatever work was assigned
him, combined with unusual charm of manner and unfailing
courtesy. It was most fortunate for me that Major Tom G.
Lanphier, a veteran of Chateau-Thierry, was completing
his flying training just as I arrived. His ability to command
had been evident on the Aquitania, where I had been im-
pressed by the way he handled the troops at life-boat drill.
His familiarity with the workings of every field on the post,
his skill as a pilot, and his loyalty made him an ideal Execu-
tive Officer. He afterwards took command of the post
CHAPTER XII
TRAINING AVIATORS
THE plan for Issoudun was that it should be used
chiefly as a place where pilots already fully trained in
the United States should have a "refresher course" before
being sent to the Front Due to the lack of advanced training
planes in the United States and the fact that it was practically
impossible during the continuance of the war for our pilots
to do much more than get their preliminary training and
"acquire their wings" before coming to France, it became
necessary to develop at Issoudun a complete course in ad-
vanced flying and in aerial tactics. This was also made ne-
cessary because so many hundreds of cadets had been sent
to France without any flying training at all, and could secure
only preliminary instruction at the French schools or at our
own Second Aviation Instruction Centre at Tours.
The history of the Training Department shows a mar-
vellous growth. For its details I am indebted to Lieutenant
Thomas Ward, who had been a member of the celebrated
First Reserve Aero Squadron, and whose knowledge of the
complete story of Issoudun was second to none. Very little
flying was done in the fall of 1917, but in December the
records show 1117 hours of flying for the month, which
was increased in January to 2812 ; February, 34 14 ; March,
4205 ; April, 7392. Therewas a slight falling off in Mayand
June, due to various causes, chiefly the great difficulty of
keeping the Nieu ports in commission during the warm, wind-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 127
less days of the late spring. In July the flying time increased
to 93 50 hours ; in August to 12,510 ; falling off in September
to 9562, but under the very able leadership of Captain H. C.
Ferguson breaking all records in October with a total of
17,1 13 hours for the month. In November, after the Armis-
tice was signed, the pressure let down and we flew only
10,041 hours. Captain Ferguson, first as Commanding Offi-
cer of Field 5 and later as Officer in Charge of Flying, showed
remarkable ability, determination, and initiative.
In October and November, 1917, there had been a great
deal of wet weather, and the clay-covered fields of Issoudun
were converted into oceans of mud. Attempts to fly caused
much breakage of propellers until Captain Rickenbacker,
who acted as Engineer Officer and was the first student
graduated from the school, invented a mudguard which
prevented the wheels from throwing mud and stones directly
into the propeller. Incidentally, it was quite appropriate
that the first graduate of Issoudun should later become the
leading American ace.
It may be interesting to note at this point that another
well-known ace, Captain Douglas Campbell, was the first
Assistant Officer in Charge of Training here. The fifth to
graduate was Captain Hamilton Coolidge, who had a splen-
did record at the Front with eight Huns to his credit when
he was killed by a direct hit from an anti-aircraft gun.
The seventh graduate was Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt,
who was at one time Post Quartermaster, Supply Officer,
and Transportation Officer, and after he had completed his
128 AN EXPLORER
training, took charge of training at Field 7. He had his
father's wonderful courage and fine enthusiasm.
At the beginning no definite course of instruction was
laid out. Most of the teachers were French pilots, who nat-
urally used the ideas then in vogue at the French schools
which they had attended. Their methods were better
adapted for French than American aviators. The course at
Issoudun was not thought out on paper beforehand by a the-
orist, but was gradually evolved under the most strenuous
conditions imaginable and contained ideas derived from a
very considerable number of the best American pilots in
France. With a true sense of the importance of having the
best possible teachers and a keen realization of the old adage
that "a stream cannot rise higher than its source," it was
early determined to retain only the very best American
pilots for teachers and instructors. Each man that went
through the school was jealously watched by those in
charge of the work at the different fields, and if they saw
unusual qualities in him, he was promptly requisitioned
as a member of the staff. Of course this was very hard on
the individual. Occasionally it worked backward. In one
case an unusually good pilot, knowing that he was being
selected as a teacher, deliberately broke the flying rules on
the last day of his course in order to spoil his record. He
knew that we would not want a man for a teacher who had
a bad record in the school, and he thought that he would
be sent to the Front if he was not good enough for a teacher.
He was promptly assigned to an unattractive ground job.
r
i
8:
IN THE AIR SERVICE 129
Men who did not obey the rules were not wanted at the
Front
With true American devotion to high ideals, the great
majority of the first-class pilots selected as instructors cheer-
fully gave up the chance of becoming aces themselves in
order to perfect the output of the school and thus to help
increase the total number of American aces at the Front.
In order to prevent our self-sacrificing instructors from
getting stale, a few were allowed to take turns in going to
the Front for a month at a time. This gave them new ideas
and new experiences. When they came back to the school
they had the advantage in every case of having success-
fully brought down one or more Huns. This increased their
prestige with their students and let them feel that they had
had their chance at a little real action. Occasionally, pilots
who had been at the Front for six months or more and who
were tired out were sent back to the school as teachers. Those
who have been in the teaching profession know that a teacher
who is tired is seldom very effective. These pilots were no
exception to the general rule. Two or three of them were
unusually good, but our experience with the majority led
us to believe that the best instructors were not those who
had become unfitted for duty at the Front, but those who had
learned the importance of teaching and were glad to take
advantage of a few weeks at the Front to increase their effi-
ciency in the game for which they were preparing others.
With such a splendid staff as was gradually built up by
following this policy, it was only necessary to show each man
130 AN EXPLORER
that his ideas would be welcomed and to allow him to put
into practice his own theories of teaching in order to de-
velop a very thorough course of study. Since it in no way
rested on the ideas of a non-flying general staff, nor on the
preconceived notions of one or two flying officers, nor on
the arbitrary decision of a small group of outside experts,
it was most flexible and was constantiy undergoing change
and improvement.
The problem of training a pilot who had received his
preliminary work on a slow flying Caudron was much more
difficult than that of one who had been trained on a Curtiss
JN-4 H. No man was kept back by reason of the awkward-
ness of his fellow students. Every pilot was encouraged to go
ahead as fast as possible, or rather as fast as our supply of
the most advanced type of planes permitted. In the begin-
ning of his course, however, it was necessary for the student
to remain assigned to a section until he had completed the
preliminary groundwork of aerial gunnery and motor in-
struction and had passed through the course in Rouleurs on
Field 1.
At some of the French schools the Rouleurs were espe-
pecially built "penguins," which were guaranteed not to fly.
At Issoudun, however, we were accustomed to use what
we could get In this case the best thing available was a
Morane monoplane from which the ailerons had been taken,
and which was equipped with a 40 to 50 H.P. Gnome motor.
Many of the boys who had learned to fly in the States
could not understand why they were put on non-flying
IN THE AIR SERVICE 131
Rouleurs before being sent up in the air. Some of them, in
fact, managed to get by Field 1 without really learning
what the work there had to teach them. Later they had to
be sent back from one of the advanced fields because they
were unable to make proper use of the rudder when taking
off, taxying,or landing. They were finally ready to admit that
the rudders of small fast planes, designed for successful use
in the air when travelling at more than one hundred and
twenty miles an hour, are not large enough when the plane
is going over the ground at only twenty-five to thirty miles
an hour. The pilot must use his rudder very gently in the
air, but very roughly on the ground. If he does not thoroughly
understand handling the small rudder of the fastscout planes,
it will be almost impossible for him to make them roll straight
on the ground. Most of our advanced planes were short-
bodied Nieu ports equipped with rotary motors. As I have
already said in speaking of the troubles of our cadets, the
Nieu ports were extremely fond of making a violent and un-
expected turn on the ground the cheval de bois.
The lower left wing of the Nieuport has a slightly greater
angle of incidence than the corresponding wing on the other
side. This is in order to aid the pilot in overcoming the effect
of the torque of the rotary motor. It causes the left wing to
drag a bit, and this makes it more difficult to roll straight
on the ground. This tendency is still further increased in
landing on a field that is not quite level (and few French
fields were really level). If in landing you happen to light on
one wheel with greater force than on the other, the tendency
132 AN EXPLORER
of the Nieuport to turn abruptly and unexpectedly is very
marked. It will readily be seen that it was very neces-
sary for the student to understand thoroughly the use of a
small rudder when operating on the ground. We found the
cranky, non-flying "clipped" monoplanes very useful for
this purpose.
Students were also encouraged to study the action of the
motor before starting on their first ride, and to keep the ap-
plication of power as steady as possible, since the slip stream
of air from the propeller acting on the rudder is the force
that causes the latter to become effective.
The student's first trip was straight across the field,
towards a soldier who was stationed at the far end, whose
duty it was to help him turn round and to start his motor
in case he stalled it, as frequently happened. The student
was not accompanied by a teacher in his wild ride. It was the
duty of the teacher to watch carefully the cause of any diffi-
culties and observe whether the student was a voiding trouble
by going too slow, or was really learning to make proper
use of the rudder. The second trip was made at a higher
rate of speed, but with the control stick pulled well back
and the tail held firmly on the ground. When the pilot had
succeeded in making a good round trip with the tail skid
helping to keep him straight by plowing through the field,
he was told to get the tail off the ground for a few rods and
then "make a landing."
It was possible to run these "buses "at about forty miles an
hour without having them leave the ground except by leaps
IN THE AIR SERVICE 133
and bounds, but unless one gave a sharp kick on the rud-
der and then instantly brought it back to neutral at the
psychological moment, the tendency to travel in anything
but a straight line was made manifest. When the student
started using the elevators in order to get the tail off the
ground, he generally began to think less about the impor-
tance of instantaneous action on the rudder. Or he forgot
the small size of the field, and this spelled trouble.
I never shall forget my fifth trip across the field, when,
having acquired some confidence in my ability to keep the
pesky thing on a straight line, I overran the limits of the
somewhat restricted area, rolled into a ditch, and turned
upside down. There were a number of rules posted on the
bulletin board at this field, which every one was supposed
to digest before taking his lessons. One was : "Do not over-
shoot the field, as you will only crash and will not learn
anything!" Obviously, students occasionally forgot this
rule.
Another was : "Never raise the tail of a machine unless
told to do so by an instructor, and then only when coming
into the wind never with the wind." This rule was oc-
casionally disregarded by high-ranking pilots from the reg-
ular army who scorned to listen to the instructor, and who,
consequently, caused extensive repairs to be made to the
unfortunate Rouleurs. The students' confidence in their
ability to taxy at a rapid rate was considerably lessened by
the number of accidents not serious, although quite humil-
iating which they saw while awaiting their turn. It was
134 AN EXPLORER
not uncommon for several of these queer looking birds to be
flat on their backs at the same time.
After having satisfied the instructors at Field 1 of their
ability to use the rudder, the students walked over to Field
2, where dual control machines, operated by experienced in-
structors, were ready to give them their first experience in
actual flying in France. On this field we used the 23 -meter
Nieuport That is to say, the total wing surface was 23
square meters. To one accustomed to the Curtiss JN-4, the
very small lower wings and the absence of perpendicular
struts made the ship seem quite fragile.
The 80 H.P. Le Rhone motor used on these machines
had a comparatively short life forty hours being consid-
ered a good average. Once the student learned to handle it,
however, he became very fond of this light and relatively
quiet French engine. Three or four Le Rhones acting to-
gether did not make as much noise as a single Liberty motor;
nor, it should be added, did they produce as much power.
To one accustomed to the American stationary internal
combustion motor, like the Curtiss OX, the operation of the
French throttle required study and practice. The throttle
consists of two levers called "manettes." The motor is fitted
with an external mixing chamber or carburetor, the mixed
gasoline and air being sucked in through the inlet valve.
By opening the small manette, the flow of gas to the jet is
regulated. The large manette is actually the throttle con-
trolling the mixture of gas and air. It was very important
for the student to understand the use of both manettes.
Field 2 : Instructor and Student starting on a lesson
Fields-. Nieiiport 81, 23-meter, 8O H.P. Le Rhone motor
IN THE AIR SERVICE 135
He also had to learn to keep his left hand constantly on them
while flying. It finally became second nature to him to keep
adjusting them so as to make his motor run smoothly. His
reaction to "skipping "or "popping" came to be immediate
and instantaneous.
We tried to teach the operation of the manettes as thor-
oughly as possible before the student went to Field 1. While
there our students got practice in keeping the left hand
always on the throttle to prevent its slipping and thereby
changing the speed of the propeller. American trained stu-
dents, having learned to rely on the Zenith carburetor of the
Curtiss engine, found it difficult to learn that the manettes
needed constant attention. Furthermore, students from the
United States, where the throttle is usually on the right-
hand side and where the importance of using the French
type of switch for the magneto had not been emphasized,
found it useful to familiarize themselves with those pecul-
iarities while still on the exciting Rouleurs. Yet it was diffi-
cult to tell whether the student had really taken it all in until
he began to fly in the dual control machines. As a matter of
fact, many of the students had to be instructed all over
again on a motor located for this purpose back of one of
the hangars on Field 2.
Even the instructors, however, did not always agree as
to the best method of operating the manettes ! In order to
enable their discussions to be thoroughly understood by all
parties, a special set of manettes was fastened to the fire-
place in the attractive club-room which had been con-
136 AN EXPLORER
structed for the use of instructors on this field by Captain
T. C. Knight, the Commanding Officer of Fields 1 and 2,
who was particularly successful in working out the various
problems that arose on these fields.
The length of time which a student had to spend on
Field 2 depended entirely on himself and his ability to learn
rapidly and to demonstrate his efficiency not only to the in-
structor to whom he was assigned, but also to another first-
class pilot known as the tester, who gave him his final
examination. If he failed to satisfy the tester that he had
mastered the intricacies of flying the 23-meter Nieuport,
he was sent back to his instructor for further lessons.
Each instructor was allowed to follow his own ideas to
a very considerable extent, although all were obliged to ride
in the front seat. Some used the telephone and some found
that the students did better when left alone, and when they
were not trying to listen to the telephone and "feel" the
ship at the same time.
The 23 -meter Nieuport is not very stable in the air, and
if the pilot tries to climb too rapidly or fails to nose down
when he develops motor trouble, the plane quickly stalls
and falls sideways, generally going into a spin. If this oc-
curs near the ground, the result is disastrous ; if at an ele-
vation of six or seven hundred meters, it is generally pos-
sible to come out of the spin before reaching the ground.
Since most of our students had received their prelimi-
nary training with a stationary motor, they found it difficult
to understand the gyroscopic action of the rotary motor,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 137
which inclines to pull the nose of the plane down into a
spin if it is not held level on a turn. In flying the JN-4 we
used to be told to nose down on the turns so as to avoid
losing flying speed. This tendency of the Curtiss trained
pilots had to be overcome before it was safe to let them fly
with a rotary motor. American trained pilots were also in-
clined to fly with too little rudder. I remember receiving a
striking lesson from the Chief Instructor at San Diego, who
was sure I used my rudder too much and consequently
made me fly about the field with my feet actually off the
rudder bar, guiding the machine solely by use of the aile-
rons. One cannot do that with the Nieuport 23. It requires
the use of the rudder at all times. Furthermore, the rotary
motor makes the technique of a right-hand turn quite differ-
ent from that of a left-hand turn.
I mention these matters in some detail because many
people found it difficult to understand why, after a pilot
had earned his wings in the United States, it was neces-
sary to give him instruction in a dual control machine in
France. At times considerable pressure was brought to bear
upon us to let the American trained pilots go directly into
the fastest and smallest scout planes without giving them
the instruction just described. We felt that this would be in
some cases inexcusable homicide. On the other hand, some
of the men who were "born pilots" needed less than an
hour's instruction on Fields 1 and 2 before they were able
to go on to Field 3.
After the pilot had satisfied the instructor and the tester
138 AN EXPLORER
that he could take his Nieuport off the ground in the de-
sired direction without having it turn away from the wind,
that he knew how to climb on his first turn, throttle his
motor down so as to secure maximum efficiency in level
flight, make his turns without losing any elevation, avoid
"skidding" (caused by too much rudder and too little bank),
avoid "slipping" (caused by too little rudder and too much
bank), make "three-point landings" with the wheels and
the tail skid hitting at the same moment, and, by the proper
use of his rudder, overcome the tendency of the Nieu-
port to "cheval," he was given a card that admitted him to
Field 3.
At Field 3 he found a 23-meter Nieuport not fitted with
dual controls, but intended for solo flying. The absence of
the instructor in the front seat not only made the machine
lighter and enabled it to leave the ground more quickly
and climb faster, but also had a psychological effect in mak-
ing the pilot realize that he had no one but himself to de-
pend upon. This ship is an excellent machine to use in
carrying single passengers and landing in small fields. It
does not glide far, and therefore does not cause the embar-
rassments that occur when using the DH-4. However, it has
a very considerable tendency to make violent turns while
gaining flying speed and before leaving the ground. Fur-
thermore, it is not easy to keep it rolling smoothly in a straight
line when you land. Nevertheless, after overcoming the ef-
fects of two bad crashes in this cranky little ship, I became
very fond of it personally and used it almost entirely when
IN THE AIR SERVICE 139
inspecting from the air during the last three months of my
stay in France, although I should have preferred an Avro.
The work at Field 3 consisted in making the student as
familiar as possible with the Nieuport 23 and giving him
plenty of confidence. He was required to make a sufficient
number of landings to overcome his dread of unexpected
turns. His air work was carefully watched to make sure
that he was equally good on both left-hand and right-hand
turns. He- was required to make spiral turns of more than
45 to determine whether he was able to use his elevators as
a rudder and his rudders as an elevator when banking over
to that extent
His instruction in cross-country flying depended to a cer-
tain extent on what kind of planes we had. At various times
the 15-meter Nieuport, the 18-meter, and the 23-meter were
used for this purpose, depending on the number of ships in
commission. The course was designed to familiarize the
pilot with the difference between flying over France and flying
over the United States. Most of our fields in America were so
located that any one with average intelligence could find his
way back to the field without the use of a map or, if required
to use a map, would be left in no doubt whatever as to his
whereabouts. In France, however, with its large number of
small towns and villages that looked very much alike from the
air, its great number of straight, white roads leading in
every direction, its crazy-quilt design of small cultivated
fields, bewildering in their similarity and complexity, the
chance of getting lost in the air even while using one of the
140 AN EXPLORER
excellent French maps was very considerable. The shape
of the forested areas was the most important thing to learn.
Our pilots were fond of telling the story of a champion cross-
country flyer from the United States who had never had
any difficulty with map reading and who scoffed at the idea
that it was necessary for him to learn anything additional
in this subject at Issoudun, getting totally lost on his first
cross-country flight. He flew until obliged to land because
he was out of gas. He finally had to telephone from some
distant point to have somebody come and rescue him. In
the United States he had flown by roads and large rivers.
In France there were too many of the first and too few of
the second.
In addition to this cross-country work at Field 3,students
were given an hour or so with an acrobacy instructor in one
of our few Avros. The student was put into all sorts of
strange positions in the air to test his air sense, to give him
confidence in the ability of a plane to right itself when cer-
tain definite rules were followed, and to determine whether
there was anything radically wrong with his power to over-
come dizziness and keep his head level under trying circum-
stances. If the instructor found a pilot deficient at this point,
he was sent over to the hospital to consult the Medical
Research Board. Advanced physical tests sometimes showed
that the pilot was not fully competent and should never
have been passed for training as an aviator.
While undergoing their instruction in motors and in the
work on Fields 1, 2, and 3, the pilots lived in the Main Bar-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 141
racks, near the Guard House. After graduating successfully
from Field 3, they were sent over to Field 9, several miles
to the westward, for further instruction. This field, under
the careful oversight of Lieutenant Molthan and Captain
Oliver, was equipped with 18-meter Nieuports, that is, the
wings measured 18 square meters in area. In 1915 and 1916
this machine had been very popular at the Front It was
faster than the 23-meter, but was less able to glide slowly
and therefore had to be landed at a higher speed and required
more skilful handling. The general appearance was similar,
although the upper wings were smaller. The struts of the
23-meter have an outward slope, while those of the 18-meter
are vertical. While the 23-meter was far more delicate to
handle than the JN-4 or the Caudron, the 18-meter was
still more so. The motor was the same as that used in the
23 -meter.
Since these ships were not adapted to taking up passen-
gers, all instruction had to be given from the ground. It in-
cluded lectures, partly in the nature of repetition in regard
to the use of the rotary motor, partly in regard to field re-
quirements and traffic signals, and as to the necessity of keep-
ing in good physical condition. The work on the flying field
was divided into three parts: a landing class in which the
student received opportunity to make from ten to thirty land-
ings; a spiral class in which he made all kinds of turns, in-
cluding what are known as "tight spirals" where the wings
are practically at an angle of 90 for part of the turn, and an
air work class. The instructors watched the students through
142 AN EXPLORER
field-glasses, and later explained to them the nature of their
mistakes. If it was found that a student did not readily ac-
custom himself to the more delicate and speedier type of
ship, he was advised to go in for reconnaissance or bombing
piloting rather than to continue the course in pursuit and
combat flying.
Just as certain athletes are more skilful as acrobats and
gymnasts than others, so some pilots seem to be better
adapted for the more spectacular though no more useful
work of pursuit and combat. Due to its exciting character,
we found great difficulty in persuading young pilots to aban-
don their ambitions and learn to be good reconnaissance
pilots. It requires great skill, unusual courage, and plenty
of gray matter to make a good reconnaissance pilot, but it
is not necessary that one should be a first-class acrobat. It
makes less of an appeal to the average boy.
As a result of the air work and spiral class on Field 9,
the men who showed less ability in rapid and delicate ma-
noeuvre as acrobats were taken out and sent over to Field
10, which was equipped with DH-4 planes and where a
special course was arranged to train pilots for observation
squadrons. Those pilots who satisfied their instructor of their
ability as acrobats, however, passed from Field 9 to Fields 4,
5, and 6, and took up their lodgings at Field 5.
SPIRAL
.4 **
Coming >4 of ltr*l
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fl 2
CHAPTER XIII
ADVANCED TRAINING FOR PURSUIT PILOTS
IT is not my intention in this chapter to furnish a manual
whereby a pilot can learn to do stunts or become a good
military aviator. On the contrary, since the science of avia-
tion is so very new and the art of flying has been practised
for so few years and aerial tactics are scarcely more than
a few months old, the object of setting down these details
is historical rather than practical. Many of the pilots that
went through the course will probably find that at the time
they went through things were not exactly as set down here.
