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1st Lieutenant, 12th Aero Squadron, Observation, 1st Army Corps, Toul Sector, September, 1918


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1st Lieutenant, 12th Aero Squadron, Observation, 1st Army Corps, Toul Sector, September, 1918

 

The 12th Aero squadron was considered to be among the finest American observation squadrons on the Western Front. It was organized in June 1917 at Kelly Field, Texas, the squadron received it orders for overseas duty in December 1917 and was assigned to operational duty on April 30, 1918, making it only the third U.S. Air Service Squadron (after the 1st and 94th Aero Squadrons) to see active service on the Western Front.

 

A Corps observation squadron’s primary duties consisted of reconnaissance and surveillance of the enemy within the Corps sector, as well as adjustment of Allied artillery fire. The observation squadrons flew visual and photographic patrols usually at dawn and twilight in the highly regarded Salmson 2, a French made biplane that carried one pilot and one observer.

 

Communication with the ground was originally meant to be by the new wireless radio, but due to the unreliability of the early wireless radio sets, attempts had been largely abandoned by the A.E.F. Air Service in 1918. In order to communicate with the ground observers dropped written messages inside of a metal canister and sometimes even resorted to using carrier pigeons. During offensive operations observation squadrons were tasked with the additional duty of keeping Corps HQ apprised of the location of friendly and enemy troops. To assist the aviators in this A.E.F. ground troops relied on large white sheets called signal panels as well as various colored flares and signal rockets for ground to air communication. For proper communication with the biplanes it was necessary for the infantrymen to lay the signal panels in a pre-arranged pattern in order to properly indicate their location and other instructions to the observation planes flying overhead. On the ground the Doughboys dodging shell and machine gun fire, found this difficult to accomplish and the aerial observers often had to fly extremely low to distinguish friend from foe by the color of their uniform.

 

During the St. Miheil offensive some ground troops believed that U.S. aircraft had been captured and were being flown by the Germans. As proof, a 2nd lieutenant with the 3rd Division’s 7th Infantry recalled the following incident,

 

“One afternoon a Boch plane driven by a pilot dressed in an American uniform and accompanied by a supposed Frenchman, flew over our position not more than 200 feet from the ground. Waving their arms until they had a curious audience, they suddenly opened up with a machine gun but luckily no one was hit. They continued down the line sweeping “D” company’s position which was on our immediate left. After that my men had orders to shoot at any other plane that might try a similar trick.”

 

As the rumors of these types of instances grew among the Doughboys, they began to dive for cover at the sight of any low flying planes, making the task of observation all the more difficult and some troops fired on the planes regardless of their nationality. In an attempt to prove that they were indeed friendly, observation aviators had to resort to dropping boxes of cigarettes, newspapers and chocolates to the ground troops, in order to prevent the trigger happy foot soldiers from shooting them out of the sky. During the bloody battle for control of the Argonne forest a canoneer with the 320th Field Artillery confirmed this practice,

 

“At 4:30 in the afternoon an American airplane came circling around and dropped papers. As they fluttered down we saw that they were newspapers so there was a great rush for them. Soldiers from every direction grabbed them. Now they could read the news from other parts of the world which was very welcome.”

 

During the Meuse-Argonne offensive the Corps Observation Squadrons were called upon to perform a new type of mission known as a “Cavalry reconnaissance patrol”. This new tactic was adopted due to the low clouds, fog and poor visibility that greatly hampered the effectiveness of normal patrols. It required the observers to fly at dangerously low altitudes in front of the advancing ground troops to pinpoint enemy strong points, machine gun nests or anything else that was likely to hinder the advance and then dropping written messages and sketch maps onto the nearest Allied troops.

 

To carry out these patrols it was common for the American flyers to skim just a few feet above the shell torn landscape, often through an inferno of fire from the ground (presumably from both sides). In addition the large and relatively slow moving observation aircraft were forced to fly through the shell bursts of artillery fire. In an attempt to dodge the hail of gunfire pilots had to zigzag their way across the battlefield. An observer with the 50th Aero Squadron recorded the typical outcome of this type of erratic flying,

 

“If the ship is rolled and tossed about very much, either by bumps or purposely to avoid shell and shrapnel, the occupants sometimes gets sick. Very similar to sea sickness, you lose your lunch and the wind places it in a neat layer on your goggles. The wind has blown your handkerchief from your pocket. You wipe it off on your teddy sleeve.”

