On February 1, 1918, the end of a long, hard winter was sinalized by orders sending the Squadran to Amanty, the Headquarters of the First Observation Group, to be made into an Observation Squadron. Major H. B. Andarson was assigned as Squadron commander and Lt. Mahan became Ajuvant and Supply Officer. On February 14, the first Pilot Captain K. P. Littaner, and old Lafayette flyer, was assigned; and on the 22nd. eighteen first lieutenants from Issoudun reported, filling up the roster of pilots. Those who remained with the squadron through the work ahead were G. M. Comey, L. V. Benheimer, F. E. Evans, F.L. McCordie, P. A. Box, L. G. Bower, R. C. M. Page, E. A. Hastings, L. V. Hailorunn, P. R., Babcock, P. H. McNulty, J. T. Fairall, and J. H. McClendon.
From this time until May 5th the squadron waited in Amanty for planes to take to the front. During the interval, the squadron used A.R's belonging to the First Group School in carrying out the work of the Observer's School there and the men did considerable construction work in connection with Amanty, which was becoming an air center of some importance. At this time most of the old squadrons of the Air Service in in or near Amanty, putting on the finiishign touches of their training. There was the 94th and 95th PUrsuit at Epiez, the 96th Bombardment at Amanty and the following Observation: st, 91st, 12th and 90th. The order in which tehse first squadrons later flew over the lines was as follows:1st, 94th, 95th, 12th, 88th 91st 90th and 96th.
On May 5th the first Sopwith 1 1/2 strutters, with which the sqauadran was to be equipped, arrive and from then on the squadron rapidly worked into shape in all its departments. Lt. Blfay the supply officer had already secured a truck train, touring cars adn established our transportationn; Lt. Hall had gotten our armament Department into working order; and Lt. Segaitz was esstablishing the Engineering Department. On the 22nd of May Lt. E. C. Vroeeman repoarrted as Radio Officer and on t the 24th of May the first observers becgan to arrive from the various trench observation squadronswhere they had been working. Those who came in the first two batches and who remained wiht eh squadren were: 1st Lts. T A Kirwin, 101st F A H W Merrill, 103rd F A, J I Rancourt, 103rd FA EW wagner, 6th FA, HT douglas, Inf., and SS Barrows FA: 2nd Lts. VM Hasselman, 150th FA, L h moore, 7th FA, Je Palmer, 7th FA, CW plummer, 101st FA, JW Jordan, 7th FA and Curtis Wheeler, 5th FA, representing the four original divisions of the A. E. F. , the Rainbow, Yankee 1st and 2nd.
On May 28th the squadron moved from Amanty to OUrches, eighteen kilometers southwest of Toul and on May 30th the squadron? on its original front of the A.E.F. , the old Toul? Lt. Kirwin as Operations Ofiicer. The first missions went out on May 30th-- Major Anderson with Lt. Kirwin, Captain Lietauer with Lt. Rancourt, Lt. Evenas and Lt. Hartwell and Lt Box with Lt. Douglas-- and received their baptism of fire from the famous "APokie"? batteries between Apremont and Montsec.
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The squadron was assigned to the 26th Division under General Edwards which had already fought the engagement of SEichuery? and was turning an old rest sector into a fairly hot front along the line apremont to Limey.
There where tow other squadrons on the field with us a Ourophes, the 1st acting as the 1st Corps squadron, and the 12th with the French Division on our right, which completed the Corps and occupiedthe secotro up to Font a Moussson. The 91st was also operatiing from Gondreville as an Army Swuadron. Being a division squadron the 88th snet a few photographic missione over the lines, and becauseuse no push was on, no infantry contract patrols, most of the work being reconnnaissances and artillery adjustments, at which Lts. Kervwin, Merrill, hartwell, Rancourt and Hoore were particularly successful. Lts. Box and Jordan conducted a number of successful photographic missions behind the lines despite the "Archie" fire from the battery in Martmare Wood.
The first real trouble came on Sunday, June 16th when the Germans drove us out of the town of Xivray at dawn end the Americans counter-attacked. On this day the squadron send up ten missions amid some excitement and Lt. Jordan conducted a successful reglege for neutralization of the German batteries in Montsec. Lt. Merrill spend a wild morning looking for a German long range gun that was suppsoed to have been brought down by a railroad from Mets, and Lt. Kirwin conducted a gas shoot against the "Archie" battery that had peppered Capt. Littauer's plane a few days before.