I have tried to portray the system as it was at the time the
Armistice was signed. A few years from now, many of these
manoeuvres and formations will undoubtedly seem very
crude and extraordinary. The pilots who are born this year
will look upon us, who strove to the best of our ability to
give the most advanced course of flying in the world, as
foolish old idiots. At the same time, some of them may be
glad to see how we did it, and their fathers may be glad to
be reminded of how it was done in November, 1918.
Fields 4, 5, and 6 were under the very competent direc-
tion of Captain St. Clair Street, a most conscientious and
successful commander. These fields were equipped with the
15-meter Nieuport, using the same motor as the 18-meter
and the 23-meter. While not quite as small as the Baby
Nieuport, it was the smallest practical avion that the Nieu-
port Company produced, and it was probably the most dif-
ficult plane to land. It was used extensively at the Front
144 AN EXPLORER
in 1916, but proved to be almost too delicate. Consequently,
we believed that when a student had mastered this plane,
he could feel confident of his ability to master readily any
other type that might be assigned to him at the Front or
anywhere else.
On Field 5 instruction was given in taxying, taking off,
and landing. Due to its small wing spread and short body,
the 15-meter Nieuport lands very fast and is difficult to
handle on the ground. The landing class always offered a
good deal of excitement to the spectator and caused much
trepidation in the hearts of newly arrived pilots. It was a
long cry from a JN-4 to a 15-meter Nieuport. With a JN-4,
to level off too far from the ground meant usually a disagree-
able pancake and something of a shock; to level off a 15-
meter Nieuport too far from the ground meant a crashed
plane and a chance of serious physical injury. Field 5 was
also used to give the students experience in landing near a
designated mark and plenty of facility in getting familiar
with straight flying on this delicate little plane.
While living at Field 5 the pilots did spirals and acro-
bacy on Fields 4 and 6, where, it was necessary for them
to perfect their ability to make both right- and left-hand
turns, to learn to locate other planes in the air during flight
and report the number of planes that they had seen, to exe-
cute the dreaded tail spin and learn how to come out of it
safely, to make tight spirals, half rolls, and side-slips in
a word, to show their nerve, willingness, and ability to do
exactly as told and to follow instructions without fail.
VRILIE OR SPIN
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ick pulled.
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Rudder neutral
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3 1 3
speed .
S -Slick pulled back \o
normal gliding posnion.
No I
IN THE AIR SERVICE 145
In the air work class on Field 4 the student was instructed
how to make spiral turns at a bank of approximately 65.
He was expected to make continuous figure 8's at an eleva-
tion of one thousand meters or more. The object of this was
to familiarize him with the new ship and enable him to make
his turns correctly. In the right-hand turn the torque of the
rotary motor has a tendency to pull the nose down, while in
the left-hand turn this tendency is reversed. Consequently,
he was instructed to use very little rudder in making a right
turn but to go into the turn by banking the plane over slowly.
When the desired amount of bank is reached, the stick is
pushed back sufficiently to keep the plane from side-slip-
ping, while the rudder is used to hold the nose up. With
the left turn, on the contrary, the rudder is used to keep the
nose down. Great care had to be used to do smooth figure
8's with this type of plane without getting into a vrilleor spin.
One of the most important things that a pilot had to learn
was how to get out of a spin. In order that he might have suf-
ficient experience in doing this, and to make it safe for him
to run the risks of getting into a spin while executing some
other manoeuvre, it was necessary to teach him first how to
get into a spin at will. Instruction as to how to use the con-
trols so as to secure these results was given by an instructor
in an airplane on the ground. The student was then expected
to go through the same performance smoothly and accu-
rately until he had satisfied the instructor that he thoroughly
understood exactly what action of the controls would produce
with speed and certainty a spin and what action would bring
146 AN EXPLORER
him out again. He was then told to take his plane up to an al-
titude of nearly five thousand feet before beginning anything.
The spin or vrille was executed by throttling down the
motor, holding up the nose of the plane until its flying speed
was almost lost, then kicking the right rudder violently over
and pulling the stick sharply back and to the right. This
caused the plane to fall immediately into a vrille or "spinning
nose dive." In order to come out of the spin, the rudder is at
first placed exactly in neutral, then the stick is brought into
the neutral position and pushed slowly forward. This causes
the plane to stop spinning and start a straight nose dive. After
flying speed has been attained by the nose dive, the plane
is gradually pulled up to a level flying position and the
throttle opened.
The chief danger is that the student in his excitement
will over-control and send the plane into a reverse spin or
else will push the stick too far forward and turn a somer-
sault, coming out of the spin on his back. Consequently, it
was very important to see that the student went up high
enough so that he had plenty of room to come out of any
queer positions into which he might get before falling too
close to the ground.
Personally, I should have been extremely glad to have
been able to avoid the risks due to the necessity for teach-
ing pilots aerial acrobacy in single seater machines, by using
more Avros and perfecting the student's acrobacy in that
extremely manoeuvreable dual control machine, but we had
to use the planes that we could buy in France. Shortly after
VERTICAL VIRAGE
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from *V>ov .
'"
CooJ'n^ ou
of tank
IN THE AIR SERVICE 147
the Armistice was signed, we began receiving from England
Avros we ought to have had months before. In order to al-
low for a greatly enlarged programme, an excellent field was
prepared and named Field 12, and "was devoted entirely to
Avro work under the direction of Lieutenant Raymond A.
Watkins. The system known as the Gosport System, de-
veloped by Colonel Smith Barry and based on sound flying
principles, was to have been used on this field in the work of
transforming pilots from the training they had received on
JN-4's, Caudrons, and Farnams. Unfortunately, due to our
inability to secure enough Avros and our determination to
use to the limit every plane we could secure from the Supply
Department in Paris, we were unable to take advantage of
our belief in the effectiveness of the Gosport System.
We all without exception would have preferred to have
Avros for the larger part of our training. In this matter we
were in entire agreement with the opinion of Colonel (later
Brigadier-General) Lee, of theR. F. G, who told us in Wash-
ington in December, 1917, that the Avro was the best train-
ing plane that Great Britain had developed during the war.
To show us what it w r as like, he had one sent over from
England and gave frequent flights in Washington that
winter. Yet some of our more experienced pilots were loth to
admit the necessity of adopting a British training plane, and
we never secured the full advantage of this information so
generously given us by the British Aviation Liaison Officer.
In the class in spirals on Field 4, students were sent to
an altitude of about four thousand feet and required to make
148 AN EXPLORER
four good tight spirals to the left and one to the right with
a dead motor and land inside of a circle seventy-five yards
in diameter. The spirals were supposed to be completed at
an elevation of about two thousand feet, and pilots were
instructed to S down into the field from that altitude. To
execute this manoeuvre properly, the engine is throttled
down and a normal glide assumed, then the plane is slowly
banked over to an angle of about 70. After passing the
45 point the controls become reversed, the stick, acting
on the elevators which now become rudders, is pulled back
until it is tight against the seat. The rudder is used as an ele-
vator to hold the nose of the plane at such an angle as will
insure sufficient speed without stalling and on the other hand
without descending too fast. When S-ing into the field
after completing the spirals, it was necessary to use a fast
glide in order not to stall the plane on the sharp turns.
After satisfying the instructor of his ability to do tight
spirals, the pilot was next taught to do vertical banks or
virages, beginning at an elevation of about five thousand
feet. The movements of the controls in this manoeuvre are
the same as those in tight spirals, except that the plane is
banked over to 90 and the speed is increased to a point
where dizziness is brought on very rapidly.
After this the pilot learned the renversement, the quick-
est method of doing an aerial "about-face." This manoeuvre
is performed by first pulling smartly on the stick and then
turning the plane over on its back with a sharp, quick kick
on the right rudder, at the same time throttling the motor.
IEWERJEMERT
n man
Ho 4.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 149
Just as the plane comes over on its back, the rudder is kicked
sharply back into a neutral position and the stick pulled
back into the seat, which causes the plane to come out into
a normal glide.
The course of instruction at Field 5 was completed by
learning what are known as "wing slips." When once in a
wing slip, the plane falls very rapidly sideways and is con-
trolled by a slight pressure on the stick and rudder. To get
it into the wing slip, our pilots were taught to bank the
plane over slowly, reducing the motor gradually and putting
on reverse rudder so as to prevent the plane from diving,
and at the same time pushing the stick slightly forward in
order to overcome any tendency to spiral. To come out of
the wing slip, it is necessary to push the rudder down so
as to cause the plane to dive, and pull in the stick as though
coming out of a spiral.
To follow all these instructions in detail in the small
single seater Nieuport when they knew that some of their
friends had already been killed in attempting to execute
these manoeuvres, involved an amount of courage that is
not understood by the average soldier on the ground. At
the same time it was absolutely necessary for the flyer who
wished to become a good pursuit pilot to do exactly as he
was told and carry out his instructions to the letter.
The pilot who was able to master these various evolu-
tions, quickly and safely, had nothing to fear from the
air. The pilot who could not do it, but who had kept his
inability from the knowledge of his previous instructors,
150 AN EXPLORER
was likely to meet with very serious and often fatal conse-
quences. It was better for the Service that these fatal con-
sequences should not happen in the course of combat at
the Front ; but it was very hard on the morale of the stu-
dents that these fatalities overtook their friends on the flying
field. One of the instructors in acrobacy a remarkable
pilot and the most painstaking and successful of teachers
told me it had been his painful duty to help remove eight
bodies out of crashed planes on the acrobacy field alone.
With the perfection of modern methods of physical
examination for aviators, it ought to be possible to prevent
most accidents of this kind by taking poor pilots off the
flying list before they reach this point. In many cases, how-
ever, the young pilot is too proud to admit that he is not
physically fit to do this type of aerial acrobacy, and labors
under a mistaken idea that by sheer will power he can pro-
vide what is lacking.
A considerable amount of weeding out occurred at Field
5, and every effort was made to prevent students from con-
tinuing in their combat training if they gave evidence of
physical or mental inability to meet its requirements. Those
who passed successfully went on to Field 7, which was fur-
nished with the same type of plane equipped with larger
and more powerful engines. Here the 1 20 H.P. Le Rhone
took the place of the 80 H.P. This field, under the able
direction of Captain (later Major) R. S. Davis, was one of
our very best fields. It was the only field that succeeded in
developing a band of its own a band, by the way, that
WHIG SLIP
IN THE AIR SERVICE 151
made excellent music, and greatly helped the men at Field
7 to be keen about their own organization. Both Fields 5
and 7 maintained very high morale among their officers and
enlisted men. They took excellent care of their students,
and endeavored to keep up their interest as they went
along. When the weather prevented regular flying hours,
every effort was made to encourage indoor baseball, hand-
ball, and boxing.
In addition to becoming familiar with a more power-
ful motor, the principal instruction at Field 7 consisted of
practice in formation flying and the tactics of patrols, both
offensive and defensive. Beginning with the simplest kind
of formations, the pilot was gradually made familiar with the
latest forms of aerial tactics as fast as they were brought
back from the Front We were helped by aviators who had
engaged in actual combat with the enemy, and who had
learned all that both friends and foes had to teach, in those
famous battles in the air that formed the most spectacular
part of the modern battlefield.
It was early borne in upon us that the aviator who was
a grandstand player did not last long against an enemy for-
mation. The successful pursuit pilot must curb his individ-
ual daring and his love of taking a sporting chance. Team
play, cooperation, and the weight of numbers were all essen-
tial. As the war went on, fighting in the air became more and
more a matter of maintaining successful formations intact
under all circumstances. It will thus be seen that formation
flying was one of our most important subjects and one that
152 AN EXPLORER
required skilful teaching and the closest application of all
students.
It generally took about half an hour for the pilot to accus-
tom himself to the new plane. Then he was given four hours'
work in a small group of three or four to become familiar
with the requirements of keeping his place in formation
under all sorts of conditions. Then four hours in flying in
a larger group, followed by four hours of work involving
offensive and defensive tactics, and two hours of patrol at
an altitude of about 15,000 feet
There are several methods used in forming a patrol.
Where there is a very large field, the patrol can be formed
on the ground and the take off can be made in the desired
formation. At the Front, however, many of the airdromes
were small, and few of them large enough or good enough
to make this feasible. Consequently, the desired formation
was usually achieved in the air by one of two or three
methods. The method generally followed at Field 7 was for
the leader, before taking off, to acquaint each member of his
formation with the following facts : the place over which
planes would rendezvous ; the altitude at which the patrol
would form, generally about 1500 feet or high enough to
prevent serious accidents, but not so high as to waste time
or make it difficult for members of the patrol to find one
another ; the general direction which the leader would take
after the formation was made ; the probable route which he
intended to follow ; the way in which his plane was marked,
usually by a streamer placed on right or left wing, depend-
T
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n
a
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n
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IN THE AIR SERVICE 153
ing upon whether the pilots were to use right or left turns
while forming the patrol. Patrols were formed as nearly over
the hangars of Field 7 as possible, in order that the in-
structors might the more readily note which pilots failed
to get into formation quickly and observe the cause of their
mistakes.
After each pilot of the patrol had received his instructions,
he took off as soon as possible without delaying or interfering
with the others, got his altitude, and proceeded to the des-
ignated rendezvous. As soon as he arrived at this place,
always maintaining the proper altitude, he began to make
circles in the specified direction. The leader was instructed
to wait for all of the patrol to form before starting out As
soon as he saw that all were there, he gave the signal of
"attention" by rocking his plane from side to side.
In directing the manoeuvres of aerial patrols in the future,
we may expect that the use of the wireless telephone will
materially change many of the tactics which were common
at Issoudun in November, 1918. At the same time it is well
to remember that the enemy by powerful counter wireless
can render the successful operation of such means of com-
munication extremely difficult and perhaps impossible.
The leader was instructed to keep a straight course until
the formation was in good order behind him, to make it as
comfortable as possible for all the members of the forma-
tion, and to govern his own speed by that of the slowest
plane in the patrol. Our pilots frequently had trouble in
learning to join their formations without taking too much
154 AN EXPLORER
time and without getting lost. The most common fault was
making the turns too wide. The pilots who arrived at the
rendezvous first would grow tired of waiting, and would
tend to form wider and wider circles over a large area,
which made it difficult for the leader to get them together
quickly. Another trouble was the tendency to keep climbing
unconsciously to a higher elevation than that designated as
the level of the first formation. Equipped with a more power-
ful motor than he had used before, and engaged in trying
to see which of the hundred or more planes which might
be in the air at that time belonged to his formation, it was
very easy for the inexperienced pilot to keep climbing unless
he frequently referred to his barometer.
Another difficulty was that of forming in a strong breeze,
when the planes tend to make elongated curves unless the
pilots take particular pains to make sharp turns when flying
with the wind. In the face of these and kindred difficulties
the best pilots soon came to the fore. As for the others it
was often necessary to signal to the leader from the ground
to start his patrol without waiting for those who were "lost,
strayed, or stolen."
Pilots in formations for instructional purposes were num-
bered as follows:
Leader No. 1,
First pilot on the left, No. 2, 1
First pilot on the right, No. 3, 23
Second on the left, No. 4, 45
and so on.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 155
In general, No. 2 was instructed to fly 50 meters above and
behind No. 1, and at an angle of 45 to his left ; No. 3 the
same distance above and behind No. 1 and at an angle of
45 to his right ; No. 4 and No. 5 took positions relatively
similar to tne left and right respectively of No. 2 and No. 3.
Thus each member of the formation was 50 meters behind
and above the pilot immediately in front of him and at
a constant angle of 45 from him, no matter how many
planes comprised the patrol. If at any time during the patrol
the leader was obliged to drop out, No. 3 took his place.
The last man on the left was the "rescue man." It was
his duty to watch any machine that fell out of formation and
follow it down, but he did not land except in case of emer-
gency. If everything was found to be satisfactory and the
pilot whom he had followed down did not need assistance,
the rescue man was instructed to ascend again and rejoin
the formation, which he was supposed to find circling over-
head. If the pilot whom he had followed had crashed and
appeared to need assistance, it was the duty of the rescue
man to land and render all possible aid. On observing this,
the remainder of the formation was instructed to return to
Field 7 and report.
The course in formation flying was graded. At first, in
making simple turns, the leader was directed to give no
signal, but to start gradually, at the same time speeding up
his engine in order to assist pilots on the inside of the turn
to execute the manoeuvre without stalling or losing flying
speed. Pilots on the inside were told to throttle down as fast
156 AN EXPLORER
as possible and cut in slightly toward the leader in order to
avoid being obliged to make too sharp a turn. They had to
be careful not to approach too close to the arc described by
the leader in order to avoid getting into the wash of his pro-
peller. Pilots on the outside of the turn had to speed up their
engines in order to negotiate the turn as fast as possible and
at the same time maintain their positions. When the leader
desired to change the altitude at which the patrol was fly-
ing, he did so slowly and deliberately, particularly in the
early part of the training. He tried to avoid any tendency to
run away from his formation. He had to keep track of the
members of the patrol, and if necessary slacken speed in
order to permit stragglers to catch up.
After our students had advanced far enough to be ad-
judged competent to gauge distances and to fly simple for-
mations correctly with easy turns, they next undertook to
learn various offensive manoeuvres in which they were
obliged to execute sharp turns, at the same time always re-
taining their position in the formation in order to keep the
patrol well knit together as a unit ready for offence or defence.
In making these fast, sharp turns, all pilots were instructed
to keep their position even though those on the inside were
obliged to slow down almost to the point of stalling. Until the
pilot could fly by instinct he was very likely to stall and fall
into a spin while attempting to make the sharp inside turns
of the advanced patrol manoeuvres. Here, however, the con-
fidence which he had obtained in passing through the ad-
vanced work in acrobatic flying at Field 5 came to his as-
1
I
1
*i *9
T T
* f
IN THE AIR SERVICE 157
sistance and gave him that assurance which was necessary
in order to have him learn aerial tactics.
The "cross-over" or 90 turn was considered advanta-
geous for small patrols of three machines. In this manoeuvre
each plane turns individually in its own place ; the inside pilot
climbing on the turn and the outside pilot diving slowly to
avoid danger of collision. Machines No. 2 and No. 3 cross so
that each has approximately the same distance to cover.
Instead of one getting ahead of the other, the formation re-
mains the same. It has the advantage of enabling a right turn
to be made quickly and at uniform speed.
Later on, in order to teach the pilots to fly in formation,
automatically, without having to devote conscious attention
to the coordination of eye and hand, the patrol leaders were
sent out with particular orders to execute steep and unex-
pected dives and climbs, violent change of speed, and "archie
dodging."
The Taylor stunt or right-about-face necessitated pre-
arranged signals. The leader did a renversement or half roll
while the other members of the formation did sharp right
or left turns depending on their respective places. This ma-
noeuvre was considered excellent practice in getting together
rapidly and without loss of altitude.
The importance of constantly increasing the size of the
unit was recognized and patrols of fifteen or more planes
were occasionally attempted. It is well known that group
flights of this nature were extensively used by the enemy
during the summer of 1918. So thoroughly did the Ger-
158 AN EXPLORER
mans appreciate the value of preponderance of numbers
in aerial righting that they built more hangars than were
actually necessary for the number of planes in commission
at a given time. This enabled them to concentrate a large
number of machines at a given point within a very few
hours and without the necessity of waiting for the removal
of hangars and machine shops. A large group of hangars
empty yesterday, occupied to-day, could thus serve as a
base for very large formations early to-morrow morning.
Our large groups generally consisted of an agglomera-
tion of units of five planes each, the different units formed
in different locations at slightly different altitudes ; the lead-
ing unit forming at the lowest altitude and the unit which
was to be the last in the group formation at the highest al-
titude. The disadvantage of attempting the use of very large
groups is the possibility of one poor pilot being able through
his eccentric flying to break up the entire formation. This
only emphasizes the great need for careful and thorough
instruction and the futility of trying to rush pilots to the
Front without their having acquired complete mastery of
the art A man can be taught to fly in a few days of good
weather, but it is a matter of months before he becomes
sufficiently skilful in the art to make certain that he will
not break up a large group formation by erratic flying, poor
judgment, or getting rattled through having to give his
attention to too many things at once.
A defensive manoeuvre called the "Lufberry Show" was
named for a very brilliant ace from Wallingford, Con-
X
/ /
i
IN THE AIR SERVICE 159
necticut, who was killed at the Front. The formation when
attacked instinctively formed itself into a milling circle,
milling round and round so that each plane protected the rear
of the plane in front and was itself protected by the plane
behind. In order to form this circle, the last plane on the
designated side speeds up, flies opposite the leader, and starts
the circle, followed by the next to the last plane on that side
until the leader is reached, when he is followed in natural
order by the planes on the other side of the formation. As
soon as the circle has been completed, the leader again as-
sumes direction of the formation, sets the pace, narrows or
widens the circle, gains or loses altitude in accordance with
his judgment, and finally breaks the circle and gives the
signal for reassembling.
The importance of this milling circle was dwelt upon
with great emphasis by pilots who returned from the Front
shortly before the Armistice was signed. It seemed to be the
most effective way in which a small formation could escape
successfully from the attack of a larger group. The chief dan-
ger lay in the possible adverse action of the wind, which
might take one deeper and deeper into enemy territory
while one was milling around, unless the leader took pains
to elongate his curves toward home.
Leaders of formations were held responsible for having
the formation fly at the designated altitude, and for observ-
ing ground signals, reporting the number of planes seen in
the air, the towns over which they had taken their patrols,
and the fact that at the end of two hours in the air the patrol
160 AN EXPLORER
was reasonably near Field 7 and not so far away as to be
obliged to make forced landings through lack of gas and oil.
The members of each formation were also questioned as
to what they had seen happening on the ground, as well as
concerning planes which they had passed in the air. A pilot
can hardly get too much practice in formation flying, since
it forces him to fly by the feel of his plane rather than by
watching his instruments and observing the action of the
nose of his plane as compared with the horizon.
Captain Davis and his staff of instructors at this field,
owing to their conscientious effort to perfect their students
in the intricacies of securing the proper formation in the
air, executing manoeuvres with precision, maintaining their
places in the formation, and learning to judge distances ac-
curately, produced excellent results.
An interesting device for teaching pilots to judge distance
correctly was a dummy ship staked out on the ground be-
yond the line of hangars. Students were obliged to indicate
required distances from this ship at various angles until
they had acquired the ability to place themselves at exactly
the specified angle and distance from the key ship.