 

This pilot, having just returned from a routine two to three hour patrol adjusting artillery fire for the 78th Infantry Division, over the St. Mihiel battlefield, has begun to shed the cumbersome flight clothing worn to keep him warm, as he makes his way to the command post to file the mandatory after action report. He is wearing privately tailored 1917 Officer’s Service Dress in wool with unofficial Signal Corps, Aviation Section Officer’s Collar Insignia pinned onto the collar and warm flight clothing to protect him from the dismal weather and poor flying conditions that took place during the four day offensive to reduce the salient.

 

In 1907 the U.S. Congress authorized the purchase of two biplanes for experimentation with the purpose of using flight for military purposes. At that time the U.S. Army, Signal Corps was considered the scientific branch of the army and the experimental flying machines were assigned to it for further study, eventually establishing the Aeronautical Division of the United States Army, Signal Corps. Since its inception the new Aviation Section had no collar insignia of its own, to identify the military pilots from the ordinary signal’s personnel and aside from a few pieces of flight clothing their uniforms and insignia were identical to the “wire stringers” and “telephone operators” that made up the bulk of that branch of service.

 

The regulation Signal Corps officer’s Collar Device was composed of two crossed signal flags over a burning torch, but sometime around August 1917 some pilots of the Aviation Section began to wear an unauthorized pattern of the Signal Corps insignia with a small silver wing superimposed over it. Evidently these unofficial collar devices ruffled the feathers of senior Signal Corps officers, causing them to generate an order dated December 27, 1917, which stated,

 

“All officers and men of the Signal Corps, including the Aviation Section, will wear on the collar the crossed flags of the Signal Corps without addition thereto.”

 

Photo no. 01: The white band around the 1911 Officer’s Service Cap identifies this officer as an aviation cadet and a Signal Corps Cap Badge has been fixed onto the front of the cap. Note that he is also wearing the unauthorized winged Aviation Section of the Signal Corps Collar Devices that were frowned upon by senior officers of that branch.

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Many of the military aviators serving in France and cadets learning to fly in the U.S. largely ignored this order and continued to proudly wear the unofficial silver wing on their Signal Corps collar devices to denote that they were part pilots of the Signal Corps, Aviation Section. This observation pilot is no exception as he continues to wear one of the several types of unofficial Aviation Section of the Signal Corps Collar Devices for Officers despite the latest decree from high command. Paired with the silver winged collar devices are the United States Army Reserve Collar Devices for Officers. The dull bronze pin back insignia consist of the cut out initials “U.S.R.” and indicate the pilot’s status as a Military Aviator in the Army Reserve Corps. This type of collar device along with the “U.S.N.G.”, “U.S.N.A.”, “U.S.V.” and “U.S.” collar insignias were authorized for wear by respective army officers until General Order No. 73 from the War Department, dated August 7, 1918, abolished all of the previous distinctions in favor of the U.S. National Device for officers. The general order stated,

 

“This country has but one army—The United States Army. Distinctive appellations such as Regular Army, Reserve Corps, National Guard and National Army heretofore employed shall be discontinued and the single term, The United States Army will be used exclusively. The insignia now prescribed for the Regular Army shall hereafter be worn by the United States Army.”

 

With this order as a guide all officers in the army were now to wear only the initials “U.S.” as their second collar insignia. However, like most of the other changes made to the uniform regulations, it took some time to filter down to the troops on active service in France and many officers continued to wear the old style of National Insignia until they were compelled to make the change, either out of ignorance, indifference or simply because the required collar devices were unavailable to them at the front.

 

Military Aviators wore both issued and privately tailored service dress under their protective flight clothing and they often pushed the uniform regulations to the limit by wearing open necked service coats and service breeches made from a contrasting color or fabric that did not match the coat. This observation pilot wears a privately tailored M1917 Service Coat made from a high quality of khaki brown wool that closely mirrors the regulation service coat and a pair of Non Regulation Service Breeches made from heavy olive drab “whipcord”. The breeches are patterned after those of military issue and have been fabricated from the hard wearing and warm corduroy material that was popular among the Allied officers.

 

The Army and the Signal Corps recognized the need for a badge to distinguish all officers that held the rating of Military Aviator and on May 27, 1913 a Military Aviator Qualification Badge was authorized. The pin-back, 14 karat gold badge was of a flying eagle grasping a pair of signal flags, which noted the parent unit of the aviation section. The Military Aviator Badge was worn until August 15, 1917, when a double wing Aviator’s Badge was authorized for wear by qualified Military Aviators. The regulations of 1917 stated that Military Aviators could only be appointed after they had served creditably for three years as an aviation officer with the rating of a Junior Military Aviator and they had successfully appeared before an examining board. The full sized double wing was initially prescribed only for fully qualified Military Aviators and the Junior and Reserve Aviators were authorized to wear a shortened Wing Badge that consisted of only the shield and the left half of the wing. At this time the French and English aviation services were using a half wing badge to identify their aerial observers. The half wing signified that the observer was not a pilot and that he could not fly alone. In America the Junior and Reserve aviators were aware of this fact and resented the fact that the half wing badges they wore insinuated that they were not pilots.