During those weeks while the squadron was settling intor shape the entire situation on the western front had changed. On May 26 the Germans had attacked on the old line of the Chemin des Dames, headed straight for Paris, and in three days had gotten as far as Chateau Thierry on the Marne. Taken in connection with theiir drive from ST. Quentin to Mon?idier in March and their cutting of the English main railroad lilnes at Bethune in April, it was evident that they were exerting every effort to end the war before the bulk of the American Army could get to France.
In this exigency the old plan of keeping the American Army in the Toul sector was abandoned and the best trained divisions were rushed twoard Chateau Thierry. Shortly after Xivray, the 26 Division was relieved by the 82, and a few days later the 1st Corps shifted, and the Observation GRoup working with it began to pull out. For a few days the 88ths squadron workeded with the 82nd Division and the 4th Army Corps, while the 1st and 13th Squadrons were moved out. During this time a number of changes were made in the personeel of the 88th. Lt. Hakl?, ouir first casualty, who had been badly burned aobu the face by the explosion of gasoline in the machine gun tent, but who had nevertheless continued his work with his head in a cage of wire adn cheesecloth, was ordered to General Fouslouis's Staff and relieved by Lt. JJ Knowles as ARmament Officer on the 21st of June. On the June 28th, Lts. Harold F. Marshall and RW hitchcock and on the July 2nd Lt. JM murphy were assigned to the squadron as pilots, lt. Leo F Powers as Adjutant in place Lt. Mahan, who had been acting as group commander, definitely served his connection wit the squadron, taking with him Lt. Kirwin AS Group Operations Officer. Captain Littauer became squadron commander, with Lt. Hartwell as his Operations Officer.
At this time the non-commissioned officers with the various departments were: Sergeant-Major's office, Sgt. cl Walter D. Thrane, First seargeant, Sgt. 1 cl. Earl F. Hersh (who was later to trade places with Sgt. l cl. John L. Putt, at this time as a crew chief); Experimental and Repair Shop, Sgt. 1st Cl. Burr C. Carter, Machine Shop, Sgt. l/cl. Christian V. Mortensen; Operations, Sgt. 1st cl. Floyd L Evans; Magneto, Sgt. l cl. J O Taylor, Hangar Chief, Sgt. l cl. Wm. H. Hicks; MEss, Sgt. 1 cl. HO Johnson; Transportation, Sgt. Ralph L Townsend; Armament, Cpl. Max Walton; Radion, Cpl. Harold S. Williams. Among the crew chiefs were Sgts. 1 cl. H C Roberts and Jesse W. STansfield, and Sgts. N. H McKay, TR Gladwill and Cols. J B Iconlower and EE McFarland.
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The Squadron was now on about the form in which it was to go through several engagements. It needed only its first combat. On July 5th, Lt. Douglass came back from Cazaux, was attacked during the dawn reconnausease by the zebra-stripped Albatross of a crack pursuit squadron that had fast moving into the sctor. They bazed at each other for several kilometers, till the Boches dived off and Lt. Hastings took the ship home with his aileron controls shot away and the fuselage riddled with bursts of seven or eight rounds together. It is probable that Lt. Douglass brought down one of the Albatross, but nobdoy ever had time to look up that matter or the Croix de Guerre for which they were both recommended, for on the next day the squadron moved to the Chateau-Thierry front.
Two days later the squadron was all together again in a large farm at Frenchville, four kilometers west of JCoulommiers just off the Crecy road. The pilots had flown down on the 6th with their cheif mechanics by way of LIgny en Barrois, later to be the headquarters of the 1st American Army, St. Idmier, Vitry le francois, Sommesous and Fere Chempenoise, the old battlefield of the Marne. The observers had come in the Cadillac and Fiate in eight hours, and the rest of the squadron in a light and a heavy truck train in two days. This was the method adopted for all later moves and enabled the squadron thereafter to start active operation the day it moved. Headquarters, armament, radio, supply and engineering were established in tents, and the ships in tent hangers.
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Planes left behind and a flying field south of Paris was picked out to move to.