It was learned at the Front that one of the chief factors
of success in aerial fighting is the character and ability of
the leader of the patrol. Unusually good eyesight, quick
judgment based on experience and prudence, ability to
think quickly and correctly in the face of great emergency,
coolness and courage in time of danger, and finally, a high
degree of skill in carrying out his manoeuvres so as to facil-
I
I
IN THE AIR SERVICE 161
itate the correct functioning of the patrol such are the
qualities which make a great flight commander.
In the early days of the war we heard a great deal about
individual combats in the air. Fonck, the great French ace,
is said to have won most of his victories by sudden and
unexpected attack alone on a solitary adversary, whom he
had been able with his extraordinary vision to spot from
afar and whom he had stalked as the Indian stalks the deer.
The Indian must get to leeward of his quarry in order that
its keen sense of smell may not enable it to detect his pres-
ence. The falconlike Fonck must get between his adver-
sary and the sun in order that his quarry may be unable
to see him and so escape from that terrible diving attack in
which the pursuer, travelling at a rate of two hundred miles
or more an hour, is upon him before he is even aware of his
presence in the sky. This kind of aerial fighting has always
appealed to newspaper readers and to pilots, but it has
proved to be very expensive. Fonck is one of the few who
survived this plan of aerial warfare, and it is said he was
never outnumbered in a combat.
The average pilot, however, must owe his safety and his
efficiency as a fighter to his ability to form a perfectly work-
ing cog in the machine of the patrol. It was said that our
pilots who passed successfully at Field 7 wasted less time
at the Front in acquiring the ability to fit into squadron
manoeuvres and in learning new tactics than the pilots of
any other army.
After completing the work in formation flying at Field 7,
162 AN EXPLORER
students were sent to Field 8 to learn aerial combat. We
were extremely fortunate in having at this field several
of the very best combat pilots in existence. During the sum-
mer of 1918, Captain Robert Austin, the leading combat
instructor, repeatedly demonstrated his ability to out-ma-
noeuvre the best British and French aces that we could
induce to visit the school. His flying was without flaw. He
did not take such risks as did the British aces, and never
went in for stunts near the ground or any unnecessary per-
formances, but when combating against an opponent he
showed an uncanny ability to out-guess the other's next
manoeuvre and to keep his enemy always at his mercy.
The wonderful record that our graduates made at the
Front and their success in sending down far more enemy
planes than they themselves lost, was due in part to their
thorough training in formation fly ing, but in very great mea-
sure to the confidence which came from having engaged
in combat against Captain Austin and the members of his
staff
It was on Field 8 that a pilot had an opportunity to use
every bit of the flying ability which he had acquired in all
his previous experience. Some of the American trained pi-
lots, who had flown too long on the old type of preliminary
training planes, found it difficult to accustom themselves to
the rapidity of manoeuvre demanded by the instructors at
this field. While it was necessary that the pilot should have a
good foundation in ordinary flying before coming here and
should beabletodo aerial acrobacy with skill and confidence,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 163
it was also essential that he should not have acquired any bad
habits. The good combat pilot must be able to fly in any di-
rection and in any attitude with supreme confidence in his
machine and in his ability to put it in any desired position.
He must be extremely alert. He must have formed the habit
of seeing every visible plane in the sky and of knowing by
instinct its approximate location at any given moment. It
was said that the remarkably long life of Fonck at the Front
was due to his constant inspection of every sector of the air.
Probably seventy -five per cent of the pilots shot down at the
Front were the victims of surprise attacks, and had no idea
that there was an enemy in the immediate vicinity until he
was so close that it was impossible to escape.
It was here on Field 8 that the aggressive spirit of a
good polo player or of a first-class football player placed
him in the front ranks of the combat pilots. The sluggish
flyer is likely to leave himself open to attack by an aggres-
sive pilot. The active, energetic, aggressive fighter is not only
more likely to gain the advantage of offensive tactics, but
will also be more likely to spot his enemy first and gain the
benefit of position. The American boy is particularly good in
games requiring quick judgment and correct action. This
trait made him excellent in meeting the rapidly changing
conditions of aerial combat. There were no hard and fast rules
that could be laid down as to how to win out in a "dog fight,"
as the rough and tumble aerial combats were called. "If a
Hun gets on your tail and you see the tracers coming close,
you will most likely do some acrobatics that you never have
164 AN EXPLORER
done before." "In this work a steady hand, a cool head, and
an all-seeing eye are the essential features of safety. Add
to them ability to fly and skill in using the machine gun,
and your results spell success." So we were told by pilots
from the Front.
All the planes used on Field 8 were equipped with cam-
era guns built like a machine gun, but shooting pictures
instead of bullets. The pictures register the position of the
enemy at the moment that the trigger is pulled. In this way
it is possible for the instructor and the student to see what
would have happened in actual combat. Examination of
these pictures illustrates the tendency of one pilot to shoot
when still at too great a distance for effective work, of an-
other pilot to overshoot the mark, and of a third to fail to
make sufficient allowance for the speed of the opposing
machine.
In actual aerial gun fire, from six t6 ten bullets are fired
in every burst or volley. This burst will have a spread of
about thirty feet If the gun is properly directed, the enemy
plane will pass through this thirty-foot fan with a good
chance of being hit in some vital spot. The camera gun takes
but one picture for a burst, but that picture shows just what
portions of the enemy plane would have come under gun
fire, since it shows the direction in which the planewas flying
and the distance of the plane at the time the shot was fired.
Any one who has ever done any target practice knows
the importance of being able to learn the exact results as
soon as possible after firing. When the student arrives at
IN THE AIR SERVICE 165
the stage where it is advisable for him to use an actual
machine gun, he can aim at a target on a lake or on sand.
In either case he is able to see at once, by the splash of the
water or the little clouds of dust, exactly where his shots
are hitting. The main drawback is that he is not firing at
a rapidly moving airplane, but at targets which under the
most favorable conditions are only able to move in an area
of two dimensions instead of three. With the camera gun,
on the other hand, the aviator can fire at an airplane which
is going through all the gyrations of aerial combat. He then
can descend, have his pictures immediately developed, and
see the results of his judgment and skill. Failure to allow
for deflection, forgetfulness of the fact that both gun-plat-
form and target are in rapid motion, over-confidence, or the
reverse, are plainly shown in the permanent record of the
pictures. Good shots were just as plainly recorded and
more likely to be preserved than the others !
The first work at Field 8 was to train a pilot in the use
of sights on his gun. Small parachutes were used. These
were released at about ten thousand feet, care being taken
to see that they were not dropped over territory where other
machines were flying in large numbers. The greatest dan-
ger from a parachute is that it will get tangled up in the tail
of the plane. Consequently, the best method is to release it
when making a tight spiral or a skid with the motor off. In
either case the draught, being athwart the ship, will carry
the parachute away from the tail.
Shooting at the parachute was considered the best way of
166 AN EXPLORER
beginning, because it involved less danger than shooting at
another plane. When two pilots worked together, one acted
as a target for the first half of the period and the other for
the second half. The quarry was ordered to fly steadily in a
given direction while the other pilot practised shooting at
him from directly behind, from the sides, above and below,
so as to secure practice at all angles and be obliged to make
widely different allowances for direction and speed. It was
advised that the attacker dive at his target many times,
taking pictures only when sure of his results. Furthermore,
pilots were encouraged to use the full allowance of their time,
even though something happened to their target.
It was related of Lieutenant Luke, whose short life at the
Front was full of an extraordinary number of victories over
the Hun, that he never came in unless he had to, and that
he was constantly borrowing some one else's plane so
greatly did he appreciate the truth that practice makes per-
fect. It was said that his death was due to his fondness for
fighting alone and his dislike of formation flying. His record
is more fully given elsewhere.
Practice in avoiding surprise attack was taught as fol-
lows: A pilot was sent outtopatrol the road between two towns.
His orders were to patrol his designated territory until he
saw his adversary and then to engage in combat. Naturally,
it was the object of the attacker to employ all the rules for
successful attack, namely, to make use of the sun, mist, and
clouds so as to approach without being seen and to keep
between his quarry and the sun when delivering the final
IN THE AIR SERVICE 167
shot. His object was to be directly in the area in which the
quarry would have the greatest difficulty of seeing anything.
As soon as sufficient practice had been obtained in single
patrols, groups were designated to patrol between given
points and other groups were told off to attack them. The
instructions were that members of the patrol should fly well
apart, avoiding close formations, and that each member of
the formation should S to and fro so as to have a clear
vision of the entire sky. The first member of the patrol to
sight the opposing group was directed to leave his place in
the formation and signal to the leader. When the attack
was made, each member of the patrol was directed to pick
out an adversary and combat with him, taking care to avoid
collision with other planes. After making one shot with his
camera gun, each pilot was directed to attempt to withdraw
as fast as possible to one of the boundaries of the patrolled
area. The pursuing pilot was directed to cease pursuit as
soon as his adversary had reached this rendezvous. The
escaping pilot was then directed to circle at an agreed alti-
tude and wait for the other members of his group. On their
arrival they formed again and continued as before.
It was expected that in this course at Field 8 a pilot
should learn to sit tight in his plane in such a manner as to
be able to use his gun sights without moving about in his
seat; to use his sights quickly and accurately, as instinc-
tively as a trapshooter firing at clay pigeons; to handle his
plane intuitively in all manoeuvres and be able to bring it out
of any given evolution in the desired position with relation
168 AN EXPLORER
to his opponent ; to keep his eye constantly on the enemy
and fly by the " feel " of his ship ; to make successful ag-
gressive attacks under various conditions; to manoeuvre
out of a difficult position and turn the tables on his oppo-
nent ; to acquire a falconlike ability to see everything in the
sky above and below ; and to spot his quarry from afar.
The pilot who was able to satisfy Captain Austin of his
ability to do these things had no reason to fear that he would
be out-manoeuvred by any Hun whom he was likely to
meet. Of course, if through carelessness or misfortune he
became separated from his formation and was attacked by
superior numbers, his ability to engage in successful combat
was of small importance compared with the speed of his
ship in getting home.
At the time the Armistice was signed, Captain (later
Major) Harry L. Wingate, who was in charge of the field,
was extraordinarily successful in overcoming the difficulties
of keeping in commission a large number of the mono-
planes and other types of small scout machines which were
in use at this field, and which received very severe handling
in the course of aerial combat work. Constant inspection of
machines after they had come in from flight, a high morale
among the enlisted mechanics, and a splendid determina-
tion to overcome every obstacle at no matter what cost, en-
abled Captain Wingate to graduate from fifteen to twenty
men every flying day at his field. Considering the type of
planes that he had to work with and the severity of their
use, this was a remarkable achievement
IN THE AIR SERVICE 169
While still living at Field 8, the student received instruc-
tion in aerial fire at Field 14, which was built especially for
this purpose. The work consisted of shooting with Vickers
Machine Guns mounted on type 24 Nieuports and using
the Victor gear. The targets were on the ground, and con-
sisted of trenches, silhouettes, and condemned machines,
with shot screens so placed as to register hits when the shoot-
ing was made with proper deflection. During the course each
student fired from eight hundred to one thousand rounds
in the air, and by being able "to see the dust fly" attained
confidence in using his sights and proved that he had a
sufficient knowledge of deflection to engage successfully
in aerial combat at the Front. Diving at ground targets re-
quires nerve and confidence, but proved not to be as danger-
ous as had been supposed. There were no casualties at this
field. Captain George W. Eypper, who had entire charge
of the work in Aerial Gunnery after Major G. Bonnell went
to the Front, carried on as successfully as his predecessor.
CHAPTER XIV ,
N OBSERVATION AND NIGHT PURSUIT
TWO new problems arose in the summer of 1918.
The first was the necessity of teaching observation
pilots to fly DH-4's ; the second was the demand for pilots
who could undertake the dangerous work of night pursuit.
When the DH-4's with the Liberty motor began to arrive
from the United States, conditions at Field 7 were such that
there seemed to be more room there, and a better chance of
successful operation without interference with the regular
work of the field, than at any other point. In the mean time
Field 10 was secured, and especially prepared to meet the
need for a large field devoted entirely to instruction on DH-4
planes. This was the only plane that was being manufac-
tured in the United States for use at the Front While not
at all adapted for combat work, it was probably originally
intended as a two-seater fighter. As a matter of'tfact, it was
used by observation and bombing squadrons.
The training of observers was carried on at Tours at the
Second Aviation Instruction Centre. Here at Field 10 we
attempted the instruction of observation pilots, and aimed to
give them some knowledge of what the observer was trying
to do. There was a ground course, planned to cover from two
to five days, and meant to give the pilot an elementary know-
ledge of the work carried on in an observation squadron.
It was given by officers who had seen service at the Front,
and who were able to impress the student with the importance
of the work. This was all the -more necessary because the
IN THE AIR SERVICE 171
average pilot, longing for the excitement of pursuit squad-
ron activity, was inclined to look with little favor on the
actual routine that was before him. Lectures on the organi-
zation of the ground forces, intended to give familiarity with
methods of attack and defence used by both artillery and
infantry ; lectures on interpretation of aerial photography,
intended to teach the pilot the value of the photographic
work done on his missions ; and lectures on the methods of
cooperation with the other branches of the Service were
given from time to time.
Tactical and strategical reconnaissance ; a thorough ex-
planation of the use of the compass and its importance in
cloudy or foggy weather; explanation of the other instru-
ments used in aerial navigation; interpretation of things seen
on the ground and their respective importance ; studies of
the organization and actual experience of observation squad-
rons ; the kind of preparation needed for an artillery mission ;
a pilot's duties on a photographic mission ; the importance
of contact patrol ; lectures on the Liberty motor and the use
of the somewhat complicated set of instruments in front of
the pilot's seat in a DH-4, were given as well as possible
under the circumstances.
Due to the pressing demand from the Front that obser-
vation pilots be sent up immediately, and due to the large
number of crashes of the DH-4's, flown by inexperienced
pilots, it was felt that every available minute of flying
weather should be taken advantage of, even at the cost of
missing some of the important lectures. This was very dis-
172 AN EXPLORER
couraging for the highly trained observers and aerial pho-
tographers who were detailed to the work of ground in-
struction at Field 10. The demand from the Front, however,
was so insistent, and the mortality among DH-4 pilots so
extraordinarily high, that it was necessary to give our stu-
dents all the actual flying instruction possible.
The first part of the course consisted of ninety minutes
of dual control work with an instructor, verified by a practi-
cal examination with a tester in which the student had to
demonstrate his ability to make forced landings and to get
his plane out of the various skids and slips into which it
was thrown by the tester.
After satisfying the instructors of his ability to use the
Liberty motor correctly, and to handle the DH-4 satisfac-
torily, he was required to make a dozen good landings from
an elevation of about one thousand feet and to practise sharp
banks and figure 8's at an altitude of about twenty-five hun-
dred feet. This elementary air work, covering about three
hours, was followed by practice in spirals, first loose spirals,
later tight spirals, with the machine banked up to 90; and
finally about four hours in formation flying. It was not a sat-
isfactory course, but it was the best we could do under the
circumstances, considering the imperative demands from
the Front
None of this work in DH-4's should have been given in
France. The pilots came from America, the ships and motors
came from America, so did the gas, oil, and spare parts
everything, in fact, that was used at the field. All this had
IN THE AIR SERVICE 173
to be brought across an ocean infested with submarines.
Better fields for the work could easily have been found in
America, much nearer to the source of supply of both men
and machines. I suppose that for the sake of encouraging
our citizens the Administration thought it was better to say
that one hundred a.nd fifty DH-4's had been sent to France,
than to say that they had been sent to an American training
school. Of course, the public did not know that the one hun-
dred and fifty sent to France for training purposes could
have been used more effectively at home and at far less
expense. By sending them to France, it added to the total of
machines shipped overseas a total that was never large
enough to satisfy American public opinion.
The difficulties of operating these heavy ships on a wet
French airdrome were enormous. The necessity for bringing
over so much material, including gas and oil, to do what
should have been done in America was most unfortunate.
It would have saved time, money, and men, if those DH-4's,
instead of being sent to American training schools in France,
had been used for the instruction of our personnel at home
and only enough sent to the training schools in France
for use in a refresher course. At Issoudun we ought not to
have been required to do more than see that a pilot already
trained on American DH-4's had a chance to learn the
latest wrinkles as taught by officers just back from the
Front, before being sent there himself.
174 AN EXPLORER
Night Flying was practically unheard of before the war.
Gradually the use of night bombers became practicable, and
both Paris and London were treated to frequent nocturnal
visits. The answer to this was the development of night
pursuit flying. It is difficult for a pilot to imagine any greater
risk than being expected to take up a delicate pursuit plane '
at night It had to be done, however, and Field 7, with its
large expanse of open country, offered the best location. It
was regrettable that the necessity of night work interfered
toa certain extent with the sleep and restof the men who were
carrying on the regular duties of the work in formation
flying, but this was unavoidable. It was one of our greatest
disappointments that the Armistice was signed just as our
night pursuit pilots were receiving the finishing touches
of their training in cooperation with the Searchlight Com-
pany.
Hunting the Hun in the dark was a favorite sport of the
late Captain Armstrong, of the R. A. F., Commanding Offi-
cer of the first British Night Pursuit Squadron at the Front
He himself had a record of having brought down more
than fifty Hun machines, including the gigantic five-engine
Gotha.
One day I was crossing the street from my quarters to
my office, when the unaccustomed sound produced by a
plane looping near the ground called my attention to the ex-
traordinary antics of a Sopwith Camel. It made loop after loop
over Headquarters, missing the roofs of the buildings by only
a few feet, finally coming so close to the ground as to cause
Used on Night Flying: Sopwith Camel
Nieiiport 33, 18-meter, SO H.P. Le Rhone motor
IN THE AIR SERVICE 175
us all to hold our breaths as the marvellously skilful pilot
pulled his ship out of a loop within a few inches of the
ground, fairly touching the long grass. Then the machine
was pulled straight up into a "zoom" of unparalleled mag-
nitude. It stalled, fell like a leaf, fluttering from side to side,
recovered, made a tight spiral incredibly near the ground, lit
as gracefully as a butterfly, and hardly rolled more than a
few inches. Then a small dog bounded out of the cockpit,
from the pilot's lap to the ground, while the pilot himself
with a novel under his arm and a smile on his face walked
nonchalantly across the airdrome. Thus did Captain Arm-
strong announce his arrival.
One of the greatest differences between the Royal Air
Forces and our own was that they believed in encouraging
morale and stimulating their pilots to recklessness by such
exhibitions as these, even though the most skilful pilots
occasionally met their death in this fashion. Captain Arm-
strong himself was killed shortly after the Armistice while
stunting too close to a hangar.
The American Air Service held that the advantages of
such recklessness were more than offset by the increased
chances of losing valuable lives. The war did not last long
enough for us to determine which was the proper method.
There is no question but that there was a far higher morale
among the pilots in the British squadrons than in our own.
This was due to various causes. Furthermore, I do not be-
lieve that the type of pilot that was being graduated from
Issoudun during the summer and fall of 1918 needed ex-
176 AN EXPLORER
hibitions of this kind to make him willing and ready to take
all necessary chances when he went after the Hun.
Captain Armstrong was the most graceful and skilful
flyer that I have ever seen. He was not quite as good in aerial
combat as our own Captain Austin, as was shown in a
famous twenty-minute struggle. We were most fortunate,
however, in being able to secure his services in starting our
instruction in night pursuit.
Planes for night pursuit work are equipped with naviga-
tion lights, one at the end of each wing, one on the tail,
and one inside the cowl, all of which may be turned on
or off at the pleasure of the pilot. There is also a signalling
light placed under the seat of the ship for signalling to the
ground. This is used to give a code letter to the operator
of the field lights, so that when the pilot gets ready to land
after circling the field, the landing light is flashed on for his
benefit. In order to avoid accidents in the darkness, each ship
is given a number, and is not supposed to land except when
that number appears in the ground lights on the landing field.
In addition to the signal lights on the ground, there are two
powerful searchlights, used as landing lights, placed along
the line of direction of the wind. Planes leave them on the
right when taking off and landing. Gradually the students
became accustomed to landing with less and less light and to
taking off in the darkness without any lights at all. Finally,
they acquired sufficient skill to make good landings with the
landing light on for only thirty seconds. This practice was
essential because of the necessity of having as little light as
IN THE AIR SERVICE 177
possible showing on the airdrome at the Front The position
of the field is constantly shown by one small red light on
the ground.
Half a dozen of the most skilful pilots that we could se-
cure, under the able leadership of Captain R. Melin, were
selected for this training. They began practising landings
at night in an Avro with Captain Armstrong in the instruc-
tor's seat. After being given a sufficient number of landings
and flights to enable them to get accustomed to night flying
in a delicate, highly manoeu vreable plane, they kept on prac-
tising until they gained sufficient confidence to fly on dark
nights without having to worry about the technical side of
the art Our students were so good that it took only from
six to ten flights with the instructor before they were ready
to go solo on the same machine. Then followed from ten to
twenty-five more landings on the Avro until the pilot was
confident that he knew where the ground was and had
learned not to misjudge the few things which are visible
even on dark nights. The Avro is an ideal machine for this
purpose.
After the student had shown the necessary proficiency
on the Avro, he was sent up in the Sopwith Camel, a single-
seater machine equipped with a 120 H.P. motor, the ma-
chine preferred by Captain Armstrong as being most effec-
tive for night pursuit In the Camel the student practised
landing fifteen or more times until he acquired the neces-
sary skill. In connection with practice in landing, the stu-
dents were sent up to do the usual air work, utilizing from
178 AN EXPLORER
ten to twenty-five flights in this way in accordance with
their own individual difficulties in mastering the problem
of correctly going through manoeuvres without being able to
see the horizon. Thus the students gradually came to be able
to execute the same acrobatics at night as in the daytime.
During this stage, also, they were given experience in fly-
ing in the searchlight, a very trying performance at first.
They also had practice in avoiding it; and in sending the
necessary signals.
After the technique of night flying in small pursuit
planes was mastered (owing to the scarcity of Sopwith
Camels we also used the Nieuport, type 28), the most in-
teresting part of the work began, namely, practice in attack-
ing night bombers. The night bomber is picked up by
listening devices, his position is given to the searchlight
operators, and the pursuit pilot is sent up to the known ele-
vation of the night bomber and into his approximate loca-
tion. When the pursuit pilot has reached his appointed
position, he gives the signal with one of Very 's lights. Imme-
diately the searchlights, directed by the listening devices,
are turned on the night bomber, who is then held in the
powerful rays. The pursuit plane comes up in the blackness
behind until he is a little below and directly in the rear of
his prey, and shoots from a distance of about twenty yards
and at an angle of about 10 below the night bomber. He
has plenty of time to fire deliberately and with care. Captain
Armstrong used to say that the results were so satisfactory
as to be "hardly sportsmanlike"!