 

Photo no. 02: The 14 karat gold Military Aviator Qualification Badge that was worn from mid 1913 until it was replaced by the winged Military Aviator’s badge in October of 1917. The badges were fabricated by the Ordnance Department at Rock Island Arsenal and only one commercial jeweler was known to have struck a version of this badge using a slightly different die.

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Photo no. 03: These three well known pilots from the 94th Aero Squadron all wear slightly different tailored service coats. Douglas Campbell in the center wears a non regulation open necked coat influenced by the British style of officer’s coat. The American aviator’s, whose heads were constantly swiveling back and forth, searching the skies for enemy aircraft claimed that this design prevented chaffing around the neck. It is also interesting to note the obvious differences between the two hand made Junior Military Aviator wing badges that are visible.

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When the |Junior Aviator half wing was only two months old the War Department relented and the uniform regulations were changed in October 1917 to allow the Junior and Reserve Aviators to wear a full size double wing and the qualified Military Aviator’s Wing Badge was distinguished by the addition of an embroidered star above the shield. The old Junior Aviator half wing badge was re-designated as an Observers Badge. This short lived badge was worn for only two months when a new Observers Wing Badge was adopted by the army in December 1917.

 

Photo no. 04: This portrait of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker wearing his Medal of Honor clearly shows the Military Aviator Badge with the embroidered star above it.

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Sewn onto the coat above the left breast pocket is a Military Aviator Wing Badge for a Junior or Reserve Military Aviator. The design of the wing badge specified that the two silver bullion wings were to be three inches from tip to tip and embroidered onto a blue background with a shield embroidered between the two wings with the initials “U.S.” embroidered in gold bullion in the center of the shield. Because all of the wing badges were hand embroidered no two wing badges were exactly alike. The wings were normally sewn directly onto the aviator’s service coat; however a number of examples were sewn over a brass form with a pin on the reverse, which allowed them to be worn on more than one uniforms.

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Worn over the service coat is the ubiquitous Sam Browne Belt. This style of belt was prescribed as an article of equipment for all A.E.F. officers assigned to duty in Europe, but it was not permitted to be worn within the limits of the U.S., where it was known as a “Liberty belt”. The belts were required to be worn by all officers of the Allied nations and were initially only available for sale to American officers at the ports of embarkation in the U.S. and overseas in England and France. The brown leather belt with a cross strap had brass or bronze metal fittings and they were a symbol to all enlisted men, regardless of their nationality that the wearer was an Allied officer; in fact, the term “Sam Browne” became the A.E.F. nickname for all officers. Also worn is a pair of private purchase brown leather Aviator’s Boots. This style of tall, lace front boots with smooth leather heels and soles were worn by many Allied officers and became popular with officers from all branches of the A.E.F. but they were especially favored by pilots. Like the Sam Browne belt and the Overseas Cap the Aviator’s Boot was another item that could be worn overseas but was not authorized for wear in the U.S.

 

During the war, American airmen were allowed to choose from a wide variety of non regulation and issued French, British and American made flight clothing, which were designed to keep the aviators warm and dry when flying at high altitudes during all types of weather. The garments included knee and hip length cloth and leather coats, some lined in fleece, wool, corduroy or fur, one piece flying suits, also lined and unlined were worn as well as a number of different types of sweaters, scarves, mufflers, toques, hoods, gloves, helmets and goggles.

 

This pilot has chosen an extremely well made, Cloth Flight Coat with a thick fur collar for protection against the elements. The heavy knee length coat is constructed of water resistant khaki cotton duck with a layer of heavy fur sandwiched in between the white cotton inner lining and the khaki waterproof outer shell. The double breasted coat is held closed by two rows of five black plastic buttons and features two large flapped, cargo pockets, one on each side, below the waist and a single, flapped map pocket on the left breast. All three of the pockets have a pointed pocket flap, each secured by a matching small size black plastic button. The coat is further sealed at the waist by a matching khaki cloth belt with a black metal friction buckle and each sleeve cuff has a woven sweater type cuff sewn inside and an adjustment strap is also sewn onto the outside of each sleeve to reduce the effect of the wind when flying. Just visible above the left cuff is a single Overseas Service Chevron made of bullion tape sewn onto a khaki wool backing. One “overseas stripe” was awarded to all members of the A.E.F. for every six months of overseas service.