It was at this time that Marshal Foch evolved the plans for his big attack which were kept so secret that even corps commanders knew nothing of them till the day before the attack. Enormous reserves of infantry, artillery, cavalry, and tanks were concentrated in the Forest of Villers Cotterets, back of the sector between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons. Because of the 1st Division’s record at Cantigny and the 2nd Division’s record in and around Belleau Wood, they were picked as part of the shock troops to work on either side of the famous Marne Division. The Second Division began pulling out of the sector on the right immediately and was relieved by our old friends the 26th from Toul. The 3rd Division was rushed to Conde en Brie to hold the line there at all costs in case the Germans launched their attack across the Marne, and the 42nd was sent in just east of Rheims. Aside from the concentration of divisions at Villers Cotterets the French had no reserves left anywhere and the English army was even worse off. It was strictly up to America.
On the 15th, heralded by a terrific barrage, the Germans crossed the Marne between Dormans and Jaulgonne and fought their way against the Third Division and two French divisions as far south as St. Aignan. There they were held at a terrific loss preparing for another attack. At the same time they launched a similar attack east of Rheims to widen the salient, but were driven back by counter attacks. At this time the 42nd Division gained their first reputation. All this came at the lowest ebb since the battle of the Marne and people of Paris began to look to the south and plans were made to shift the government to Bordeaux again.
On the night of the 15th the woods to the east of the squadron field were shelled by long range German artillery and most of the squadron spent the night in shelter trenches or hay stacks. The nights of the 16th and 17th German bombers came over the field and dropped pills on the surrounding country. Everyone expected another big German attack and the squadron sent out a large number of reconnaissance missions in preparation for a desperate defensive action.
At 12:00 o’clock on the night of the 17th the squadron received orders for ATTACK instead of defensive action. Zero hour was to be at dawn on the 18th and our division was to take hill 195 and strike toward the Chateau-Thierry–Soissons road. At dawn Lt. Douglas with Lt. Bernheimer conducted what was probably the first infantry contact patrol of the A.E.F. and our little part of the big push was on. Ten infantry contact patrols were sent out that first day. While protecting Capt. Tittman and Lt. Wheelen on one of these patrols that afternoon, Lt. Evans was shot through the leg by a machine gun bullet from hill 204, but with the assistance of Lt. Merrill, his observer, managed to get back behind our lines and earn the first of the squadron’s twelve Croix de Guerre.
By nightfall our division, with the help of the 26th, had taken Hill 195 and Courchamps, the pivot of the line, and the French staff officers in the ruined chateau at Dhuys were dancing around kissing each other on both cheeks. A little later we received word that the Third and Second Divisions with the Zouaves and Foreign Legion between them had cut the Soissons–Chateau-Thierry road with the right wing of the attack and the Germans were on the run. During the month of July the 88th Squadron, doing practically nothing but infantry contact patrol and reconnaissance, helped follow the retreating Germans out of the Chateau-Thierry pocket from the Marne River to the Ourcq. All the old rules of trench warfare were gone and we located the front line mainly by machine gun bullets in the wings.
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On the 18th the first of our Salmson planes were received and from then on the 88th was fortunate enough to operate as a Salmson Squadron.
Meanwhile the 3rd Division, which had borne the full brunt of the German attack across the Marne, had turned and was driving them north through Jaulgonne, Le Charmel, and the land between in the sector to our right, until they were relieved by the 28th Division as part of the 3rd Army Corps which now took over that sector on our right. As the Corps had no American Air Service we were relieved from the 1st Corps Group and assigned to the 3rd Corps as both Corps and Divisional Squadrons. This ended our part in what is loosely called “Chateau-Thierry” and marked the beginning of what is generally known as:
The Vesle
On August 4th the Squadron moved to a little farm just off the road from Courboin to Blismes and about halfway between Chateau-Thierry and Conde en Brie, and started operating the same day for the 3rd Corps. One brigade of the 3rd Division was still in line when we started operating with the 32nd Division on their left and the 42nd Division just coming up. The 237th and 284th French squadrons were assigned to the group, and together we worked for the above divisions while they drove the Boche north of the Vesle.