IN THE AIR SERVICE 179
As a means of offsetting the successful use of the large
night bombing planes there is no doubt that the night pur-
suit squadrons were eminently satisfactory. In fact, it was
expected that the enemy would soon have copied this de-
velopment to an extent which would have made the use of
the great Handley Page night bomber extremely precari-
ous. The inability of a huge, heavily weighted, bombing
plane to manoeuvre with sufficient rapidity to dodge the
agile scout was sure to be his undoing, particularly as there
would be no friendly searchlights in the enemy country to
enable him to see the scout and open fire on his assailant
The answer would be to place searchlights on the bombing
plane itself, although that would make it an easier mark.
It was a bitter disappointment to Captain Melin and
his group of excellent pilots that the Armistice was signed
in the very week that they were perfecting their ability to
cooperate with the searchlight companies. After they had
secured the necessary experience at the Front, they would
have been used as instructors to develop future night pur-
suit squadrons.
CHAPTER XV
THE "PLANE NEWS"
OUR weekly paper, of which we were very proud, and
on which we depended for all sorts of inspiration,
both serious and humorous, was called the Plane News.
Started under the auspices of Colonel Kilner in November,
1917, and printed by hand on an ancient mimeograph, it
laid claim to being the first newspaper of the American Ex-
peditionary Forces that was entirely edited and printed by
soldiers. Seeing the advantages of being able to brighten a
despondent community by this weekly budget of news and
good cheer, Miss Givenwilson, then Directrice of the Red
Cross Activities at Issoudun, secured the funds wherewith
a real press and printing-office were established in camp.
During 1918, this little paper steadily grew in influence
and importance, although from time to time its personnel
had to be changed, owing to the exigencies of military
service. By the middle of the year it had become recog-
nized as the official organ of the American Air Service in
France.
Shortly after my arrival, Lieutenant H. M. Ogg, who
had been acting as officer in charge of the Plane News, was
ordered away and his place was taken by Captain Leo R.
Sack, who had had plenty of journalistic experience in Wash-
ington. As a newspaper man, Captain Sack thoroughly ap-
preciated the importance of having the paper run in such
a way as to be read by the largest number in order to do
the greatest possible amount of good. Under his guidance
IN THE AIR SERVICE 181
the Plane News increased in size, circulation, and influence.
As a means of raising our spirits and keeping us steadily
at work in the face of great difficulties, it was of supreme
importance to the camp.
The Plane News was most fortunate in having on its per-
manent staff two artists of first-class ability and ingenuity
Sergeant George D. Alexander and Private Timoleon John-
ston. Their series of cartoons depicting various features of
camp life and aviation experience were enjoyed by thou-
sands every week. The associate editor was Private Gene
D. Robinson, whose Epistles of Peter rank high as keen
comment on the conduct of the war veiled in humorous
vein. Of a trip to Paris he wrote as follows :
A guy should get a taxi without talking to the driver, as the me-
tres run on just the same when you're talking. Always have your
home address in your pocket, as the ride may be finished in an am-
bulance. Don't ask the driver where you are going, as he will figger
that you want to tour the city anyway and the only place he won't
take you is the top of the Eiffel Tower, but he will add that on the
bill anyway. The taxi will finally stop when it runs out of gas and
if the name of the street is Rue de Bill it's probably the place you're
bound for. Pay the bill and if he says anything tell him that he need
not deliver the car to you, but to keep the money anyway.
If you go in a cafe" at 11 o'clock the waiter will get around about
1 o'clock. There is nothing on the menu to eat, no matter how care-
ful you read it, and when the food comes you don't know whether
to salt and pepper it or to use a nut cracker. While you are studying,
the waiter will ask for a tip because the clock strikes 2 o'clock. Tell
him to bring you the leaf of a tree, a limp dish rag with icing, some-
thing sweet and slimy on the scalloped tail of a high geared snail,
and he will say something in French, probably that his daughter
182 AN EXPLORER
sprained her ankle while taking a violin lesson, but outside of that
everything will be lovely.
I guess I will close now as I got to be in a battle today, which
may decide the war, and I wish you would send them ten bucks you
owe me Steve.
Yours 'til Germany goes Democratic, PETE
Occasionally we got a letter, the publication of which in
the Plane News helped to cheer everybody up, such as the
following from Colonel Kilner:
/ desire to commend the work of you and your Staff' at the 3rd
A. I. C. in the training" of pursuit pilots. Officers at the Front state
that the pursuit pilots now being received at the Front are the best
that have ever been turned out, and are highly pleased with their
performances. Request that you convey this commendation to all con-
cerned.
Editorially, the Plane News remarked:
Such positive proof of the effectiveness of the school is gratifying.
All along we have felt that we were on the right track, and that the
pilots that were graduated from the school to the front, would reflect
high credit on their country and on the Air Service.
Only the fittest survive here. But if they cannot make good here,
why send unfit pilots to the front where the life or death of thou-
sands of doughboys depends upon their efforts ?
It is pleasing to know that the " pursuit pilots now being received
at the front are the best that have ever been turned out " and that
officers "are highly pleased with their performances."
With every officer and man and every student officer at the Third
A. I. C. on his toes to make good, and all working with energy and
enthusiasm that can not be equalled, there is every reason to believe
we will continue to send the "best pilots" to the front.
From time to time the Plane News would raise the ambi-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 183
tions of our pilots by printing articles concerning work done
by graduates of the school after they had gone to the Front
Here is an article of this type about Lieutenant Frank Luke,
Jr., who won undying fame in his few weeks at the Front :
Luke is gone, but the memory of his exploits will remain long
after this war is forgotten.
As a balloon strafer he had no equal and he seemed to take a
keen delight in this most dangerous of aviation combats. His plan of
attack was simple. A German balloon would be located and Luke,
with several other pilots, would climb into the clouds and when at
a point above the balloon he would dive out of the clouds, followed
part way down by the rest of the formation, whose particular part
would be to start a "dog fight," with the Fokkers protecting the
balloon.
Luke would continue his nose dive regardless of the archies that
would by this time be sprinkling the air with their shrapnel souvenirs.
When within a few hundred feet of the victim he would let go a
burst of incendiary bullets. Immediately there would be a flash of
flame skywards; two figures would shoot earthward and two para-
chutes would gracefully open up like a lady's fan the show would
be over quicker than it takes to tell it. Luke would immediately zoom
up and join the " dog fight" if it still continued, but generally it would
be over by the time he gained the same altitude, one side or the other
having been defeated.
Luke's greatest feat and one that probably will never be equalled,
was on September 18th when he brought down three planes and two
balloons in twelve minutes. Most of Luke's victories were shared by
pilots in his flight who held off the Fokkers while Luke got the bal-
loons. The officer who teamed with Luke and who shares the most
victories with him is 1st Lieut. Jos. F. Wehner, 27th Aero Squad-
ron, of Lynn, Mass., who has to his credit seven balloons and two
planes Lieut. Wehner has since been shot down, the last seen of him
was on September 18th fighting five Fokkers while protecting Luke.
184 AN EXPLORER
In the operations office of the First Pursuit Group, to which
Luke belonged, is a large piece of cardboard fastened on the wall, at
the top printed in one inch letters are the words : " Hall of Fame,"
and underneath are the names of the pilots who have brought down
one or more German planes or balloons. After each name is a small
facsimile of an iron cross, each cross meaning a victory. There are
eighteen of these crosses after Luke's name. They were placed there
in the short space of seventeen days, another record that will prob-
ably never be equalled.
The last heard of Lieut. Luke was on September 29th, when he
dropped a note to an American Balloon Squadron stationed near
Verdun, which read: "Watch for burning balloons." Shortly after-
wards two German balloons were seen to go up in flames. Luke did
not return; he was entirely alone on his last expedition; no one saw
him go down and how he came to his end will probably never be
known. The official record reads as follows:
"Second Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr., Phoenix, Ariz., 27th Aero
Squadron, First Pursuit Group. Record: 14 balloons, 4 planes.
Missing since Sept., '18."
We often had occasion to remind our students of the fact
that Luke had had considerable difficulty in the first part
of the course, and had been sent back once or twice for
failing to satisfy his instructors. He was the kind, however,
whom nothing could discourage, and he would take every
opportunity to secure all the instruction and practice in
flying that could possibly be obtained.
The Plane News was particularly useful in the trying
days after the fighting had ceased. One of the schemes it
helped to develop in order to make time pass more rapidly
was thus described :
Field $s Team in the Plane Assembling Competition
End of Part I, Wings removed and packed Plane ready for shipment
on truck
Plane Assembling Competition
Field 8'* Team half through Part II, reassembling the Plane
IN THE AIR SERVICE 185
A new sport, one that can be played only on a flying field, sprang
into popularity here last Saturday when teams of airplane mechanics,
working against time, demonstrated to a huge crowd on the Main
Field, just how fast an airplane can be dis-assembled and subsequently
completely rigged ready for the pilot.
The initial contest created keen enthusiasm and the rooters cheered
the workers on their work with the same spirit that fans encourage
the progress of baseball, football and track teams. The interest created
is especially gratifying as this combination of work and play had not
been tried out before. The contest also demonstrated how fast Amer-
ican Airplane Mechanics can work, as the slowest team finished in
better time than it was anticipated would be necessary for the winning
team.
The ship used for the initial contest was the Nieuport, type 27,
with a 12O horse power Le Rhone motor.
Too much credit can not be given the men comprising the com-
petitive teams, whether they be of the winning one or the last to finish,
for the "pep" displayed and particularly the ingenuity in tools and
special equipment used as time savers as all sorts of jigs and special
tools were to be seen. Inquiry of the engineering officers of the various
fields brought out the facts that they were the tools regularly used on
the fields and were the results of the ideas of the mechanics engaged
in different work. Nothing in the way of tools being furnished by the
government for this work, it being up to the mechanics themselves
to design and make tools to save time, and the results of Saturday's
contest speak only too eloquently as to how they have met the
emergency.
The contest was won by the team from Field Eight, composed of
the following :
Ship Crew Sergeants First Class Harry F. Woodring and
Chas. F. Poison, Corporal Harry Bearcroft and Privates First Class
Michael Dolphin and Frank L. Lacher. Motor Crew Sergeants
Aaron I. Rose, Bernard J. Gorman and Henry R. Clark.
186 AN EXPLORER
Total time consumed for the four operations was 97 J /s minutes.
This includes the penalization of ! 1 / 5 minutes on the first operation.
The second team was that of Assembly and Test, composed of the
following :
Ship Crew Sergeants First Class C. Winkler, C. W. Misfelt
and T. W. Reardon and Sergeants R. W. Lyon and A. J. John-
ston. Motor Crew Sergeant First Class G. W. Puryear, Sergeant
R. S. Johnson and Corporal F. R. Moore.
Time was 1O3 minutes for the four operations.
Third to finish was Field Five, teams comprising the following:
Ship Crew Sergeants First Class Jesse Parcell and Albert
Busk and Sergeants Frederick Gordon, Chester Tidland and John
Downey. Motor Crew Sergeants First Class Theodore Holmes
and Wm. H. McMahon and Sergeant Bueren Manwiller.
Time 1O4 minutes.
The total operation of which time is given above, was composed
of four separate operations. First being that of disassembling the ship,
lashing the wings to the side of the fuselage ready for transporting.
Second operation, that of reassembling the ship, lining same ready
for flight, safetying all bolts, nuts and turnbuckles so that it would
pass inspection. These two operations were done by what we have
called " Ship Crews," composed of five men. The third and fourth
operations were, namely, the taking out of the motor, and installing
of the motor in the ship, including starting of same. This was handled
by what we have called "Motor Crews," composed of three men.
The following is a table of figures showing the time taken by dif-
ferent crews for the different operations, and it will be interesting to
note that it was anyone's contest up until the last moment:
First Operation Second Operation
Field Fourteen, 13 minutes. Assembly and Test, 25 minutes.
Field Eight, is'/s minutes. Field Seven, 31 4 / minutes.
Field Seven, 15 minutes. Field Eight, 37 ! /2 minutes.
Field Five, 37 f s minutes.
Plane Assembling Competition
Part II, reassembling- the Plane
Plane Assembling Competition
End of Part III, taking out the motor
IN THE AIR SERVICE 187
Third Operation Fourth Operation
Aero Repair, 13 4 / 5 minutes. Field Five, 29 2 / minutes.
Field Eight, 15 l / a minutes. Field Eight, 31 minutes.
Field Fourteen, 18 2 / minutes. Assembly and Test, 33 4 / 8 minutes.
Field Five, 18 4 / minutes.
The second contest of the series will be staged this afternoon on
the Main Field with Nieuport 23-meter planes, equipped with 8O
horse power Le Rhone motors. Cash prizes of 2OO francs for the first
and 10O francs for the team second under the wire will be given by
the Plane News. The Plane News also has provided for the purchase
of banners for the winners.
The second contest aroused keen competition, and further
reductions were made in the time for the four operations.
The sporting editor of the Plane News wrote this report:
Spurred by the presence of a large crowd and two bands, the
Main Field and Field 7 organizations, 300 francs prize money and the
desire to hang up a record, Air Service mechanics staged a real sporty
exhibition of the new sport of disassembling and assembling an aero-
plane on the Main Field Saturday afternoon.
Minutes were clipped off the records made on the previous con-
test and it is believed that the winners ran up a record for 23-meter
Nieuports that will stand for some time to come. The increasing num-
ber of ingenious tools which have been made by the different crews
were quite noticeable. There were very few penalties considering the
time taken for the entire four operations and all expectations have
been surpassed. There is no doubt that the Airnatsof this center would
be able to hold their own against any and all competition.
Results of Saturday's contest are as follows:
First Field Two A, 1 hour 2 minutes 4O seconds.
Second Field Seven, 1 hour 7 minutes 1O seconds.
Third Aero Repair, 1 hour 8 minutes 45 seconds.
188 AN EXPLORER
Probably the most remarkable thing to take place in the way of
fast workmanship was in the third operation, where the Aero Repair
took out the motor in 11 minutes.
The Field 2 A team which won the first prize of 2OO francs
donated by the Plane News was composed of the following men:
Sgts. Marson, Brindell, Rust, Pierce, McFadden and Cpls. Hawn,
Dotson, and Muhler. Field 7's team which won the second prize of
10O francs was composed of men from the 37th, 64Oth, and 173rd
Squadrons; M. E. Cambell, Sgts. Bowman, Barbee, Peck, Yepsen,
Phelps and Chauffeurs Hamilton and Lewis.
Before closing this brief account of the activities under-
taken by the Plane Nervs, I must give one more of its inter-
esting stories about Issoudun.
The bravery and daring of American aviators is not confined to
active service at the front, as the following remarkable experience of
a student pilot at this advanced training center will prove : The moni-
teur was giving instructions, and upon the day the accident occurred,
the moniteur, as usual, rose in the air ahead of the pilot, who fol-
lowed, and the two planes quickly sought an altitude of 5OOO feet.
Then began a series of manoeuvers, the moniteur demonstrating for
the benefit of his student. The Lieut, suddenly dove at the instructor,
expecting him to get out of his line of flight. Through some miscal-
culation or misjudgment of distance, the moniteur held his plane
too near the diving plane, and the engine head of the student's plane
collided with his wings. With one wing crushed, and with such force
of momentum that it was impossible to gain even a fraction of con-
trol, the moniteur's plane dropped like a stone to the earth, result-
ing in the instant death of the instructor.
A peculiar feature of the accident was the cutting of the engine's
fastenings of the student's plane to such an extent that the engine
dropped from its place and fell to the ground. The result was the
destruction of any resemblance of balance, and the plane wobbled
Plane Assembling Competition
Beginning of Part IV, putting the motor back in position
Plane Assembling' Competition
Cheering the winning Team from Field 14. The riggers of this Team in
the foreground, having finished their work, Parts land II, are watching
the motor mechanics complete Part IV
IN THE AIR SERVICE 189
uncertainly on unsteady wings. Seeing and grasping the situation in-
stantly, the pilot steadied the plane against a probable fall by shift-
ing his body so as to counter the loss of balance and so succeeded in
keeping the plane on a fairly even keel. Then started a series of glides
controlled by the shifting of the weight of his body, that for cool-
ness and daring have few parallels.
Seizing a moment when the plane rode at an even keel, the stu-
dent mounted quickly upon the fuselage at full length and again
steadying the machine, he started his descent to the ground, with no
control except the weight of his body against a counter inclination of
the unbalanced plane to flutter into a fall. Any panic or nervousness
upon his part would have resulted in death, and knowing this and
realizing that the odds were heavily against him the lieutenant manip-
ulated the controls of the plane, and worked his bodily balance con-
trol as calmly as if he was ten feet from the earth. The ground gradu-
ally shaped into a recognizable view, and with his admirable coolness
the lieutenant glided to earth with a landing worthy of a finished
pilot. The remarkable nerve and firm determination of the pilot had
won the day and saved his life.
The whole daring performance had been observed by the pilot
of another plane which had followed the wounded pkne downwards,
unable to give the slightest aid. The pilot of the second plane was
wearer of the Croix de Guerre and had fought air battles at the front
where scenes of reckless daring and paramount bravery were com-
monplace to him, but he later stated that the feat of the student pilot
was one of the most remarkable for coolness and bravery that he
had ever witnessed.
CHAPTER XVI
THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
TO the average person, a flying school is a place where
flying is taught, but to the enlisted man on duty at
a flying school, it is a place where wrecked planes are
continually being repaired. Young pilots are always mak-
ing errors in judgment that result sometimes in damage to
themselves, but more often in damage to the airplane.
Crashes that occurred on the airdromes of outlying fields
were taken care of by the engineering department of the
field concerned. Those that occurred on cross-country flights
or in the area between the fields, and which had to be ren-
dered first-aid by our field service department, were brought
in to the main field and turned over to the aero repair de-
partment, under the direction of Captain Duncan Dana.
If the crashed plane proved to be a total wreck, it was care-
fully salvaged, all the precious bolts and screws that were
so hard to obtain in France during war times were rescued,
and everything that could be used again was turned into
the supply stores from which planes were rebuilt
In the airplane repair shops, work was repeatedly held
up through lack of raw material. Dope and cloth for the
wings, well-seasoned spruce, ash and laminated wood, glue,
sheet aluminum, steel cables for wing bracing, paint, and
varnish were often unobtainable for weeks at a time. In par-
ticular, the only glue we could secure for long periods was
of very poor grade and not waterproof. Furthermore, the
shortage of airplane spare parts was so serious at all times,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 191
and the difficulties of procuring them from the French
manufacturers were so tremendous, that it was only by
making these parts from such raw material as could be ob-
tained and constantly using old parts of crashed airplanes
that sufficient material was secured to keep the planes
repaired.
There was an excellent wood-working shop in which
spare parts for machines of all types could be turned out
Spars, struts, and longerons were made for all types of
planes. Wings were entirely rebuilt, landinggears,or under-
carriages, as the English called them, were constructed out
of partly new and partly salvaged materials. Altogether, our
central repair shop was able to rebuild and turn out "as
good as new" more than twenty airplanes every week. Our
engineer officers estimated that this shop saved the Govern-
ment more than $100,000 a week through its skill in manu-
facturing planes and spares out of salvaged materials and
from a limited supply of spruce sent from the United States.
One of the departments which always interested our vis-
itors was the propeller repair shop. There is nothing on an
airplane which must be more exactly balanced and more
carefully made than a propeller. "Props" represent a high
degree of very skilled labor. At the same time they are
extremely vulnerable and subject to constant breakage. A
bad landing frequently causes a plane to stand on its nose
or capsize. In either case the propeller is almost sure to be
broken. A forced landing on soft ground, no matter how
skilfully the pilot may bring his plane to earth, is likely to
192 AN EXPLORER
mean a somersault because the wheels cannot run fast enough
over the soft ground to accommodate the forward motion of
the plane. This means another propeller gone. In starting
off from a muddy field and all fields in France are muddy
during a good part of the year a certain amount of mud is
thrown up from the under-carriage. If this strikes the rap-
idly revolving propeller, it is almost sure to nick it in such
a way as to make the plane vibrate. There must be a new
"prop." Even the celebrated Rickenbacker mud-guards,
which were invented by the first engineer officer of the
school, who later became our Ace of Aces, failed to prevent
all danger from this source, although enormously reducing
propeller fatalities.
Broken propellers had always heretofore been regarded
as of no further service. Since a propeller costs from $200
up, it can be readily seen that here was a source of great
expense. At Issoudun, however, it had meant more than ex-
pense. Propellers simply could not be bought in sufficient
quantities to provide for the enormous loss due to those
muddy, rock-strewn fields. Accordingly, during Colonel
Kilner's regime, every broken propeller had been carefully
saved and the wood used to patch those which were not
damaged too seriously. Provided two-thirds of a blade was
left practically intact, our skilled workmen had learned how
to replace the other third, and to do it in such a way as to
make that part of the propeller stronger than it had been
before. In fact, it was the proud boast of the sergeant in
charge of this shop that some "props" had come back eight
IN THE AIR SERVICE 193
or ten times to be repaired, but that the damage had never
occurred in the place which he had mended, but always at
a new point About twenty-five propellers were turned out
of this shop every day as good as new. The saving here
to the Government was rarely less than $25,000 a week.
The men took great pride in the circumstance that for many
months this was the only flying school that was able to save
large amounts of money in this way.
Oil that had been fouled by usage in the motors, and
which in the old days would have been thrown away, was
collected and used in our little foundry as fuel with which
to melt aluminum. This enabled us to cast new pistons at
a time when they were unobtainable in the market Not
only pistons, but many other things were made in this
little foundry, including piston pins, piston rings, bush-
ings, etc.
The motor repair department, under the very efficient
management of Captain Charles W. Babcock, maintained
a wonderful record. There was practically never a time
when flying had to be postponed for want of a reliable motor.
Most of our motors were Le Rhone 80's and 120's. Their
normal life was forty or fifty hours of flight. After a motor
had had fifty hours in the air, it was taken out of the plane
and sent to the machine shop for a thorough overhauling.
It was completely stripped, every part carefully gone over
and cleaned, new parts substituted if necessary, and an effort
made to rebuild the motor as good as new. After reassem-
bling, it was sent out to the test department and thoroughly
194 AN EXPLORER
tested. Careful records were kept each day of the progress
of motors through the shop, and the men took particular
pleasure in striving to better these records. Shortly before
the Armistice was signed, 119 motors were turned out of
the shop completely overhauled in one week. This week's
work included eight Liberty motors and one Hispano Suiza,
in addition to one hundred and ten Le Rhones.