 

Photo no. 05: These two pilots from the “Hat in the ring squadron” posing in front of a captured German biplane are both wearing heavy cloth flight coats similar to the one shown in the reconstruction.

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A wide variety of brown and black leather flight helmets that were both privately purchased or supplied by the French, British and American Governments were worn by A.E.F. pilots. The U.S. made Winter Aviator Helmet worn here covers the entire head except the face and is made of soft brown leather. The interior is fully lined with brown fur, which is visible around the edges of the cheek pieces and along the turned up brow band. Flying helmets such as these were often worn in conjunction with wool hoods and other forms of knit balaclavas and caps whenever the weather was cold or when they expected to be flying at higher altitudes. Unlined leather and cloth flight helmets were also worn during warmer weather.

 

Worn around the flight helmet is a pair of Aviator Goggles. This pair has dark amber tinted lenses, white metal frames that are padded with wool, an adjustable khaki cotton strap and curved triplex glass lenses. The fragile glass lenses could be found in clear or amber tints and because they were prone to breaking, it was not uncommon for aviators to carry a spare inside the cockpit or a coat pocket. The goggles not only protected the eyes of both the airmen from flying dust and debris during take offs and landings but they also shielded them from rain, grease, oil and other fluids that frequently leaked from the engine while flying. The leaking oil was a common occurrence and would be blown back into the cockpit, coating the pilot as well as his goggles.

 

Photo no. 06: The fur lined flight helmet worn by the British pilot in this evocative painting looks remarkably like the Winter Aviator Helmet worn in the reconstruction and the leather framed goggles also have amber tinted lenses.

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The final piece of protective clothing worn by this pilot is a pair of brown leather Winter Aviator Gloves. These issued American made flight gloves are made large enough to be worn over an additional pair of woolen gloves when necessary. The glove portion was made of soft buckskin, while the long gauntlet cuff was made from stiff leather and extended halfway to the elbow. The winter gloves were lined with lamb’s fleece that extended roughly two inches beyond the hand and each glove features a leather adjustment strap and snap to secure it around the wrist. Both the flight gloves and helmet were made from black leather and an unlined version for wear in summer months was also available.

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Photo no. 07 & 08: These photos show two different styles of gauntleted leather flight gloves that were used by military aviators during the war, although similar, they both differ slightly from the Winter Aviator Gloves used in the reconstruction but they have the long leather cuff and feature snaps to close the upper portion of the gauntlet around the arm.

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Photo no. 09: This photo shows several examples of different World War I Aviator Wing Badges that were used by members of the Army Air Service. From top to bottom:

 

A & B: By mid 1918 military wing badges were made and sold in solid metal a pin-back form that completely disregarded the regulation bullion embroidered design. These types of badges were made from silver and gold and were available from jewelers on both sides of the Atlantic and an amazing variety of types and styles have been encountered by collectors. Two variations are shown here.

 

C: Close up of the silver and gold bullion embroidered wing badge used in the reconstruction.

 

D: The Junior and Reserve Aviators Half Wing Badge that was used for only two months between October and December 1917 before it was re-designated as an Observers Badge.

 

E: The new style Observers Badge with the initial “O” followed by a half wing that replaced the short lived half wing and shield Observers Badge in December of 1917.

 

F: A sleeve insignia for Enlisted Aviators was adopted on August 15, 1917. The enlisted badge was comprised of a four bladed propeller with a half wing on both sides. Regulations called for these to be five inches from tip to tip and embroidered in white silk thread on a blue wool backing, but like the officer’s bullion wing badges, variations are encountered in regards to size, materials and workmanship.

 

G: Surrounding the wing badges are several different non regulation A.E.F. Air Service squadron lapel pins. This type of pin would be worn on the service coat or overseas cap and later on civilian suit lapels to denote the aero squadron that the pilot was affiliated with.

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Photo no. 10: This much published photo shows one of the non regulation squadron pins being worn on the service coat during the war. Pinned onto the collar of the service coat are the wing and propeller collar devices adopted as the official insignia for the new Army Air Service on July 17, 1918. These replaced the Signal Corps and winged Signal Corps collar devices previously worn.

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Fantastic flight togs, I really like the 3/4 length flight coat. Those were very popular with the pilots and observers in the AEF. Could we see close up photo's of the squadron pins.. Thanks Paul

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Paul,

 

Sadly I no longer have any of the WW I aviation items but here's the wing photo cropped and enlarged. Its still a bit out of focus but it does show some of the detail of the squadron pins.

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  • 4 weeks later...
New Romantic

This coat is on Bay State Militaria. Scott Kraska describes it, " WWI Flight Jacket, formerly the property of Lt. Ralph Mero who was trained and flew with the French. "

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