Here the lines stuck and the operation took on the character of position warfare. On August 9th, the 6th Photo Section was sent to join us, and the 88th has been operating as a Corps Squadron from that time on. The character of the missions changed considerably. Between August 10th and September 7th seven successful photo missions, totaling 150 plates, made a practically complete photographic map of the territory between the Vesle and the Aisne, and between Courlandon and Bazoches. This was of very considerable assistance to the 3rd Corps in their attacks which by September 8th had driven the Boche back to the line of the Aisne.
During this time, the 28th Division had relieved the 32nd and 3rd, and the 77th Division had relieved the 42nd. With all of them as well as with the 55th and 56th regiments of Corps artillery long range artillery adjustments were conducted. It was owing to the nature of these two types of missions which proved to be more dangerous than infantry contact patrol, and to the air situation, that the squadron suffered so heavily. The Americans were now preparing for the St. Mihiel attack and every American Squadron except the 88th was being drawn from the Vesle sector. This left us unsupported and the Boche pursuit ruled the air. Without its experience in the Toul and Chateau-Thierry sectors, and without the leadership of Capt. Littauer and the experience of Major Hall, who was now Corps Air Service Commander, the squadron would have been wiped out. As it was, Lts. McClendon, Plummer, and Burns were killed and Lt. Jordan wounded on the 11th on a photographic mission, and while doing artillery adjustment Lts. Hitchcock and Moore were killed on September 2nd, Lt. Rancourt severely wounded on August 9th, and Lt. Wagner slightly wounded on Sept. 5th. During this time the Squadron had some twenty important combats in which one Boche was brought down officially and two unofficially.
On Sept. 4th the Squadron was ordered north to the ruined town of Goussancourt, a few kilometers east of Cierges and ten back of the lines, and started operating the next day. The 28th and 77th divisions started their final push immediately and the Boche were driven up to the Aisne in three days. By this time the air was swarming with Fokkers again and we were glad to learn that the Higher Command intended to stabilize the sector, and that all the Americans would be rushed to another show immediately. On September 8th the Squadron was ordered back to Ferme de Greves to await orders.
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ST. MIHIEL
On the night of Sept. 11th the Squadron received orders to move to Souilly, Marshal Petain’s old headquarters during the Verdun attack of the previous year, a small town half way between Verdun and Bar le Duc. The next morning we pulled out, and started operations that afternoon for the 5th Army Corps. The Squadron had been assigned to the 5th Corps by the 3rd, owing to the fact that its two squadrons the 99th and 104th were not expected to arrive in time from the Vosges, where they had been operating. As a matter of fact, both squadrons got in about the same time as ourselves, so that the field was rather crowded.
The plans for the much discussed St. Mihiel attack which had been maturing for some time had been rushed to rapid completion in order to catch the Boche unawares. As a matter of fact, the attack came two days earlier than they expected and was as effective as if they had known nothing of it whatever. The attack was to be on the two sides of the salient, the main part of the push being north of the old Toul line between Apremont and Xivrey. We were assigned to the 26th Division which, with one French division, was to strike south-east on the other side of the salient from Les Eparges.
At eight o’clock on the morning of Sept. 12 our division jumped off, three hours after the infantry on the Toul side had started north. The problem was to effect a junction as quickly as possible and cut off the German divisions located in the St. Mihiel tip of the salient. The 26th had very rough country to go through and met with much more severe resistance than our divisions coming up from the south. By 4 o’clock they had reached Dommartin la Montagne, and that night the 102nd Regiment was sent on a forced march to Vigneulles where it met the 1st Division coming up from the south at 9 o’clock the next morning and closed the salient. The line, however, was very thin and several reconnaissance missions were dispatched that day from the 88th to locate the German divisions that had been cut off and estimate the possibility of their breaking through.
Captain Littauer and Lieuts. Bagby, Bernheimer, Hellbrunn, Douglas, Wheeler, and Marshall went on those missions, and while the lost German divisions were not actually found, enough information was sent down to help the Higher Command in preventing their breaking through. By that night the line cutting off the salient had been thoroughly organized and the number of German prisoners taken tells the rest of the story.