Work in the motor repair and machine shop had been
delayed at the start by the presence of unintelligent and
insufficiently instructed personnel, and by the absence of an
adequate supply of spare parts. The manufacture of spare
parts was hindered by the fact that wire, steel, and sheet
metals could only be obtained in very small quantities and
with extreme difficulty. At the time of my arrival the
machine shop was doing well, and there was less complaint
of the character of enlisted personnel. The system of or-
ganizing squadrons in the United States was at first espe-
cially poor. Men with absolutely no qualifications as me-
chanics were listed on the squadron organization as tin-
smiths, coppersmiths, and expert motor mechanics, although
in civil life they had been salesmen, clerks, and farmhands.
One mechanic's qualification was having "driven a Ford
occasionally." Men were rated as expert machinists whose
only experience with machinery consisted in feeding stock
into one end of an automatic machine and pulling the fin-
ished product out at the other end. Such poor and super-
ficial methods of trade testing had been used that it had
been necessary at Issoudun to reclassify squadrons in their
IN THE AIR SERVICE 195
entirety, and to organize courses of instruction and training
for men who had been rated as experts in their lines, but
who had no real conception of the fundamental principles
of the trade they professed. The men were anxious to learn,
however, and by the middle of 1918 were very proficient
As time went on, the enlisted personnel arriving from the
United States improved as a result of the better training
received in America or England.
The sheet metal department was kept busy preparing gas
tanks and cowls. We had a great deal of trouble with the
tanks in the French planes. The straining incidental to
acrobatic flying frequently caused them to leak. Turning
an airplane upon its nose often damages not only the pro-
pellers, but also the cowl or hood of the engine.
A large part of the flying in an advanced school of this
sort must be done at a sufficient elevation to enable the pilot
who accidentally stalls and gets into a spinning nose dive
to come out of it safely. Consequently altimeters were in
great demand, and were difficult to secure. Our instrument
department was constantly repairing those we had, and also
standardizing the tachometers or revolution counters, on
which the young pilots depended in such large measure for
their safety. An old experienced pilot hardly needs a " rev.
counter " to tell him whether his motor is turning up as it
should. But an inexperienced pilot must never leave the
ground without assuring himself by means of this delicate
instrument that his power plant is going to be able to get
him safely over the trees.
196 AN EXPLORER
It was also continually necessary to repair magnetos and
to rebuild spark plugs. In one week in October our shop
turned out 143 magnetos and 2140 spark plugs.
Rough landings also caused great damage to the landing
gear. Sometimes the pneumatic tires were the only things
to suffer. Then again the wheels themselves would give way
under the effects of a bad "pancake." Our shops did not
allow this to interfere with flying, however, and in one
week we turned out as many as 290 wheels and 350 newly
vulcanized tires. In this way our mechanics enabled us to
overcome the difficulty of purchasing supplies and the
delays incident to transportation over submarine-infested
waters.
One of the greatest difficulties faced by our repair and
supply departments was the wide variety of our machines.
This had been rendered necessary by the scarcity of the
most desirable types and our determination to use anything
that would fly. It was hard to keep all in commission. At
the close of the day, September 9, 1918, out of 1002 ma-
chines on hand there were only 519 in commission. For the
important combat work at Field 8, more than two-thirds of
the planes were out of commission. On Field 7, considerably
over half were in the hospital. Yet the training on these two
fields was of enormous importance, and required the fastest
and best machines. The demand from the Front that we
turn out pilots during October was greater than at any other
time during the history of the school. It will be remembered
that we broke the best previous flying record by over 5000
IN THE AIR SERVICE 197
hours during this month. Yet so efficient was our engineer-
ing department under the able leadership of Major Victor
Page, that on October 20, Field 8 had less than one-third
out of commission, while Field 7 had 99 machines in com-
mission and only 6 out of commission. Out of a total of 979
machines, there were 628 in commission an improve-
ment of more than 100. Of course, after the Armistice we
were able to improve this record because it was not neces-
sary to push the training at such speed. On the last day of
November, out of 1109 machines then on our books, there
were 951 that needed no repairs. Field 8 had 54 machines
in commission 17 in repair ; Field 7, 134 machines in
commission and only one undergoing repair ; Field 5 had
1 13 in commission and not one out of commission. I mention
these fields particularly because they used the lightest and
most delicate types of planes, and it had always been very
difficult to keep them sufficiently supplied with flying ma-
terial. This fine record was due largely to the extraordinarily
good morale among the enlisted men on these three fields,
who responded eagerly to the splendid leadership of Captain
Street, Captain Davis, and Captain Wingate.
Great credit should be given to the officers and men of
the engineering department for their unfailing devotion to
duty, for the ingenuity they developed in inventing new
tools, devising new processes, and meeting emergencies as
they arose. Major Page, who had long been a recognized
authority on internal combustion motors, and who came to
be acknowledged as the best aeronautical engineer in France,
198 AN EXPLORER
was able to instil great enthusiasm in his staff. His expert
knowledge gave them confidence in his judgment, while his
tireless energy and fearless honesty inspired them with a
determination to double their eiforts.
CHAPTER XVII
IMPORTANT ACCESSORIES
A FLYING SCHOOL needs more than repair shops. It
requires a Test Department, Supplies, Doctors, Let-
ters from Home, and the ministrations of the Red Cross.
After a new airplane arrived from the manufacturers and
had been assembled, or after a rebuilt plane had been sent
out from the aero repair shops, or whenever a flyer found
fault with his plane and claimed it was not fit to fly, it was
immediately turned over to one of the officers of the test de-
partment This department, organized under Captain (later
Major) W. M. Conant, Jr., stood between the engineering
department and the training, or flying, department The
testers had to be not only expert flyers, but born mechanics
with an intuition for "trouble shooting."
It was frequently their duty to take up types of planes
that they had never flown before. It was their every-day duty
to be the first to decide by experiment whether a plane would
fly, and whether it had been carefully constructed. Of course,
they first determined by visual inspection that the plane
had been properly put together, was properly rigged, and
appeared to be safe for flight. But they then had to deter-
mine by actual flight whether the plane would fly according
to the high standards maintained by their department
Captain Conant had a remarkable record. He had flown
every type of ship at the school and had never made a poor
landing, although many times obliged to make forced land-
ings. At the Front he would have had a wonderful record
200 AN EXPLORER
as an Ace, but he cheerfully accepted the inevitable fate of
being obliged to utilize his skill in making the training of
aviators as safe, and the planes as mechanically perfect, as
possible. Like Captain Austin and so many of our best
pilots, he sacrificed fame for greater service.
One of his permanent occupations was looking for new
testers to meet the needs of the constantly growing school.
He looked for men who seemed to possess the flying instinct
and whose ability was natural rather than mechanical. He
insisted that his testers be thoroughly familiar with aero-
dynamics, and at the same time have a large amount of
practical common sense. As a result of his skill in selecting
men, the testers of Issoudun came to be known as a body
of extremely hard-working pilots, cool, finished, accom-
plished flyers, who had absolutely no fear of the air, and to
whom stunt flying was merely one of the easiest ways of
determining whether a plane was fit to fly. In fact, no plane
was O.K.'d for fly ing until a tester had put it through various
severe manoeuvres and determined that it was mechanically
ready for the use of student pilots.
To the test department was due the credit for the fact
that so few students at Issoudun lost their lives through
mechanical defects in our airplanes. The very severe strains
brought to bear on planes engaged in combat practice on
Field 8 were occasionally responsible for accidents that oc-
curred after a considerable period in the air, and in flying
for several periods after the test department had O.K.'d the
ship. Otherwise, no one was killed by a faulty plane. It was,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 201
of course, impossible for the testers to make sure that each
of the thousand or more planes at the school were O.K.'d
before each flight, but in the case of newly assembled planes,
or those newly repaired after being damaged or reported as
not flying properly, their skill in inspection and testing left
nothing to be desired.
After the Armistice was signed and the necessity of
rushing our finished product through at the highest pos-
sible speed was eliminated, orders were given that the test
department should make frequent inspections of all ships
brought out to the lines for flying, and check up on the
inspection made by the local officer in charge of flying.
There were no enlisted mechanics in the test department.
It was composed entirely of officers who ranked as inspec-
tors, and who pointed out to the engineering officers or their
representatives the faults that needed to be remedied. It
had been the custom in the past for the testers to be a branch
of the engineering department and under the control of the
Chief Aeronautical Engineer. I came to believe, however,
that it was better policy for them to belong to a separate
department and for the Chief Tester to be on a parity with
both the Officer in Charge of Flying and the Chief Engineer.
It must always be borne in mind that an aeronautical
engineering department likes to keep up a high record of
performance in turning out rebuilt motors and planes. It
must also be borne in mind that a training or flying de-
partment likes to break records in the amount of flying
done and the number of students graduated. Consequently,
202 AN EXPLORER
it is of particular importance that a department, whose sole
interest is to see that accidents do not occur from mechanical
defects, should come with power between these two depart-
ments and prevent the acceptance by the flying depart-
ment of any machine that had been repaired too hastily, or
the continued flying of any machine of which a student
complains.
Every one who came to visit Issoudun was shown our aero
supply warehouses, in which we all took the greatest pos-
sible amount of pride. Organized by Captain H. B. Close,
they were improved and extended by Lieutenant (later
Captain) Selmer J. Tilleson. We were obliged to use so
many different types of planes, and to have on hand such
a very great variety of aeronautical supplies, that if Lieu-
tenant Tilleson had not succeeded always in being able to
find the desired article, no one could have blamed him.
But to keep hundreds of thousands of spare parts, listed
under more than 30,000 separate headings, in stock and
always be able to locate any one of them at a moment's
notice and to tell exactly how many had been on hand the
day before, was an achievement that deserved extraordinary
commendation. Fortunately, we had no Handley Pages, for
a single Handley Page airplane is itself composed of 100,000
parts ; but we did have seventeen types of Nieuports, four
types of Morane monoplanes, three types of Spads, besides
sundry Sopwiths, Caudrons, Voisins, and Avros, and the
American DH-4. Nevertheless, Lieutenant Tilleson's ware-
houses were models of neatness and orderly arrangement,
IN THE AIR SERVICE 203
which evoked the envious admiration of other supply
officers.
One of our principal difficulties was in securing a suffi-
cient supply of gasoline. It was a considerable time before
the army officers who controlled the distribution of gaso-
line tank cars came to a proper realization of our needs.
The fact that they had sent us four tank cars, each con-
taining 6000 gallons of gasoline, "less than ten days ago"
seemed to them a sufficient answer to our wail that we
should "have to stop cross-country flying this afternoon
on account of lack of gas" unless more was immediately
received. They finally learned that on good days we fre-
quently did more than 1000 hours of flying, that each hour
of flying meant from 12 to 20 gallons of gasoline, depend-
ing upon the type of motor used, and that the multiplica-
tion table proved that we were likely to use up more than
two tank cars every good day. Captain Leo Sack, our
efficient liaison officer, was fortunately very convincing and
most persistent. When his friends finally mastered this
problem, and grasped what it meant to keep one thousand
airplanes supplied with power, we had no more trouble.
We sometimes felt that the supply officers in Paris did
not treat us as generously as they ought, considering the
fact that we could not furnish pilots as fast as they were
needed at the Front unless we had the equipment with
which to do it. They were much nearer to the Front than
they were to our school, however, and they naturally felt
that the demands of the Front for machines and spare parts
204 AN EXPLORER
should take precedence over ours. In general, we agreed with
them, but on one point, namely, our supply of Spads, we al-
ways felt they were mistaken. If they had supplied us with
an adequate quantity of the machines which were actually
in use at the Front, we could have taught our pilots to avoid
many of the mistakes which caused the extraordinary de-
struction of Spads in the fighting area. However, we never
succeeded in persuading them of the value of this invest-
ment Spads were destroyed at the Front so rapidly that
there was never any surplus left to send to the schools, so
that our pilots did not receive their final instruction in the
planes which they were actually to use in pursuit squad-
rons until they had left the school and reached active squad-
rons where fighting rather than teaching was the principal
matter in hand. Naturally, they crashed a good many, and
in a region not as well equipped with repair shops as the
Third Aviation Instruction Centre. We should have been
allowed at least twenty-five out of the hundreds that were
secured from the French.
Intermediate Quartermaster Depot No. 5 was located
on our main field, and was in charge of Major Charles W.
Godfrey, His experience in successfully feeding thousands
of troops in New England during the first year of the war,
when he was in the Commissary Branch at Boston, stood
him in good stead. He came to us at a time when provi-
sions were very difficult to secure. The needs of our rapidly
growing army at the Front had to be met first, as was right
and proper, but that did not make it any easier for the hard-
Issoudun: The Main Barracks, the "?"," the Red Cross
and the Quartermaster buildings
Issoudun: Foreground: Our prize bakery, -where the Q. M. turned out
1O,OOO loaves offne white bread daily
Next to the bakery are the Q. M. -warehouses. In the distance, at the left
the Hospital, at the right Headquarters
IN THE AIR SERVICE 205
working mechanic in our shops and hangars to go hungry,
or to be denied the regular supplies of food and clothing as
laid down in army regulations.
Major Godfrey, by his wonderful enthusiasm and self-
sacrificing attention to the smallest details, and also by his
willingness to risk official displeasure in order to accom-
plish ends which he felt were justified by the needs of our
soldiers, made us all have a high regard for the Quarter-
master Department He took an intense and personal in-
terest in seeing that the Mess Sergeants made a proper use of
Government rations, that the cooks understood how to con-
serve fuel and at the same time get good results with field
ranges, and that his own bakery, which turned out 10,000
loaves of excellent bread daily, should have every facility
that it deserved. He also saw to it that the men were well
shod. Commanding officers of outlying fields found to their
surprise and delight that the rules which our Quartermaster
found it necessary to make were intended to give them the
best possible service, and that whenever these rules worked
hardship, a word from them resulted in prompt changes.
Major Godfrey's first ride in an airplane was at night
with one of the most daring pilots of our night pursuit
group. He seemed to feel that his experience was not as en-
viable as some of us thought it ought to be. He never was
quite sure whether the twinkling lights which he saw in the
darkness were stars or camp lights. He insisted that it was
really very thrilling, and we did not doubt him, for we knew
the pilot
206 AN EXPLORER
When an aviator has been given a properly tested ma-
chine, well fitted with gas and oil, when he is suitably
clothed, fed, paid, and housed, he thinks he is ready to fly.
Generally, he forgets the importance of medical attendance
until "something happens." Camp Hospital No. 14 was
located in the main camp. It was under the direction of
Major William G. Noe, who was in command of an ade-
quate force of surgeons and enlisted men, but who was
inadequately supplied with army nurses and ambulances.
There were some 500 beds in the hospital. At the time
of my arrival, about one-third of them were occupied by
wounded or gassed soldiers from the Chateau -Thierry
sector.
When the "flu "epidemic struck us, strenuous efforts were
made to combat its spread. Our barracks, like those all over
France, were greatly crowded. The men slept in bunks
built in sections of four, two men sleeping on the upper
tier and two on the lower. Orders were given that bunk-
mates must sleep head to foot, and not side by side. This
immediately lowered the rate of new cases, since no man,
by coughing at night, could infect his bunkie. Rigid rules
were enforced regarding keeping barrack windows open
in all sorts of weather. Buckets of water were kept on the
stoves so as to provide a moist atmosphere, the use of com-
mon drinking-cups was forbidden, and men were sent to
the hospital as soon as they gave signs of having a cold.
During the worst of the epidemic, we were admitting to the
hospital from sixty to seventy-five new cases a day; but so
IN THE AIR SERVICE 207
skilfully did our medical officers handle the situation, that
out of a camp containing over 7000 men, we lost only thirty
as the eifects of the "flu."
It was a most fortunate circumstance for my adminis-
tration of the Third Aviation Instruction Centre that Colonel
William H. Wilmer and his Medical Research Board ar-
rived from the United States early in September. I will admit
that when a telephone message came from the Assistant
Provost Marshal at Issoudun railway station announcing
the arrival there of a "dozen Staff Officers," visions of a
visitation from G. H. Q. for purposes of inspection filled me
with dismay. I had been in command of the post only about
a week or ten days, yet I realized how many adverse criti-
cisms could be made, and I wished that these General Staff
Officers had postponed their visit until a little later. When
our new arrivals turned out to be Colonel Wilmer and his
staff, dismay was changed to delight, as every one will real-
ize who had an opportunity to become acquainted with that
most distinguished member of the medical profession and
his friends.
In the United States it had been found advisable to appoint
so-called "flight surgeons" at each of the flying schools.
These men had been carefully trained in the pioneer labo-
ratories at Mineola and were familiar with the latest results
of research into the physiology and psychology of the pilot
Not only did they learn the effects of thin air on his reactions
and what might be expected to happen to any individ-
ual pilot through lack of sufficient oxygen, but they also had
208 AN EXPLORER
studied most thoroughly the special physical characteristics
of those who found it difficult or impossible to learn to fly.
Many of the specialists who had taught these flight sur-
geons were on the Medical Research Board which was now
established at our camp. They came provided with the very
latest apparatus, and with special instruments intended to
facilitate the physiological determination of a student's apti-
tude for aviation.
Two members of the Board were asked to serve on all
investigations connected with serious accidents to our pilots.
Their skill and knowledge soon brought out the fact that
the majority of accidents were caused by defects in the phy-
sical condition of the pilots. To be sure, a number of acci-
dents are always traceable to apparent disobedience to or-
ders. Sometimes the disobedience is direct and unequivocal,
as when two brilliant pilots, arriving in the course of their
instruction at the combat field, decide to disobey instructions
and, disregarding all caution, display their ability by com-
bating at a low elevation. This experiment sometimes re-
sulted disastrously.
On the other hand, there is another type of disobedience
of orders which is due to physical condition rather than to
moral or mental delinquency. This arises when a pilot is
told to go to a certain altitude, stall his machine into a spin-
ning nose dive, and then put all of his controls into neutral.
If these instructions are obeyed, the airplane automatically
comes out of the spin and into a steep straight glide from
which the pilot can easily proceed to recover control with-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 209
out endangering himself or his ship. Occasionally, however,
it was apparent to the instructors that the pilot disregarded
his orders and failed to put his controls into neutral, thereby
causing the plane to stay in the spin until it crashed to the
ground.
The experiments of the Medical Research Board, and
particularly those conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry
Horn, demonstrated with unerring fidelity that those pilots
who reacted improperly after being spun in a swivel chair
were physically unable to carry out their instructions. When
they attempted to thrust the joy stick forward into a neutral
position, they actually pushed it to one side so that the aile-
ron controls were not in neutral. On the other hand, Colonel
Horn discovered by a thorough examination of our best
pilots, including those who by reason of their great skill
had been chosen as instructors or as testers of new machines,
that they were able to react perfectly to the tests of the whirl-
ing chair. Not only did they overcome the effects of this
dizziness in one-third or one-half the time required by an
average person (and thereby place themselves in the class
of whirling dervishes), they also had no difficulty in imme-
diately putting the controls in neutral, notwithstanding the
effects of a prolonged spinning in the chair.
So firmly did I believe in the ability of the Research
Board to prevent accidents due to inherent defects in the
physique of the aviator, that instructions were given to
place in the hands of incoming pilots an article by Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Rowntree, who was Colonel Wilmer's right-
210 AN EXPLORER
hand man. This article urged frequent consultation of the
Medical Research Board by flyers who were feeling ill, or
" not feeling fit," or feeling insecure in their work, or when
their flying records were poor, or after an accident. Instruc-
tors were directed to consult the Board whenever they saw
that their students were in one of the above classes, or when-
ever they themselves desired information as to the type of
work for which a flyer was best suited, so far as this could
be determined by physical examination.
Considering how many delays the flying cadets had suf-
fered in the past and how many handicaps they had had
to overcome in their efforts to get to the Front speedily, it
was not surprising that some of them regarded the Med-
ical Research Board with suspicion. They soon came to
realize, however, that it was the object of Colonel Wilmer
and his colleagues, especially the flight surgeon, Major R.
R. Hampton, to assist pilots to become more efficient, and
not to remove them from the flying list.
We all of us came to the conclusion that it was not fair
either for the army or for the pilot himself, that he should
assume unnecessary risks. Ordinary risks were great enough
in all conscience, but the danger was much increased when
those attempted to fly who were not fit We endeavored to
impress on our pilots the fact that they could not expect to
be successful in the air unless they kept themselves fit. They
were urged to go to bed early and to get at least eight hours
of sleep. We made every effort to see that all pilots took some
physical exercise daily. Although the flyer is out of doors a
IN THE AIR SERVICE 211
great deal, his occupation is actually a sedentary one, and far
more fatiguing to his nerves than to his body, so it was all
the more important to encourage outdoor sports. Each field
commander was requested to report at officers' meeting each
day how much exercise had been taken in the preceding
twenty-four hours by the pilots under his command. It was
significant that the fields which did the best work found
the most time for exercise, or took it in the most violent form.
Colonel Rowntree reported that a large number of flyers
consulted the Board for digestive disturbances. The ladies
of the American Red Cross also reported that the instruc-
tors who flew a great deal seemed to be frequently "off their
feed," while others had abnormal appetites and ate five or
six meals a day. The Medical Research Board came to the
belief, after a careful study of the food problem, that avia-
tors should avoid heavy foods in the early part of the day.
Sugar and starches, breads, cereals, fruits, and vegetables
were advised, even though these constituted but a small part
of the regular army ration. Heavy foods, such as meats and
fats, which have been proved by experience to be essential
for infantry and other troops engaged in heavy manual
labor, were recommended in great moderation. It was par-
ticularly advised that such foods should not be eaten until
after the day's flying was over.
An aviator's life is very abnormal. A student aviator crowds
such tremendous experiences into such a small portion of the
day, he is so frequently left with plenty of time on his hands,
albeit greatly fatigued by unusual nervous strains, that there
212 AN EXPLORER
is no question which worries the commanding officer of a
flying field more than the development of proper habits by
his student pilots. In the tropics, where men get fatigued
easily and have more leisure than they do in the temperate
zone, I have noticed a strong tendency toward intemperance.
Not only intemperance as regards the use of alcohol, but
intemperance in other things, including gambling and the
use of cigarettes. The same is true on a flying field, with this
difference, that indulgence in bad habits is likely to cause
errors in judgment that lead to fatal accidents in the air.