The next day, the 13th, a number of photographic missions were sent out to reconnoiter the country ahead of our troops who were now striking north into the plain of the Woevre. The 97th being the 5th Corps Squadron furnished the photo planes, the 88th the protection. One mission protected by Capt. Littauer with Lt. Boyd and Lt. McCordic with Lt. Carl, owing to the inexperience of those in the photo plane, penetrated too far into the lines beyond Conflans and was surprised by a patrol of Fokkers. Capt. Littauer’s plane was practically riddled with bullets and Lt. Boyd was severely wounded in four places. Landing with a punctured radiator, Capt. Littauer was able to get inside our lines and save Lt. Boyd’s life and the photo plane got back with its photos.
The American Army had now reached the lines of Jarny to Hattonville and was ready to go on to Metz. Whether they could or not is a question. The Germans had pulled out of the salient with comparatively little resistance, but they were now rushing all the divisions they could spare to test again in the line.
page 7MEUSE-ARGONNE
Meanwhile the 88th Squadron was no longer necessary to the 5th Army Corps as the Germans had pulled out of the salient. The squadron accordingly moved north to the Argonne Forest where we found conditions very crowded and the field and accommodations poor. This was a little disappointing to us, as we had done so far very good work for the Corps and hoped to continue. On the 20th the squadron moved to the Aisne river or the Argonne Forest, and joined the 1st Army Corps which expected to carry the war successfully through the big Spring offensive, and this time everyone was talking openly of a great victory.
The squadron located itself at Forges, and its headquarters were in the village itself, which had been practically destroyed by shell fire. There was no comfortable place for the men’s quarters and they had to be scattered around the village. After about ten days of reconnaissance and infantry contact patrols, the men had become fairly well adjusted to their surroundings and their work was appreciated, as they had more work to do than ever before.
On approximately 8 September the 1st Corps relieved the 3rd, 79th, 80th and 42nd Divisions. This was done in preparation for an attack northward from the Argonne. This was to be an all-American Corps and three divisions were to be used. It took several days of maneuvers with these divisions to get the infantry out of the line and give them a rest before the push. During this time the squadron was very busy and it can be said that it had reached its perfect standing. The flying personnel and the enlisted men worked with great harmony and the squadron was doing good work.
By the middle of September the Air Service Commander for the 1st Corps at Souilly changed and Captain Biddle was relieved and Major Thomas became Air Service Commander for the Corps. Major Thomas brought with him a number of new ideas and methods of work. In addition to his duties upon his arrival he called upon all the squadron commanders and instructors. The squadron was now advanced to its permanent station near the front, and its personnel was now in complete harmony with its work.
Photos had been taken of all important areas to the original positions of the Argonne Forest. On September 22 the squadron began work on the battle front and on the night of September 24 the squadron moved to its advance field. During this period and the following week the squadron was working on artillery adjustment, infantry contact patrols, reconnaissance, and photographic missions.
By September 25 the battle began. The weather was poor and flying was difficult. The enemy was using anti-aircraft guns extensively. Nevertheless, the squadron carried out its missions successfully. During the first few days of the battle, Capt. Trickey, Lt. Bagby, and Lt. Marshall distinguished themselves in particularly difficult missions.
The first day of the attack the squadron suffered heavy losses. Capt. Cook was shot down and killed. Lt. Merrill was killed. Lt. Hitchcock was wounded and forced to land. Lt. Jordan was wounded. Lt. Rancourt was wounded. Several machines were lost.
In spite of these losses the squadron continued its work and rendered valuable service to the Corps. The infantry advanced steadily and the enemy resistance was gradually broken. The flying was carried out at very low altitudes and under constant machine-gun fire. The squadron rendered great service in locating enemy batteries and observing movements of troops.
The work continued without interruption until the Armistice was signed. The squadron had taken part in the greatest battle in which American troops had ever engaged and had acquitted itself with honor.
On Sept. 20th the Infantry School closed with a month, the Squadron was ordered back to Souilly immediately and the 1st American Army which had only recently come into being at Libry on Barrois suddenly began to take on shape. The spring offensive was going to be started in September.
By this time the English Army had been entirely reformed after its battering at Montdidier and Paschendael. In March, 40 American divisions with more or less training were ready to take the field, and the French army was prepared for another supreme effort. General Foch determined to launch the grand attack of the war at once, first to cut out all winter if necessary and end it as soon as possible. In this plan of campaign the 1st American Army with a front of 140 kilometers from Forges Wood on the Meuse north of Verdun to the western edge of the Argonne Forest at Vienne le Chateau was to strike first, drive the enemy back out of their famous secondary defense, called the Kriemhilde Stellung, and draw as many of their first class shock divisions as possible off the British and French fronts. Meanwhile the French, British, Belgian, Italian and Portuguese units from there to the English channel were to execute a turning movement with us as a pivot, and drive the Germans back in a northeasterly direction out of France and into the almost impassable hills of the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium. During this process the duties of the American Army were threefold, 1st to hold that pivot, 2nd to keep on eating up the Prussian Guard and 3rd to break through the heights of the Meuse between Dun and Buzancy and cut off the southern half of the German Army at Sedan on the southern edge of the Ardennes. In all of these it was successful and while the German Army up to Nov. 11th was getting away in fairly good order, a few more weeks of war would have seen them in a much more critical situation than the allied Army was four months before on July 17th.
After Sept. 20th at Souilly, now headquarters of the 1st Army under General Pershing, the 88th Squadron found itself up on a hill above the town sharing a fair landing field with the 90th Squadron which had been attached to the group.
The third Corps held the left of the American Army with the 33rd, 80th and 4th Divisions extending from Forges on the Meuse to Malancourt. The 5th Corps held the center from Malancourt to Vauquois, and the 1st Corps the right from there to Vienne le Chateau and including the Argonne Forest. From the 20th to the 25th the 88th acting as Corps Squadron made 24 reconnaissance sorties to learn the sector and coordinate ground liaison with the various divisions of the Corps. The 99th Squadron was assigned to do divisional work for the 33rd and 80th divisions, the 284th French Squadron which had just moved on to the field and which was short handed was assigned infantry contact patrol only for the 4th Division. The 88th was to do all other work for this division as well as to conduct all work for the Corps as a whole. For the first five days all squadrons were under orders to cross the lines in order that the enemy might not be alarmed by an increase in aerial activity. That he suspected some sort of attack is certain, but the misty weather of that week prevented him from photographing or seeing clearly the tremendous extent of our preparations. That he did not realize the serious importance of the attack is shown by the fact that the large number of his divisions the St. Mihiel attack had drove to the neighborhood of Metz were left there until two weeks after the push had started. He was doubtless also misled by the character of the terrain between Dun and Buzancy which with the hitherto impassable Argonne Forest and the strong point of Montfaucon made it probably a most uninviting sector to fight through on the Western front.
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On the night of the 25th American troops took the places of the French in the first line, and the morning of the 26th the great push of all broke loose along the entire Army front. On this day the squadron made twenty sorties, eleven reconnaissances, five artillery co-operations, and two infantry contact patrols. Just as we had previously had to work out a new kind of photograph mission and a new kind of infantry contact patrol, so we now had to work out a new kind of artillery adjustment. The observer was given a map showing the zones in which artillery fire was wanted at successive times during the attack. In twenty six designated areas the observer adjusted the artillery fire of the division or corps artillery in those different areas and a machine was constantly in the air. This work was done so well by Lt. Bagby, Capt. Trickey and Lt. Wagner that General B. B. Buck commanding the 4th artillery brigade sent a telegram of congratulation that night. The reconnaissances executed surveillance of seven designated areas from which counter attacks might be feared and reported direct to General Bullard.
This is a sample of the type of missions the squadron was executing up to October 4th, while the corps ploughed its way north along the west bank of the Meuse, being constantly counter-attacked and shelled day and night from the heights on the west of the river. An advanced field was established at Rampont, Corps Headquarters, and two ships a day were sent up there to wait on alert. On one of these missions Lts. McNulty and C. T. Levenrode made a deep reconnaissance as far as Dun which was of great value to the corps. On Sept. 28 Lt. Loud and Capt. Trickey while doing an infantry contact patrol were attacked by a Fokker patrol, hit by some sort of incendiary projectile and brought down in flames just inside our lines. Lt. Loud managed to land the plane and save Capt. Trickey’s life, but was burned to death himself. On the same day Capts. Babcock and Lt. Bagby conducted a reconnaissance of enemy bridges across the Meuse and machine gunned the troops who were crossing for a counter attack.