So much of a pilot's work is done alone, so deeply must
he draw on his own powers of endurance and self-respect,
that he particularly needs the kind of cheer that comes in
Letters from Home. Irregularity in the delivery of mail
matter was not confined to the Air Service. Every one in
the A. E. F. suffered from it more or less. One day a letter
would arrive that was only three weeks old. This would be
followed a few days later by one a month old, and then on
the next mail would arrive two that were six weeks old. Of
course the difficulties were enormous, and the suffering was
not serious, in most cases.
At Christmas time the mail service seemed to improve,
and our standard packages, "9x4x3 inches, weighing
not more than 3 pounds," must have been given special con-
sideration, for a large percentage of them were only a month
en route. They had to be mailed in the United States before
the 20th of November, and most of them arrived before the
IN THE AIR SERVICE 213
25th of December. One day a member of die staff brought
in a letter to Santa Glaus, but did not tell me who wrote it It
contained the following paragraphs :
DEAR SANTA :
If you happen to have anything lying around loose that doesn't
weigh more than three pounds, and which isn't more than nine inches
long, four inches wide, and three inches thick, it will get to me all
right if you will paste the enclosed coupon on it and mail it at your
own post office. I think that would be better than to try to bring it
over with your reindeers.
I 'm not saying that your reindeers are n't good ones, you under-
stand. I never saw better ones. But some folks are likely to be mis-
led by the size of those packages. A package 9 X 4 X 3 is a litde thing,
not as large as two bricks, and it would n't hurt you half as much
if it fell on your head. But if you figure out the bulk for two million
people you '11 see that it is nothing to be sneezed at, even by your
reindeers, no matter how well they can sneeze.
Two million of those packages placed end to end would make
a string 284 miles, 29 rods, 1 foot and 6 inches long. Leaving out
the jog where the toolshed stands, they would make a pile three feet
deep all over my Dad's farm. They would fill 100 good sized freight
cars. It would take a good team of reindeers eight years to haul them
from Morestown to Lake City. If you could put one of those pack-
ages down a chimney every minute, and worked eight hours a night
at the job, it would take you 11 years, 1 month, 21 days, 5 hours,
and 2O minutes to get rid of them all.
Nevertheless, the idea was an excellent one. It did away with
the likelihood of overcrowding the mails with cumbersome
and perhaps useless "gifts," and it brought good cheer to an
enormous number of those who were thinking that it would
be nice to have Christmas at home.
214 AN EXPLORER
Finally, nothing helped toward the success of the Third
Aviation Instruction Centre more than the American Red
Cross. As early as October 3, 1917, Miss Irene Givenwilson
and a few other ladies from the Red Cross stepped off into
the "sea of mud" and took possession of a small section in
one of the three barracks. They opened a temporary can-
teen, and were soon cheering the men with hot coffee and
sandwiches.
From this little beginning the Red Cross gradually grew
until its rooms and buildings covered nearly an acre of our
camp. The men who spent the terrible winter of 1917-18
at the post were all unanimous in their opinion that the
Red Cross did more to keep up their spirits than any other
agency. The influence of those splendid Christian women,
the cheering smiles with which they greeted all comers, the
tremendous energy which led them to work from early
morning until late at night at whatever job came to hand,
did more to keep pure Americanism alive in that corner of
France than everything else put together.
Among other things the Red Cross erected a laundry, a
barber shop, and a comfortable bath house. By taking turns,
the squadrons would get hot showers at least once a week. A
tailoring and repair shop were greatly appreciated by the
hundreds of flying officers and enlisted men. A technical
library and an officers' club were early established. Miss
Givenwilson, Miss Amy Brewer, Miss Gertrude Hussey,
and Miss Potter were chiefly responsible for creating this
little bit of the homeland where kind words and encouraging
Extra! Extra!
On Active Service lloveiabcr, II, I9IS
HOSTILITIES CEASED!
Armistice Between Fighting Armies Effective at
Eleven O'clock This Morning
TRAINING OF PILOTS HERE WILL CONTINUE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION
Hostilities between the Allies and Germany have
temporarily ceased according to official an-
nouncement from American Headquarters. Here
is the announcement.
American Official Communique, Nor. 11, 1918.
In accordance with the terms of the
Armistice, hostilities on the fronts of
the American Armies were suspended
at 11 o'clock this morning.
Rec'd at 1:50 p.m.
JMO
This does not mean that the War is over. It
means that a temporary truce has been declared.
The War may be resumed and it may not. But
the American Army is taking no chances. Train-
ing of All branches of the service will continue
-without interruption.
Here at the 3rd A. I. C. student officers will be
trained as heretofore, the only difference being
that more time will be spent on their training and
physical care.
The number of Aviatort, according to th Oa-
eral Staff, is insufficient for the size of onr Armies.
If hostilities should be resumed this Tfl will b*
remedied.
IN THE AIR SERVICE 215
smiles for each soldier could be had for the asking. They
were well assisted by a score of others, rays of sunshine in
a dark valley. After the departure of the veterans, the work
was ably carried on by Mrs. Elsie Cobb Wilson and Miss
Peck, who were most successful in alleviating those severe
attacks of the blues and homesickness which afflicted so
many of our men after the Armistice was signed and before
orders came to leave for the port of embarkation.
A few days before Christmas a very welcome present in
the shape of the following letter came from General Patrick,
the head of the American Air Service in France.
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES
U. S. AIR SERVICE, PARIS
OFFICE OF CHIEF OF AIR SERVICE
17th December, 1918
LlEUTENANT-CoLONEL HlRAM BlNGHAM,
Commanding- Officer, Issoudun
MY DEAR COLONEL BINGHAM :
As the school at Issoudun is about to close you will soon be re-
lieved from your present duty as its Commanding Officer and re-
turned to the United States. Before your departure I desire to place
on record my hearty appreciation of the excellent work you did while
in command of this, our largest training centre in France. The results
achieved speak for themselves and evidence the interest you took in
your work and your power to inspire those who were working with
you.
May I add that I was just about to recommend your promotion
when the Armistice came and all advancement was stopped. While
216 AN EXPLORER
it was thus impossible to bestow upon you this well earned evidence
of work well done, I want you to be assured that in my opinion it
was your due.
Very truly yours,
(Signed} MASON M. PATRICK,
Major-General, U. S. A.
Chief of Air Service
I sent a copy of this letter to Colonel Robert M. Danford,
then Brigadier-General, who had been my commanding
officer in the days of the "Yale Batteries" at Tobyhanna.
It was to his remarkable ability as a military instructor
that any success I may have had at Issoudun was due.
On Christmas Day my orders came to go home, the best
present any one could ask for. The next day I left Issoudun
and, on January 1, 1919, sailed from St. Nazaire.
After a few weeks of duty in the office of the Director
of Military Aeronautics in Washington, I received my dis-
charge on March 8, 1919, just two years from the time I
began to fly in Miami.
CHAPTER XVIII
SHOULD THE GENERAL STAFF CONTROL THE
AIR SERVICE?
THE wisdom of a General Staff must always depend
on two things : first, the practical experience, in the
field, of the officers composing it, and second, their studies
of the accumulated wisdom gained in previous wars. In the
American Air Service in 1917-18, we received no help
from anything of this kind. While probably every officer of
the General Staff had had practical experience in handling
infantry, in the care of cavalry, in the use of artillery, or
in the building of roads and bridges, not one of them knew
the nervous fatigue of piloting an airplane or how it feels to
have engine failure over wooded, hilly country, or the diffi-
culties of aerial observation when the air is blowing by at
a hundred miles an hour!
They had been able to assimilate the wisdom of centuries
regarding the requirements of a foot-soldier what food,
clothing, and discipline best met his needs. They had been
able similarly to secure centuries of experience with mounted
soldiers and knew the needs of cavalry, but they had no
experience to guide them in making adequate rules for the
care, training, and discipline of aviators or aviation mechan-
ics. The science of aeronautics and the art of flying were
too recent to have received the attention they deserved from
the older and wiser heads on the General Staff.
When I went on duty in Washington in May, 1917, 1
took it for granted that the War Department had carefully
218 AN EXPLORER
considered how to utilize an Air Service to the fullest ex-
tent. It was amazing and very disconcerting to learn that
the General Staff of the Army had apparently made no plans
for the part which aviation was to take in the war. The pro-
gramme of studies outlined for the first Officers' Training
Camps contained no reference to the Air Service. The War
College had published some useful pamphlets, copied from
the French and British, on cooperation with artillery. Yet,
so far as I could discover, no effort was made to teach our
thousands of new officers anything about the progress that
aviation had made on the Western Front during 1916, nor
what they might expect the Air Service to do, nor how to
communicate with airplanes by ground panels, nor what the
proper function of the Air Service was.
The newspapers at that time were full of exciting stories
of the aerial combats and victories of the Lafayette Squad-
ron. From what I could learn by conversation with our line
officers, these aerial combats constituted the spectacular, and
bombing planes the useful, end of the Air Service. Observa-
tion squadrons and liaison with artillery and infantry were
practically unknown to the average line officer.
It is hardly necessary to say that there was equal unpre T
paredness in many other branches of the Service. Still, it
must never cease to be a source of amazement to our de-
scendants that, while the great nations of the world had
been fighting for their lives for two years and a half, and
ordinary common sense would have seemed to have dictated
the necessity of preparing for the day when we, too, should
IN THE AIR SERVICE 219
get thrown into the gigantic conflict, so little should have
been done of what is known as "General Staff Work."
We did not know until we had been at war for several
months what kind of airplanes we were going to use, how
many we should need, how many flying schools we were
going to have, where they were to be, what were the best
locations, what system of training was to be followed, or
how many men we were to train. So little thought had been
given to the matter, and so small had been our conception of
the probable number of pilots, that, for several months after
we entered the war, the bulletins of the War Department
referred to in an earlier chapter offered commissions as First
Lieutenants to those who could pass the examinations for
Reserve Military Aviator. The law provided an increase
in grade to those who could pass the more severe tests of
Junior Military Aviator. As it seemed obvious that no one
should be sent to the Front who was not a fully and com-
pletely trained military aviator, many of our ambitious
young pilots believed that by the time they were ready to
fly over the lines, they would rank as Captains.
When the provision for granting increased rank and pay
to aviators was passed by Congress, it was thought ne-
cessary to offer these inducements on account of the extreme
danger of the service, and the high mortality among the
best known aviators in this country during the years 1910-
12. It was felt that any one who was willing to undertake
this dangerous training ought to be specially rewarded.
As long as we had an Air Service consisting of one fly-
220 AN EXPLORER
ing school and a small assortment of experimental airplanes,
a few of which could fly a short distance, the provision was
undoubtedly wise. But when we were faced with the ne-
cessity of having several hundred pilots, and the probability
of having several thousand, it might have been foreseen by
an adequately prepared General Staff that the bulletins in-
viting young men to enter the Air Service should not make
it appear that it was our plan to flood the Air Service with
Captains. Only Central American armies are supposed to
have an excess of rank at the top.
Most of the aviators in the French service were non-
coms, although they enjoyed the social privileges of officers.
Many of the aviators in the German Air Service were non-
commissioned officers, although the observers were nearly
always officers. In the British Air Service, practically all
pilots were commissioned officers, and it was felt that the
splendid morale of the Royal Flying Corps and the remark-
able record which its pilots had made on the Western Front
in 1916 were due largely to this fact
The American Air Service adopted the last plan. General
Pershing, however, soon came to the belief that the rank of
second lieutenant was high enough for most of his pilots;
yet until October, 1917, there was no provision by law for
second lieutenants in the Signal Corps. Consequently, the
tens of thousands of young men whose applications poured
in during the first six months of the war had every right
to believe that when they passed their tests, they would
become first lieutenants. Most of them, furthermore, natu-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 221
rally expected to be able, before long, to pass the Junior
Military Aviator test and become captains. The fact is that
the exigencies of the Service and General Pershing's re-
fusal to permit any except regular officers of the permanent
establishment to take the Junior Military Aviator test re-
sulted, as has been pointed out, in great disappointment and
much loss of morale among what had been the most en-
thusiastic and keenest group of young men in the army.
Logically, of course, it was not to be expected that our
squadrons would be composed chiefly of captains. It would
have been bad for the rest of the army and bad for the men
themselves, had such an event occurred. In fact, it was so
obviously ridiculous that it became all the more regrettable
and almost inexplicable that the War Department should
have for so many months offered First Lieutenancies to all
those who could pass the easy Reserve Military Aviator test
Perhaps it is true that this is only one of many instances
in which our persistent refusal to prepare for war led us
into making serious blunders, but there was none which
caused more unhappiness or greater loss of esprit de corps.
The situation as far as it concerns extra "fly ing pay" is
quite different. The statement is frequently made by old
army officers that in time of war aviation is no more danger-
ous than any other branch of the Service. There was a strong
effort on the part of General Pershing and the General Staff
to persuade Congress of this during the early part of 1918,
and to alter the law so that Military Aviators would not
receive an increase either in pay or grade. The Military
222 AN EXPLORER
Affairs Committee of the Senate refused to consider the pro-
posal, but General Pershing achieved his purpose so far as
France was concerned by refusing to permit any reserve or
temporary officer to take the examinations for Junior Mili-
tary Aviator. For many months he also refused to issue the
orders necessary to place pilots "on flying duty," thereby
preventing them from getting even the 25 per cent increase
in pay that was permitted to Reserve Military Aviators.
Later on this was changed, although with evident reluc-
tance.
Since the grade of Junior Military Aviator carried with
it an increase in pay of 50 per cent, and the grade of Mili-
tary Aviator, attainable after three years as a Junior Mili-
tary Aviator or for distinguished service at the Front, carried
an increase in pay of 75 per cent, there was naturally a great
deal of resentment felt by the pilots who were doing the
most flying against the relatively few regular officers whose
administrative duties prevented them from flying more than
just enough to warrant them in drawing their flying pay,
but who, through their grade as Junior Military Aviator or
Military Aviator, were paid two or three times as much for
the small risks they ran as were the ordinary pilots who
were taking their lives in their hands every day.
Had General Pershing and the General Staff contented
themselves with asking that the law be changed regarding
the increase in rank, and explained the disadvantages of
having too many high ranking young pilots, there would
probably have been no objections raised; but when the Mili-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 223
tary Affairs Committee learned from foreign flying officers
on duty in Washington that both the French and British
Governments gave extra pay to their pilots, the insistence on
the part of the General Staff that pilots did not run unusual
risks met with unanimous disapproval. It was only one of
the results of that lack of expert knowledge of military aero-
nautics and lack of sympathy with the difficulties of avia-
tion which pervaded the General Staff during 1917-18.
Speaking of risks, it may be of interest to refer to my own
experience. My first instructor in an army machine was
Captain Roger Jannus, a pilot of long experience, great skill,
and remarkable devotion to duty. He was killed while in the
course of a practice combat near Field 8 at Issoudun. His
machine caught fire in the air, probably from a gasoline
tank which had become leaky owing to the strains and con-
tortions of combat flying. Captain Jannus was too experi-
enced a pilot to have taken up an imperfect machine, and
no one could have foreseen the accident which happened to
him after he had been combatting with an instructor about
three-quarters of an hour. My second instructor was Cap-
tain H. Taylor, who was the officer in charge of flying at
Mineola when I went there to take my Reserve Military
Aviator tests in August, 1917. He was a very experienced
pilot and devoted to his work. I had not been flying at Min-
eola but a few days when he was killed while giving a lesson
in spiralling to the pupil whose turn immediately preceded
mine. The student was seriously injured, but eventually
recovered. It was an extremely hot day, and I have since
224 AN EXPLORER
had occasion to notice that accidents in the air always in-
crease during extremely hot weather, possibly as the result
of fainting or vertigo.
My third instructor at Issoudun was more fortunate, and .
lived to achieve a brilliant record at the Front My fourth
instructor, Lieutenant Ott, was killed at Issoudun, while
endeavoring to bring his ship out of a dangerous position
into which it had been thrown by an inexperienced stu-
dent in the back seat. My fifth instructor, and the one who
succeeded by his patience and skill in giving me a sense
of confidence in the tricky Nieuport 23, was Lieutenant
Blanchard. He was an unusually painstaking pilot, a faith-
ful instructor, and a very competent aviator. After several
months of teaching at Issoudun, he was sent to the gunnery
school at St Jean des Monts to perfect himself in actual
firing before going to the Front, but was killed by being
thrown from his machine when diving at a target. When
it is remembered that these men who gave their lives at
flying schools were not beginners, or poorly trained pilots,
but experts in the art of flying, it seems incredible that any
one should begrudge the pilot his additional pay.
A recent article in the Philadelphia Press calls atten-
tion to the very heavy loss suffered by the French Air Ser-
vice. During the four years of the war nearly 2000 French
pilots and observers were killed at the Front; 1500 "disap-
peared," which means that some were killed, others were
taken prisoners ; nearly 3000 were injured, and about 2000
were killed while on duty at school or depot in the Zone of
IN THE AIR SERVICE 225
the Interior. On the day of the Armistice, the French Air
Service had about 13,000 available pilots and observers.
The very heavy proportion of losses compared to the size
. of the service is self-evident.
It is an interesting commentary on human nature and on
the utility of a combined civilian and military control over
the army that the members of the Senate Military Affairs
Committee, none of whom were flyers, should have been
more ready to sympathize with the Army Aviator than were
the officers of the General Staff.
Not only in rank and pay, but also in such minor mat-
ters as spurs and blouses, was the General Staff's attitude
shown. As has already been stated in a previous chapter,
during the first year of our participation in the war, the
General Staff insisted that an aviator who wore boots must
wear spurs as well as wings ! At last the humor of it struck
somebody, and aviators were allowed for a few months to
wear boots without spurs. This was too much for the old
cavalry officers, however, and in December, 19 18, the former
rule was restored !
As regards the blouse, we made many efforts to be al-
lowed to wear a coat made with a collar that was safe and
comfortable, like those worn by Allied aviators. Our naval
aviators were successful. We had not been at war more than
three months before they secured the authorization of an at-
tractive and sensible uniform with roll collar and appropriate
insignia, a uniform several times referred to by foreign offi-
cers in my presence as the smartest uniform in Europe, and
226 AN EXPLORER
one that undoubtedly gave the naval flyers additional pres-
tige and improved morale. Notwithstanding the promptness
of the navy in realizing that the aviators could not be ex-
pected to be either comfortable or efficient in a high-stand-
ing collar, the General Staff of the army absolutely refused
to permit the military aviator any deviation from the snug
fitting neck-band which helps the infantry soldier to stand
stiffly erect on parade.
Our uniform was designed for the kind of fighting that
the American Army had been accustomed to on the Mexican
border and in the Philippines. Nothing could be more effec-
tive for that sort of fighting than our service hat and the
thick flannel shirt. In France, however, it was necessary to
fight in a blouse or coat, although this had been designed
chiefly to be worn on parade. Even the old conservative staff
officers could see that it was impossible to wear our service
hat under the very necessary steel helmet, so the sacred hat
was soon given up in favor of a cloth cap. Why a more com-
fortable form of blouse was not provided for the ground
troops, I do not know. That it was denied to aviators was
undoubtedly due to the fact that no members of the Gen-
eral Staff had ever had to fly over the lines or in a crowded
area near a big flying school where it is necessary to
turn the head from right to left, back and forth, continually,
in order to make sure of avoiding other airplanes, either
enemy or friendly.
At school we permitted our students to wear sweaters
under their flying equipment instead of the regulation
IN THE AIR SERVICE 227
blouses. Even so, however, they were frequently subjected to
serious reprimands if they were seen by old regular officers,
"improperly clad and contrary to regulation." At the Front,
however, it was different The a viator who went over the lines
ran a very good chance of being taken prisoner in case he
was forced to land because of engine failure or being shot
down. Naturally, it was necessary for him always to be clad
in the uniform of an officer. Some squadron commanders
permitted their pilots to wear non-regulation blouses pat-
terned on the English model, with roll collars. This caused
censure and complaint on the part of those whose duty it
was to uphold the regulations and see that they were carried
out. Other pilots who crossed the lines wearing the regulation
collars frequently came back with necks cut and bleeding,
owing to the necessity of turning the head incessantly in
order to avoid surprise attacks of enemy airplanes.
This may seem to be a small matter, and hardly deserving
of so much attention. The truth is, however, that it made the
young pilot feel that the army took no interest in his wel-
fare. The General Staff failed to recognize that this su-
premely voluntary service, from which it was so easy to
escape if one felt so inclined, required plenty of encourage-
ment, and the zest that comes from intense pride in an
organization. It was well known that the British and French
armies treated their aviators with the utmost consideration,
permitting them great freedom and recognizing that the
extremely hazardous and nerve-racking nature of the daily
service over the lines required a different form of discipline.
228 AN EXPLORER
The additional fact that our own navy had acknowledged
the special uniform requirements of an aviator made it all
the harder to understand why the General Staff refused to
give us more consideration. It is worthy of note that Major -
General Brewster, the Inspector-General of the American
Expeditionary Forces, in May, 1918, personally recom-
mended a change in the uniform regulation in order to give
the aviators what he felt they justly deserved. His recom-
mendation, however, produced no result.
It was frequently felt by the officers of the American Air
Service that the army as a \vhole, particularly some of the
older staff officers, were so jealous of the extraordinary in-
terest which Congress and the American people took in
aviation, and were so resentful of the unfortunate amount
of advertising which the Air Service received (through no
fault of its own), that they took satisfaction in declining any
requests for special consideration. The fact remains, that
the Air Service, composed largely, as it must be, of high-
strung, venturesome boys willing to take unheard-of risks in
their enthusiasm, and facing extraordinary dangers even in
the ordinary course of their daily drill and training, needs
intelligent, sympathetic consideration.
The General Staff must prepare for the future by requir-
ing its officers to fly, or by including among its members
a relatively large number of pilots and observers, so that
there will be just as sympathetic an understanding of the
Air Service as there is of the Cavalry or Field Artillery.
There will be no excuse for not having on the General
IN THE AIR SERVICE 229
Staff men like Colonel Walter G. Kilner, who received the
Distinguished Service Medal for his remarkable work in
organizing aviation instruction in France, knows the whole
problem of Military Aeronautics from top to bottom, and
who did more towards the success of aviation in France
than any other officer in the American Expeditionary Forces.
Furthermore, there should be men on the Staff like Colonel
Robert M. Danford, now Commandant of Cadets at West
Point, who believes that all artillery officers should become
aerial observers, even if they cannot learn to fly themselves.