By Sept. 29th the 33rd and 80th divisions had gained their Corps objective and the 4th division, having passed Montfaucon, had gotten to the Bois de Lay. On this day Lt. Gifford while staking the infantry line in that neighborhood was shot through the leg by a machine-gun bullet from the ground, but succeeded in completing his mission. By Oct. 4th the 4th Division had been able to clean out the Bois de Lay and the line was straightened out to the Meuse and consolidated. Meanwhile the corps on our left had penetrated as far as the Kriemhilde Stellung, a very strong series of German trenches and held a line from Nantillois to the Bois de Bazilny. The 1st Corps was fighting its way into the Argonne-Meuse. This is generally what is known as the 1st phase of the Argonne-Meuse operations and marks the completion of the 1st Army’s effort to drive the enemy back out his main line of defense. By this time the whole allied front to the sea was under way and the Germans were pulling back ten and twelve kilometers in some places.
The second phase of the Argonne-Meuse operations marks some of the hardest fighting our troops have had. It consisted of a series of little actions here and there against woods or ravines held by machine guns, interspersed with big attacks for one or two days. The work of the squadron remained about as before except that our pilots were learning how to fly low in the foggy weather we were having and to penetrate the enemy lines to a greater extent than in clear weather. Lieuts. Bagby and Brenchmeyer particularly distinguished themselves at this time and the commendation of most of the generals in the Corps. The Squadron was very successful at picking up enemy batteries and established more than a third of the known battery positions in the Corps front.
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Its front line also saw its long series of successful infantry contact patrols, consisting of good dives on masses of successful shocks while missions were carried out daily. As every aviation branch had been thrown into the attack, many more and more were frequently brought down. Practically every member of the squadron having had one or two. On Sept. 28th Capt. Babcock was brought down by a Fokker which he officially confirmed and more day or two mission was attacked by two others.
During this period the Corps sent for a three large liaison school of lectures and terrain exercises details of 200 troops each from the 3rd, 5th, 32nd, 35th and 92nd Divisions.
By October 23rd our troops had torn their way through the Kriemhilde Stellung in almost every place. The 5th Corps had crossed the Barricourt–St. Juvin road which was taken up to date, and the 1st Corps had driven the northern edge of the Bois de Buzancy, and as the Bois de Barricourt closed in on the Argonne forest and taken it in flank. All this had been accomplished while the American Army had been continually attacking and advancing. All the available aviation units were working for the divisions on the ground, and our own squadron was constantly flying in the line and near the line. The Allied front was extending its way north and east. Practically all of France was clear of Germans and in Belgium the British had executed a successful attack on the southern coast.
About this time D.S.O.’s for the work of counter-battery and on the north front were recommended and the full list announced later. Capt. Babcock, Capt. Trickey, Lt. Wagner and Lt. Bagby received these awards. The Squadron had also received mention in dispatches. In addition Lt. Bagby did especially fine work in very bad weather. The loss of our own ships which had been knocked out in work also during this time were also to be mourned. These losses included Capt. Cook, Lt. Merrill, Hitchcock, Moore and Rumsey. On Oct. 30th Lt. Murphy while on a photo mission was seriously wounded in the leg by Archie fire and evacuated. He subsequently received the D.S.O. as well.
On Nov. 1, the last phase of the Argonne-Meuse operations was begun. From now on beginning of the attack the enemy was somewhat weakened and in two days they were finally on the run. It was evident that only a few days more would see them cleared out of the high ground. By the 7th the enemy’s big counter-attack would cease, so both squadrons were pushed to the limit. On the 9th the Armistice had been signed and the guns fell silent. The moving was now impossible due to the mud, so the squadron took its place on the advance field near Sedan. On the 11th of November at 11 o’clock the war was over. A few days later it was announced that we were to move to Coblenz with the Army of Occupation.
Thus ends the story of the 88th Squadron as it touches on the history of the A.E.F. in the battles of Chateau-Thierry, the Vesle, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne-Meuse, and the lesser engagements of Zivray and Varux.
Are there any comments about a 1st or 2nd Lt. T. E. Boyd or photos of this person. Also one Captain or Major K. P. Littauer. I am doing some research for a class on the 88th Aero Squadron and am particularly focused on these two figures who were shot down 14 September 1918.
ReplyDeleteMy school email is: vlbickett@eagles.usi.edu
Thank You,
Vicki