In the past, all officers of field artillery were "mounted" offi-
cers and wore spurs ; in the future, they should all be able to
wear the wings of a pilot or an observer. The eyes of the
artillery must be under the control of the same general offi-
cer who directs the activities of the guns themselves. In
other words, it would be folly to divorce Military Aeronautics
from the army. Our military aviators must be trained by
army officers, who have themselves learned the peculiar
difficulties of this new branch of the Service.
Plans for military airplanes will undoubtedly be pre-
sented by members of the arm that is going to use them;
but the actual manufacture and production of airplanes
need not be under military control any more than the manu-
facture of arms and ammunition as carried on at such great
plants as Winchester's and Colt's.
Personally, I agree with such authorities as Admiral
David Beatty, that an Independent Air Force is a mistake,
and that the army and the navy should each control the
230 AN EXPLORER
training and the operation of their own aviators. The Air-
craft Journal for November, 1919, contained the following
digest of an interview with Admiral Beatty, which is most
significant.
Admiral Beatty stated that he had supported the creation of the
Royal Air Forces, for the reason that at the time it was the only
way he could get the personnel and material he needed in the Grand
Fleet ; he thought that a young and new service would be keen to
make a reputation with the two older services (Navy and Army)
by being particular not to let anything interfere with Naval and
Army Aviation needs. In that way, with production centralized,
they would get by the troubles they were having for supply of ma-
terial. But that was his idea during the war ; now that the war is
over, he does not consider the R. A. F. organization a proper one,
as far as it applies to the Navy and Army ; the phrase " Navy and
Army and Air " is an attractive one but it is n't sound in each pro-
fession Navy and Army and there should be no independent
fighting force in the air. . . .
He considered that the value of the Independent Air Force for
England was somewhat overrated: results of the war showed that
damage by bombing, both physical and moral, was not as great as
expected; for example, in spite of the tons of high explosives
dropped on Bruges there was surprisingly little damage. The moral
effect of the bombing wears off, for the population gradually becomes
accustomed to it. Referring to the organization requirements of the
United States, he said that with our geographical position there was
no excuse at all for an independent fighting Air Force. But he does
believe that a separate Air organization to control all aviation pro-
duction is desirable, for England or any other country.
CHAPTER XIX
THE FUTURE OF AVIATION
WITH increased knowledge as to the possibilities
of aviation, other departments of the Government
will more and more desire to own and operate their own
planes and dirigibles. The Post-Office Department has its
own problems, which are even now being successfully
worked out. Similarly, the Forest Service will desire to use
small dirigibles to enable their forest rangers to cover large
reservations quickly and effectively. In the course of time
the Department of Agriculture will undoubtedly wish to
use airships to make rapid surveys of large crop areas. The
Navy Department will continue to control the seaplanes and
dirigibles which are now such indispensable adjuncts of the
modern battleship. The Treasury Department will need to
use the air just as it uses the water for revenue cutters, in
order to prevent the breach of those laws, the observance
of which the Treasury Department is particularly inter-
ested in. The Department of Justice will need a certain
number of fast planes in order that its special agents may
make rapid visits to those places that require immediate in-
vestigation.
In considering the future, we must remember that the
air has become one of the routes of travel, and that its use
as such is going to grow, just as the use of our navigable
streams has increased since the days of Fulton, and the uses
of the ocean have multiplied since the days of Prince Henry
the Navigator and the commencement of scientific naviga-
232 AN EXPLORER
tion. To be sure, aviation is only in its infancy ; it must not
be expected that its future will be smooth and lacking in
incident.
The man-in-the-street has been watching the progress
of aviation during the past ten years with varied emotions.
At first he showed great interest in the progress of an art
which was made of practical utility by the patient scien-
tific experiments of the Wright brothers. Then, after noting
with dismay the large percentage of well-known flyers who
were killed, his enthusiasm waned and he was inclined to
feel that perhaps, after all, man was not intended to imitate
the birds. A few of his friends bought airplanes that did
not fly, or at any rate which could not be made to fly by
the purchasers, and he learned to discount the statements
of airplane manufacturers. He discounted them so far, in
fact, that unless he was fortunate enough to come into
personal contact with Curtiss Flying Boats at Miami or
Atlantic City, his faith was dead. His lack of interest was
reflected in the small size of the appropriations which Con-
gress saw fit to make for the development of aviation in the
army and navy. This feeling of discouragement was fur-
ther enhanced by the disputes and "scandals" connected
with the administration of the Army Aviation School at
San Diego.
Then came the war and the achievements of the cele-
brated Lafayette Squadron. The man-in-the-street began
to read of aerial victories, and came to believe that the war
could be won in the air, if enough money was spent. His
IN THE AIR SERVICE 233
imagination visualized a cloud of American planes over
Germany. His enthusiasm reached such a pitch that the
largest single appropriation ever made for aviation in all
its history, $640,000,000, was passed almost without dis-
cussion, and practically unanimously, by a Congress which
reflected his superlative optimism.
9
The newspapers which he read in the fall of 1917, as he
rode home from his day in the street, gave him a tremen-
dous sense of comfort in the thought that we were soon to
overwhelm the Huns in the air. Then came unaccountable
delays. Skepticism and disappointment took the place of
optimistic enthusiasm. Dismay followed, and in the summer
of 1918, the man-in-the-street threw his aviation ideals
overboard, shrugged his shoulders, and decided that some-
body had sold him a gold brick. So completely did he turn
his back on his former belief, that he refused to read about
what had been really accomplished before the Armistice
was signed ; or, reading it, declined to be "fooled a second
time."
The fact that he had expected more than was humanly
possible did not help him to appreciate the miracle that had
actually been performed. In a year and a half the Army
Air Service had grown from having 224 airplanes of doubt-
ful value, "a magnificent retrospective museum," as a vis-
iting French aviator remarked, to over 17,000, a large per-
centage of them the best in the world for the purposes for
which they were intended. We did not manufacture all of
the 17,000, nor did France or England manufacture all
234 AN EXPLORER
the ammunition they used. The point is we had them!
There were other achievements that the man-in-the-
street might have been proud of. He believed in the Rolls
Royce motor, but thought the Liberty motor a failure. He
ought to have been interested to learn that England, with
all her faith in the Rolls Royce, was only able at the end of
the war to make ten a day, while we were manufacturing
150 Liberty motors every twenty-four hours. This took
time to develop. It always does take time to put a new motor
on a production basis. He did not know that in order to
manufacture a Liberty motor on a typical American quan-
tity production basis, it was necessary to make 3000 sepa-
rate tools, gigs, and fixtures.
With his skepticism and his lack of technical knowledge,
he did not understand why England and France were eager
to purchase Liberty motors. He doubted the statement that
they were willing to take all we could spare them. The chief
reason was that the Liberty motor is remarkably efficient
It weighs 100 pounds less than the Rolls Royce and de-
velops 100 horse power more ! It is not surprising that the
first motors to succeed in crossing the Atlantic Ocean were
Liberty motors; while the Rolls Royce got "red hot" and
Mr. Hawker had to look to a chance steamer for aid.
With regard to airships and balloons, the man-in-the-
street knew very little, or he would have taken even more
pride in the American Air Service. From being able to make
two balloons a week when we went into the war, our capa-
city increased so that when the Armistice was signed, we
IN THE AIR SERVICE 235
were actually making 70 balloons a week. But that was not
the principal thing, although the presence of these kite bal-
loons was an important factor in winning the war on the
Western Front
We probably never shall know just how many of our
military secrets were known to the Hun, nor just how far
this knowledge, and what it meant in terms of the spring
campaign for 1919, led him to sign the Armistice in the
fall of 1918. It may have been that the knowledge of our
ability to begin inflating our balloons with non-inflammable
gas, a gas which could not be exploded by the fire of in-
cendiary bullets from Hun airplanes, had something to do
with his decision that the game was not worth the candle.
The fact remains that we had learned to produce helium
gas in quantity, and that the first shipment was made in
November, 1918.
The aerial observer, riding steadily in the basket of a
kite balloon, had proved to be more useful in the control of
artillery fire than his brother in the observation airplane,
who was continuallydodging anti-aircraft fire to say noth-
ing of the attacks of hostile planes. The balloon filled with
hydrogen made a relatively easy mark for hostile planes,
and it took only one bullet to send it down in flames, while
the observer escaped in a parachute. Had it been filled with
helium, he would have been able to stay up almost indefi-
nitely. And the observer would have given a good account
of himself by using machine guns, firing from a relatively
stable platform against the attacking airplanes, whose guns
236 AN EXPLORER
were firing from a platform moving at the rate of more than
100 miles an hour.
Helium, as the gas next lightest to hydrogen and with
95 per cent of its lifting power, was not known to the man-in -
the-street, and would not have interested him, for when we
entered the war helium cost $1700 a cubic foot To have
used it on the Western Front in the same quantity that we
used hydrogen would have cost us $34,000,000,000, or
more than all our Liberty Bonds combined. The knowledge
of what we might do if we could produce it at reasonable
cost led to such earnest investigation on the part of our
scientists in Washington, that a method was discovered
whereby helium could be extracted from natural gas in
Texas or Oklahoma at the cost of 10 cents a cubic foot.
Instead of $34,000,000,000, it would then only have cost
$2,000,000 to replace hydrogen in our balloons over the
lines. These things should have encouraged the man-in-the-
street As he becomes conscious of them, they will eventually
lead him to take a new interest in the possibilities of aviation
and the future of the Air Service.
The extraordinary success of the British dirigible in hunt-
ing submarines and keeping on their trail until they were
put out of business is now one of the open secrets of the war.
The dirigible, more easily than the fast flying airplane,
could pick up the oily trail of the submarine, locate various
oily surfaces, examine them at its leisure, " stalk the sub-
marine to its lair," and finally direct the destroyers where to
drop their depth bombs most successfully. In the matter of
IN THE AIR SERVICE 237
Coast Defence, it would seem as though dirigibles were far
more successful than seaplanes.
In the pursuits of peace time, the possible activity of diri-
gibles, both small and large, has scarcely been given due
consideration in America. The possibilities of a small diri-
gible are enormous and but dimly appreciated. If one is will-
ing to run the risk of fire and use hydrogen gas, a portable
gas-making machine has been perfected which enables one
readily to make hydrogen from a wayside stream. If one
prefers to use helium, it can be compressed into tubes that
are feasible for transportation. Furthermore, the leakage of
helium is not as great as that of hydrogen. A skilful aero-
naut can find landing places for a dirigible in many regions
where landing in an airplane is absolutely out of the question.
The use of dirigibles in exploring large flooded areas and
making prompt reports regarding the extent of the flood has
been suggested. Imagine what an enormous saving could be
effected by prompt, accurate reports of its description at a
time when telegraph wires are down and communication by
railroad or automobile has been seriously broken.
Their use in crossing desert areas, where full advantage
can be taken of prevailing winds and where, by sailing low,
a large amount of data can be collected with the minimum
amount of risk and delay, should be considered. It frequently
happens that important mines are located in the midst of
mountainous deserts which are very difficult of access. A
case has been brought to my attention of a miner in Alaska
who lost $100,000 because of his inability to go over the
238 AN EXPLORER
trails during the winter season. He would have been willing
to pay $25,000 for that transportation which would have
been entirely practicable had a dirigible and its crew been
available.
In exploration in the Amazon Valley we have always been
hampered by the extreme density of the jungle and the ne-
cessity of keeping near the great watercourses. There are
thousands of square miles within easy flying distance of
navigable rivers, thousands of square miles of totally unex-
plored country which the explorer who has a dirigible could
photograph, map, and investigate, from a low elevation in
the air, to his heart's content. To attempt to do this in air-
planes would mean the necessity of flying at great eleva-
tions in order to increase the margin of safety in case of
engine failure and make it possible to glide to some safe
landing area upon a navigable stream. On the other hand,
a small dirigible operating from a motor boat on a river
could make journeys of hundreds of miles over absolutely
unknown regions with a very small amount of danger. Ow-
ing to the dirigible's ability to float low over heavily forested
country, a tropical botanist or a practical forester skilled in
the commercial features of the Amazon basin could locate
at very little expense the important groves of mahogany or
rubber which do so much to make the tropics profitable in
commerce.
Should Commercial Aeronautics be under a separate
branch of the Government? At the Sixth National Foreign
Trade Convention, held in Chicago in April, 1919, repre-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 239
sentatives of the largest and most powerful exporting man-
ufacturers and merchants of America adopted the follow-
ing resolutions:
Realizing the unquestioned advantages of having the speediest pos-
sible mail and express service in enabling American enterprise to
compete successfully in securing the specifications and requirements of
our foreign contracts, this convention urges prompt Congressional
consideration of suitable plans for developing aerial navigation. The
establishment of the necessary aids to such navigation, the investiga-
tion and development of the fundamental principles of commercial
aeronautics, the promotion of airship service to distant countries, are
matters which demand the prompt establishment of a separate de-
partment of the government. One of its chief duties should be to pro-
vide the necessary information which will make possible the use of
aerial navigation as an aid to foreign trade.
The development of foreign trade depends in large measure
upon pleasing the foreign customer. When his need arises,
he gives his order to the man whose integrity he respects,
who can deliver the goods most promptly, and whose stand-
ing in the local community is at a high level. Agents of
American goods abroad have in the past been at a disad-
vantage, owing to lack of proper banking facilities, lack of
adequate ocean transport, and lack of prestige due to the
absence of our flag on the best passenger and freight lines.
These things have been largely remedied, and our European
competitors know that at least American banking facilities
and American steamship lines have improved during the
war to such an extent as greatly to assist the American ex-
porter. Consequently, they are naturally turning to the pos-
240 AN EXPLORER
sibilities of Aviation as a means of passing us in the race
and securing the most attractive foreign contracts.
If the foreign buyer knows that his order must go by
steamship mail from Buenos Aires, the greatest city of the
southern hemisphere, or from Hongkong or Yokohama,
those great markets of the Far East, before they can be de-
livered to our factories in America, a process that will take
about three weeks in time as compared with three or four
days if he sends the order to Europe by a British dirigible
airship like the R-34, it will be hard to secure that order
if he is in a hurry. Furthermore, if he knows that he can
secure from Europe specifications or missing parts by air-
plane express within a ^veek or ten days from the time he
sends for them, while it would take him from six weeks to
two months to get the same service from New York, it will
be very difficult for the American exporter to secure his order.
Our British cousins have a knowledge of export trade
and how to develop it that is second to none. Even during
the darkest days of the war, the British Air Ministry was
studying the problems of civil aerial transport. They have
been experimenting with rigid dirigibles for several years.
They sent a sample over here in 1919 to prove that the
thing was feasible. The R-34 and ships of her type which
are being built in England to-day can go anywhere in the
world, provided there are proper terminals, and provided there
are occasional ports to which they can repair in time of
stress, and where they may ride safely while taking on sup-
plies of gas and oil. As soon as they can be sure of suffi-
IN THE AIR SERVICE 241
cient aids to aerial navigation and proper docks that will not
endanger the safety of these expensive but speedy aircraft,
England and France will have lines of rigid dirigibles and
seaplanes established between the principal cities of Europe
and the great foreign markets in South America and the
Far East.
Of course it will take time to develop these terminals, but
England is steadily working on the problem while we are
making little or no attempt to progress in that direction.
After years of experimentation, England has learned how
to build a successful rigid dirigible which can cross the
Atlantic in less than forty-eight hours, without endanger-
ing either passengers or crew in case of engine trouble. We
have developed no rigid dirigible in this country, nor, so far
as I know, are there any under construction. It seems as
though we were asleep to the possibilities of aerial transport
There is no question that England's foreign trade is going
to be tremendously boomed by her far-sighted study of civil
aerial transport and by her present attention to rigid dirigi-
bles. When these great airships are seen in foreign ports
flying the British flag and offeringquick connection between
British manufacturers and their foreign customers, we shall
find effective competition to be very hard sledding. If we
wait until we actually see and feel the effects of the British
aerial international transport, it will take us years to catch
up, and in the mean time the position of our competitors will
be more and more firmly established.
History is curiously repeating itself in this question of
242 AN EXPLORER
foreign transportation. One hundred years ago, steamers
were just being tried out. The first one to cross the Atlantic
was an American the steamer Savannah. She took thirty
days to cross the ocean, while our clipper ships often did
it in half that time. Our experienced exporters, instead of
having vision and doing all in their power to establish
American lines of steamers, were contented to rely on our
attractive clipper ships and to brag about their performance,
while England gradually developed lines of ocean steamers,
and we one day woke up to the fact that our clipper ships
were out of date and that England had the coaling stations,
the foreign agents, the necessary terminals, and the tech-
nical knowledge to enable her to push our ocean-going
commerce out of the foreign ports where it had once been
so well known. Are we about to do this all over again ? Are
Americans willing to be content with having made aerial
navigation a practical possibility, and then going to permit
its future development to rest in the hands of our Euro-
pean competitors and thus let them secure the most effi-
cient handmaid of future foreign trade?
We may confidently expect that the army of the future
will spend much time and thought in developing Military
Aeronautics, and the navy, similarly, in the growth of
Naval Aeronautics. Then who is to look after Commercial
Aeronautics? Who is to conduct the fundamental experi-
ments in the use of the air? Who is to carry out the me-
teorological surveys to be made before aerial transportation
can be fully developed? Who will establish the aids to aerial
IN THE AIR SERVICE 243
navigation, such as air ports, wind breaks, lighthouses, bea-
cons, storm warnings, life saving stations, with aerial patrol
ready to give assistance to wrecked airships? Whose busi-
ness is it to do all these things? Until these are done; until
proper wharves and suitable harbors are prepared for the
reception of airships, where they will be as safe in time of
storm as are those sailing vessels which plow the seven
seas, the future of aviation, as far as we are concerned, will
be relatively insignificant. We recognize the fact that a
coast without ports and harbors does not attract commerce,
does not develop sailors, and does not conduce to a pros-
perous merchant marine. We have hitherto failed to recog-
nize the fact that a land without air ports and air harbors
cannot expect to witness the rapid development of Com-
mercial Aeronautics. The future of Aviation depends in
large measure on the speed with which we provide aids for
aerial navigation.
These are not needs which concern the army or the
navy nearly as much as they concern the merchant and
the manufacturer, who depend on them for their support.
The commerce of the future demands special consideration
from a governmental department of aeronautics. Such a
department would give it the fostering care that has been
shown by the Department of Agriculture in its bureaus of
animal industry and plant importation. Just as the Depart-
ment of Agriculture has helped to provide better horses for
the cavalry and better seeds for the farmer ; just as it has
helped us to produce more healthy crops and to solve the
244 AN EXPLORER
complex problems of farming, so must the Department of
Aeronautics provide winged steeds for the "mounted offi-
cers" of the field artillery, reconnaissance planes for the cav-
alry, and adequate aerial transportation for our merchants
and manufacturers.
Finally, we must not allow aerial accidents to blind us
to the importance of aerial navigation. Two thousand ocean
vessels were wrecked on the shores of Cape Cod prior to
1915. Nevertheless, in the preceding centuries the progress
of ocean navigation went steadily ahead on the New Eng-
land coast in spite of loss of life and property. We may con-
fidently expect that aerial navigation will slowly advance,
in spite of fatal accidents and numerous crashes. Still, if we
believe in aviation, it is our duty to strive by every means
in our power to secure the construction of those aids to nav-
igation that will reduce the risks and encourage the enter-
prise of the daring young pilots who are ready to do their
part in making the Air Service of the future a glorious page
in the history of America.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
ADMINISTRATION ROSTER* OF OFFICERS ON DUTY AT
THE THIRD AVIATION INSTRUCTION CENTRE, A. E. F.
November 24, 1918
STAFF
Lieutenant-Colonel Hiram Bingham, A. S., Commanding
Major Thomas G. Lanphier, Infantry, Executive Officer
Major Victor W. Page", A. S., Aero Engineer Officer, 0. I. C. Trans.
Captain Lester E. Cummings, A. S., Summary Court Officer
Captain Leo R. Sack, A. S., Liaison Officer, 0. 1. C. "Plane News"
Captain Theodore C. Knight, A. S., 0. 1. C. Fields 1 and 2
Captain St. Clair Street, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 5
Captain Richard S. Davis, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 7
Captain George Bleistein, Jr., A. S., Disbursing Officer
Captain Henry C. Ferguson, A. S., 0. 1. C. Flying
Captain Harry L. Wingate, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 8
Captain Henry H. Simons, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 3
Captain Vernon H. Simmons, A. S., 0. /. C. Training
First Lieutenant Richard H. Merkle, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 10
First Lieutenant Frederick A. Victor, 6 th Cavalry, Assistant Provost
Marshal
First Lieutenant Emil H. Molthan, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 9
First Lieutenant George W. Eypper, A. S., 0. /. C. Aerial Gunnery
First Lieutenant William V. Saxe, A. S., Adjutant
First Lieutenant Raymond A. Watkins, A. S., 0. L C. Field 12
First Lieutenant Selmer J. Tilleson, A. S., 0. L C. Aero Supply
Second Lieutenant Robert H. Clark, A. S., Personnel Officer
10 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Louis H. Kronig, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant George W. Fish, A. S., Engineer Officer Field 8
First Lieutenant Earl W. Sweeney, A. S., Assistant 0. L C. Aerial Gun-
nery Field 8
*This roster does not include the name* of student officers, of whom there were at that
time about one thousand.
248 APPENDIX
First Lieutenant John A. Taylor, A. S., Squadron Supply Officer
First Lieutenant Thomas Munroe, A. S., Moniteur Field 8
First Lieutenant Duerson Knight, A. S., Moniteur Field 8
Second Lieutenant Charles W. Seaton, A. S., Unassigned
Second Lieutenant Lewis A. Barcelo, A. S., Maintenance Officer Field 8
Second Lieutenant Henry A. Colver, A. S., 0. 1. C. Serial Gunnery
Field 8
21 st AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Frank L. Doty, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Lee E. Ellis, A. S., Squadron Supply Officer
First Lieutenant Edgar Youngdahl, A. S., Moniteur Field 3
First Lieutenant George D. Floyd, A. S., Moniteur Field 3
First Lieutenant Hugh Lowery, A. S., 0. 1. C. Cross-country Flights
First Lieutenant Alfred J. Ralph, A. S., Assistant 0. 1. C. Cross-country
Flights
First Lieutenant Arthur L. Lewis, A. S., 0. L C. Flying Field 3
First Lieutenant William R. Baxter, A. S., Adjutant Field 3
Second Lieutenant Bernard H. Baker, A. S., Moniteur Field 3
Second Lieutenant Robert S. Oliver, A. S., Moniteur Field 3
Second Lieutenant Stuart F. Auer, A. S., Moniteur Field 3
Second Lieutenant James H. O'Neil, A. S. , Chief Engineer Officer Field 3
Second Lieutenant John T. Eagleton, A. S., Duty with Aero Supply De-
partment
Second Lieutenant Kent H. Smith, A. S., Police Officer Field 3
Second Lieutenant John E. Gans, A. S., Adjutant
26 th AERO SQJJADRON
Captain James C. Calvert, S. C., Commanding
First Lieutenant George W. McNamara, A. S., Claims Officer Third
A, I. C.
First Lieutenant Thomas W. Ward, A. S., Information Officer and Duty
with Training Department
Second Lieutenant Massey S. McCullough, A. S., Assistant Transporta-
tion Officer
Second Lieutenant Karl H. Kloo, A. S., Photographer Third A. I. 0.,
Assistant 0. L C. "Plane News"
Second Lieutenant R. W. Prestridge, A. S. , Squadron Supply Officer and
Adjutant
APPENDIX 249
30 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Raymond M. Lewis, A. S. , Commanding, Assistant Ad-
jutant Third A. I. C., 0. L C. Band, Judge Advocate Special Court-
Martial
Second Lieutenant Roy W. Gottschall, A. S.,Duty with Aerial Gunnery
Department
Second Lieutenant Arthur E. Stevens, A. S., Assistant Supply Officer
Third A. L C.
Second Lieutenant William G. Kieck, A. S., Assistant Supply Officer
Third A. L C.
Second Lieutenant Eugene W. Silver, A. S., Duty with Engineering
Department
31 st AERO SQUADRON
Captain Charles R. Melin, A. S., 0. L C. Night Flying Field 7
Second Lieutenant James B. Andrews, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Robert N. Dippy, A. S.,Duty with Engineering De-
partment
First Lieutenant Schuyler L. Hoff, A. S., Supply Officer Field 5
First Lieutenant Walter C. Davis, A. S., 0. 7. C. Training Field 5
First Lieutenant Roy Robinson, A. S., 0. L C. Training Field 12
First Lieutenant Lloyd L. Harvey, A. S., Moniteur Field 5
First Lieutenant Wesley J. Hunt, Jr., A. S., Moniteur Field 5
Second Lieutenant Parker Blair, A. S., Assistant Adjutant Field 5
Second Lieutenant Walter Sturrock, A. S., Engineer Officer Field 5
32 d AERO SQJJADRON
Captain Duncan Dana, A. S., Commanding, 0. L C. Aero Repair Shop
First Lieutenant Roland E. Coates, \.S., Assistant Engineer Officer Aero
Repair Shop
Second Lieutenant Arthur B. Coryell, A. S., Assistant Engineer Officer
Aero Repair Shop
Second Lieutenant Eliot B. Foot, A. S., Assistant Engineer Officer Aero
Repair Shop
33 d AERO SQJJADRON
Captain Clarence Oliver, A. S., Commanding, Adjutant Field 9
Fijst Lieutenant Roger E. Martz, A. S., Chief Engineer Officer Field 9
First Lieutenant Samuel W. Rynocker, A. S., Squadron Supply Officer,
Fire Marshal, and Police Officer Field 9
250 APPENDIX
First Lieutenant Robert Haverty, A. S., Moniteur Field 9
Second Lieutenant Clare E. Rollins, A. S., Moniteur Field 9
Second Lieutenant James O. Peck, A. S., Moniteur Field 9
Second Lieutenant Heber W. Peters, A. S., 0. 1. C. Flying Field 9
Second Lieutenant George S. Koyl, A. S., Maintenance Officer Field 9
Second Lieutenant Edward L. Gulick, Jr., A. S., Supply Officer Field 9
Second Lieutenant John L. Barnes, A. S., Assistant Adjutant Field 9
35 th AERO SQUADRON
Second Lieutenant Preston M. Albro, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Golden H. Benefiel, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant James B. Kincaid, A. S., 0. 1. C, Flying Field 2
First Lieutenant Arthur T. Bissonette, A. S., Assistant 0. I. C. Flying
Field 2
First Lieutenant Thomas L. Dawson, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Herbert F. Duggan, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Irving D. Fish, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Dean Hole, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Barney M. Landry, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant James P. Moonan, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant William J. Ritchie, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant William E. Rogers, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Horace W. Stunkard, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Bernard M. Wise, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Walter M. Wotipka, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Russell M. Bandy, Jr., A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Erhardt G. Schmitt, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Edgar A. Rogers, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Joe W. Savage, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Edwin C. Hurlburt, A. S., Assistant .Engineer Officer
Field 2
Second Lieutenant Charles H. W. Berry, A. S., Assistant Engineer Offi-
cer Field 2
37 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Malcolm C. Wall, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Francis U. Wilcox, A. S., Adjutant Field 7
APPENDIX 251
First Lieutenant Foster R. Rozar, A. S., Engineer Officer Field 7
First Lieutenant John N. Murray, A. S.,^ssw/an/ Adjutant and Mess
Officer Field 7
First Lieutenant Thomas L. Onativia, A. S., Tester Field 7
First Lieutenant Wilbur B. Stonex, Moniteur Field 7
First Lieutenant Harry F. Thomas, A. S., Moniteur Field 7
Second Lieutenant Dracos A. Dimitry, A. S., Moniteur Field 7
Second Lieutenant George W. Bogardus, A. S., Supply Officer Field 7
43 d AERO SQUADRON
Second Lieutenant Thornton T. Perry, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant Earl R. Crebbs, A. S., Engineer Officer
Second Lieutenant T. C. Thorp, Infantry, Assistant Adjutant Field 12
Second Lieutenant Edward E. Webster, A. S., Supply Officer
101 st AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant George S. Walden, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant Frederick W. Niedermeyer, A. S., Moniteur Field 5
Second Lieutenant Lloyd M. Dudley, A. S., Moniteur Field 5
Second Lieutenant Herbert L. Kindred, A. S., Moniteur Field 5
Second Lieutenant Howard E. Williams, A. S., Moniteur Field 5
149 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant John B. Hayes, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant John C. Wiler, A. S., Engineer Officer
Second Lieutenant Howard C. Riley, A. S., Supply Officer
158 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Phil E. Davant, A. S., Commanding, Duty with Police
and Prison Officer
Second Lieutenant Kenneth S. Hall, A. S., Supply Officer
Second Lieutenant Freeman A. Ballard, A. S., Duty uith Engineering
Department
173 d AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Joseph B. Irving, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Thomas P. Sultan, A. S., 0. L C. Training Field 7
252 APPENDIX
Second Lieutenant Morgan J. Flaherty, A. S., Adjutant
Second Lieutenant Roscoe C. Griffin, A. S., Assistant Engineer Officer
Field 7
Second Lieutenant William G. Barnes. A. S., Assistant 0. 1. C. Training
Field 7
257 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Ray Traxler, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant George J. Lay ton, A. S., Moniteur Field 9
Second Lieutenant Strong B. McDan, A. S., Moniteur Field 9
Second Lieutenant Samuel C. Smart, A. S., Moniteur Field 9
Second Lieutenant Arthur L. Lott, A. S., Supply Officer
Second Lieutenant Richard P. Carl ton, A. S., Assistant Engineer Officer
Field 9
369 th AERO SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Robert Edmisson, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Walter J. Zapp, A. S., Supply Officer
Second Lieutenant Paul E. Smith, A. S., Engineer Officer
372 d AERO SQJJADRON
First Lieutenant Theodore W. Koch, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant Victor G. Paradise, A. S., Supply Officer Squadron,
Entertainment and Athletic Officer Field 1
Second Lieutenant S. G.Farris, A. S.,Duty with Engineering Department
374 th AERO SOJJADRON
First Lieutenant Paul C. Bellow, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant William J. Peddie, A. S., Supply Officer
Second Lieutenant Henry Frink, A. S., Engineer Officer
640 th AERO SOJJADRON
First Lieutenant William G. Rector, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant Fred H. Belford, A. S., Duty with Engineering De-
partment Field 3
Second Lieutenant John F. McCormick, A. S., Supply Officer Field 10
APPENDIX 253
641 st AERO SQUADRON
Captain Boyd F. Briggs, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Lewis A. Smith, A. S., Duty with Aero Supply
Second Lieutenant George B. Keeler, A. S., Supply Officer Field 10
Second Lieutenant Stanley G. Wilson, A. S., Duty with Aero Supply De-
partment
Second Lieutenant Wilbur B. Stonex, A. S., Supply Officer Field 8
Second Lieutenant Clay E. Smith, A. S., Squadron Supply Officer
Second Lieutenant Oliver T. Massey, A. S., Adjutant
Second Lieutenant Frederick B. Andrews, A. S., Duty with Training
Department
642 d AERO SQJJADRON
First Lieutenant Robert G. Alexander, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant Donald F. Gilbert, A. S., Duty with Construction Officer
Second Lieutenant John H. Cozzens, A. S.,Duty with Engineering De-
partment
Second Lieutenant John J. Flaherty, A. S., Duty with Aero Supply,
0. /. C. Entertainment
Second Lieutenant Giles J. Leath, A. S., Company Duty
Second Lieutenant Maurice J. Freeman, A. S., Duty with Aerial Gun-
nery Department
Second Lieutenant Bayliss W. Hunter, A.S.,Zfc//y with Executive Officer.
Second Lieutenant Lowell W. Bassett, A. S., Adjutant
Second Lieutenant William K. Donaldson, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field Service
644 th AERO SQJJADRON
First Lieutenant John H. Clayton, A. S., Commanding
First Lieutenant John G. Fleming, A. S., Transportation Officer Field 8
First Lieutenant George S. Vincent, A. S., Moniteur Field 8
Second Lieutenant Lewis H. Steward, A. S., Moniteur Field 8
Second Lieutenant Royce D. Hancock, A. S., Moniteur Field 8
Second Lieutenant Samuel E. Lawyer, A. S., Moniteur Field 8
801 8t AERO SQJJADRON
First Lieutenant Edward Fenway, A. S., Commanding, Adjutant Field 2
First Lieutenant Jacob S. Yerger, A. S., Adjutant
First Lieutenant George W. Forrester, A. S., 0. 1. C. Field 1
254 APPENDIX
First Lieutenant Henry L. Badham, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Gerald C. Bishop, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant William E. Cameron, A. S., Moniteur Field 1
First Lieutenant Harry O. Fishel, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Irvin J. Higgins, A. S., Moniteur Field 1
First Lieutenant Frederick W. Horton, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Charles R. Mackan, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Walter W. Randolph, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant George E. Smith, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Gerritt V. Weston, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant James R. Worthington, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
First Lieutenant Charles P. Maloney, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Russell C. Gates, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Russell Gomes, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Howard B. Hankey, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant John Q. Kiler, A. S., Moniteur Field 1
Second Lieutenant Rodman B. Montgomery, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant John H. Thompson, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Franklin H. Devitt, A. S., Moniteur Field 1
Second Lieutenant John B. Swen, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant John P. Morris, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Lyle C. Smith, A. S., Moniteur Field 2
Second Lieutenant Orah G. Douglas, A. S., Supply Officer Field 2
802 d AERO SQUADRON
Captain Oliver B. Wyman, A. S., Commanding, Adjutant Main Bar-
racks Division, Trial Judge Advocate, General Court-Martial
First Lieutenant Lee F. Lanham, A. S. , 0. L 0. Telephone and Telegraph
System
Second Lieutenant James O. Craig, A. S.,Duty with Engineering De-
partment
Second Lieutenant Murchie R. Thomas, A. ., Duty with Maintenance De-
partment
1104 th REPLACEMENT SQUADRON
First Lieutenant Oris P. Embleton, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant William M. Reck, A. S., Duty with Maintenance De-
partment
APPENDIX 255
Second Lieutenant Robert N. Landreth, A. S.,Duty with Aero Supply
Second Lieutenant H. P. McLaughlin, A. S.
Second Lieutenant James B. Doles, Engineers, 0. I. C. Railroad System
1 st COMPANY, 2 d REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Charles W. Babcock, A.S., Commanding, O.I. C. Machine
Shops
3 d COMPANY, 2 d REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Oakley Bolton, S. C., Commanding
First Lieutenant Otto H. Lambrix, A. S., Assistant 0. 1. C. Machine
Shops
12 th COMPANY, 3 d REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Robert P. Oldham, A. S., Commanding
Second Lieutenant Frank R. Meyer, A. S., Duty with Engineering De-
partment
13 th COMPANY, 3 d REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Albert Roberts, S. C. , Commanding, Inspector Outlying Fields
First Lieutenant Mathias P. Molburg, A. S., Company Duty
11 th COMPANY, 4 th REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Frank Ondricek, S. C. , Commanding, Labor Officer Third A. I. C.
Second Lieutenant Earnest Young, A. S., On Detached Service
12 th COMPANY, 4 th REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Frank Connell, S. C., Commanding
First Lieutenant George O. Reynolds, A. S.,Duty with Engineering De-
partment
Second Lieutenant Elisha C. Howes, Jr., A. S., Assistant Maintenance
Officer
13 th COMPANY, 4 th REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
First Lieutenant John F. Bligh, F. A., Commanding
First Lieutenant Harley F. McCurdy, A. S., Assistant Adjutant Main
Barracks Division
Second Lieutenant Henry F. Hauserman, A. S., Athletic Officer, Third
A. I. C.
256 APPENDIX
14 th COMPANY, 4 th REGIMENT, AIR SERVICE MECHANICS
Captain Robert A. Nelson, S. C., Commanding
Second Lieutenant Donald B. Regester, A. S., Company Duty
HEADQUARTERS DETACHMENT
Major Howard S. Curry, A. S., Commanding
Captain Charles A. Hill, A. S., Executive Officer
Captain Arthur E. Simonin, A. S., Duty with Training Department
First Lieutenant Thomas A. Flaherty, A. S., Duty with Engineering De-
partment
First Lieutenant Bradford B. Locke, A. S., Adjutant
First Lieutenant Raymond L. Suppes, A. S., Garden Officer
First Lieutenant Edwin T. Macbride, A. S. , Duty with Training Depart-
ment
First Lieutenant Merrill T. Miller, A. S., Duty with Engineering De-
partment
First Lieutenant John J. Lyons, A. S., Duty with Aerial Gunnery De-
partment
First Lieutenant Lyman G. Vollentine, A. S., Duty with Maintenance
Department
First Lieutenant Charles E. Branshaw, A. S., Duty with Q. M. C.
First Lieutenant Robert L. Richardson, A. S., Duty with Q. M. C.
First Lieutenant Russell L. Duval, A. S., Headquarters Detachment Per-
sonnel Officer
First Lieutenant Frank G. Dennison, A. S., Duty with Engineering De-
partment
First Lieutenant Frank E. Martin, A. S., 0,1. C. Assembly
First Lieutenant Irving S. Morange, A. S., Instructor at Field 10
First Lieutenant Thomas O. Dye, A. S., Duty with Training Department
First Lieutenant Charles R. Knox, A. S., Duty with Aerial Gunnery De-
partment, Instructor
First Lieutenant Rex F. Gilmartin, A. S., Duty with Engineering De-
partment
First Lieutenant John Willard, A. S., Unassigned
First Lieutenant A. H. Young, A. S., Unassigned
Second Lieutenant Ben A. Calhoun, A. S., Duty with Aero Supply
Second Lieutenant George A. Dooley, A. S. , Duty with Maintenance De-
partment
APPENDIX 257
Second Lieutenant S. V. Trent, A. S., Duty with Engineering Depart-
ment
Second Lieutenant Marius Rocle, A. S., Claims Officer, Third A. I. C.
Second Lieutenant Edward M. Riggs, A. S.,Duty with Engineering De-
partment
Second Lieutenant Frederick H. Mead, A. S.,Duty at field 12
Second Lieutenant Gordon W. Clark, A. S., Duty with Information Offi-
cer
Second Lieutenant Harold F. Rouse, A. S., Duty with Personnel Officer
Second Lieutenant Samuel S. Stevens, A. S., Intelligence Officer, Third
A. L C.
Second Lieutenant Frank C. Brigham, A. S., Headquarters Detachment
Personnel Officer
Second Lieutenant Adrian Cote, A. S., Athletic Officer
Second Lieutenant Theodore Jefferson, A. S., Detachment Supply Officer
Second Lieutenant George N. Lockridge, A. S., Assistant Adjutant
Second Lieutenant R. H. George, A. S., Gosport Instructor
Second Lieutenant A. N. Burkholder, A. S., Gosport Instructor
Second Lieutenant Davenport Pogue, A. S., Gosport Instructor
Second Lieutenant W. F. Rittman, A. S., Avro Instructor
70 th PRISONER OF WAR ESCORT COMPANY
Captain Alonzo Pelham, C. A. C., Commanding
First Lieutenant L. W. Bowman, Infantry, Supply Officer
COMPANY E, 26 th ENGINEERS
First Lieutenant D. W. Blakeslee, Engineers, Commanding
HEADQUARTERS DETACHMENT, 128 th ENGINEERS
Major LeRoy H. Byam, Engineers, Commanding, Maintenance Officer
Captain Fred B. Dawes, Engineers, Adjutant
COMPANY A, 128 th ENGINEERS
Second Lieutenant Clinton A. Bushong, Engineers, Commanding
Second Lieutenant R. W. Young, Engineers
COMPANY B, 128 th ENGINEERS
Second Lieutenant Thaynes Williams, Engineers, Commanding
258 APPENDIX
COMPANY B, 11 th U. S. MARINES
Major Harry K. Pickett, Marines, Commanding, Police and Prison Offi-
cer, Commanding Main Barracks Division, Member Board of Investi-
gation
Captain Joseph C. Bennett, Marines, Company Duty
First Lieutenant Merritt A. Edson, Marines, Company Administration
Second Lieutenant John M. McGregor, Marines, Officer of the Day, Com-
pany Duty
Second Lieutenant Miner P. Gross, Marines, Officer of the Day , Company
Duty
Second Lieutenant Eldred I. Rawles, Marines, Officer of the Day, Com-
pany Duty
First Lieutenant Herbert L. Arnold, Medical Corps, Duty with Camp
Hospital
Q. M. C. DETACHMENT
Major Charles W. Godfrey, Q. M. C,., Depot Quartermaster
Captain Charles A. LaSalle, Q. M. C., Disbursing Officer
First Lieutenant Charles M. Stivers, Q. M. C., 0. L C. Subsistence
Second Lieutenant William J. Cotty, Q. M. C. , Commanding Bakery De-
tachment No. 334
Second Lieutenant Milton Marks, Q. M. C., Officer in Charge C. & E.
Second Lieutenant George Beyer, Q. M. C., Assistant to D. Q. M.
(finance)
Second Lieutenant Oswald F. Stremmel, Jr., Q. M.C., Assistant to
D. Q. M.
Second Lieutenant J. H. Neal, Q. M. C., Assistant to D. Q. M.
Second lieutenant I. C. Rosenthal, Q. M. C., Commanding Detachment
Company B 345th Labor Bn.
MEDICAL DETACHMENT, CAMP HOSPITAL No. 14
Major William G. Noe, M. C., Commanding, Surgeon
Major Everett G. Brownell, M. C., G.-U. Specialist
Major John J. McKenna, M. C., X-Ray Specialist
Captain Herbert N. Barnett, M. Q,., Adjutant
Captain Charles F. Clayton, M. C., Surgeon
Captain James R. Earle, M. C., Surgical, Nose and Throat
Captain Waldo C. Farnham, M. C.,Duty at Field 9
Captain Alston Fitts, M. C., Medical
APPENDIX 259
Captain Charles D. High, M. C., Duty at Field 5
Captain Harry V. Jackson, M. C., fluty at Field 8
Captain Joseph L. McLaughlin, M. C., Medical
Captain Percy D. Moulton, M. C., Duty at Field 7
Captain Eugene Palmore, M. C., Medical
Captain George A. Stevens, M. C., Bacteriologist
First Lieutenant James W. Allbritain, M. C.,Duty at Field 14
First Lieutenant Morris Auslander, M. C., Medical
First Lieutenant Leon J. Barber, M. C., Surgeon
First Lieutenant Joseph A. Belott, M. C., Duty at Field 12
First Lieutenant Charles H. Brownlee, M. C., Pathologist
First Lieutenant James J. Dickinson, M. C., Ear, Nose, and Throat
First Lieutenant Sigurd H. Kraft, M. C., Medical
First Lieutenant Frank R. Nothnagle, M. C., Surgical
First Lieutenant Edgar E. Rice, M. C., Surgeon
First Lieutenant Clyde R. Van Gundy, M. C.,Duty at Field 7
First Lieutenant Sidney J. Vann, M. C.,Duty at Field 9
First Lieutenant LeRoy J. Wheeler, M. C., Medical
First Lieutenant Robert E. Wilson, M. C., Sanitary Inspector
First Lieutenant Ronald E. Esson, M. C., Assistant Adjutant
First Lieutenant William M. Barron, M. C.,X-Ray
First Lieutenant Adolph Wood, M. C., Duty at Field 2
First Lieutenant Garland M. Herwood, M. C.,Duty with Medical Re-
search Unit No. 1
First Lieutenant Charles R. Farnham, M. C., Surgeon
DENTAL CORPS
Captain Austin R. Killian, D. C., Dental
First Lieutenant Joseph A. Schiller, D. C., Dental
First Lieutenant Elmer Steiner, D. C., Dental
MEDICAL RESEARCH BOARD
Colonel William H. Wilmer, M. C., Commanding
Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard G. Rowntree, M. C., Executive Officer
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Horn, M. C.
Major James L. Whitney, M. C.
Major Edward C. Schneider, M. C.
260 APPENDIX
Major Robert R. Hampton, M. C., Flight Surgeon, Third A. L C.
Major William C. Meaner, M. C.
Major William F. Patton, M. C.
Major Robert S. McCombs, M. C.
Major Wilson M. Bassett, M. C.
Captain Eugene Gary, M. C.
Captain Claude T. Uren, M. C.
Captain Floyd C. Dockeray, Sn. C.
Captain Conrad Berens, M. C.
Captain Frank M. Hallock, M. C.
Captain Harold F. Pierce, Sn. C.
First Lieutenant Wilbur M. Blackshare, M. C.
First Lieutenant Harvey W. Kernan, Sn. C.
First Lieutenant Prentice Reeves, Sn. C.
Second Lieutenant Harold W. Gregg, Sn. C.
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