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Something to Write Home About by Stan Stokes.
The 94th and 95th Pursuit Squadrons of the U.S. Army Air Service were the first American units to see action in WW I following Americas entry into the War. The units were assigned in March of 1918 to a former French aerodrome at Villeneuve, which was located about twenty miles behind the front line. The 94th had several experienced pilots who had flown with the Lafayette Escadrille, including Major Raoul Lufbery, who had become the top American ace with the Lafayette Escadrille. The weather in March was poor for flying, and the 94th lacked appropriately equipped aircraft to oppose attacking German planes. However, the unit could hear the thunder of heavy guns in the distance, and when it was clear a string of observation balloons could be seen in the distance. Rumors of German advances startled the young flyers of the 94th, and compounded their frustrations. On March 30 the unit was moved further back from the lines to an aerodrome adjacent to the small village of Epiez. In early April guns finally arrived for the units Neuport 28s. Major Huffer, commander of the squadron, suggested the hat-in-the-ring insignia for the unit which was drawn-up by Lt. J. Wentworth. On the morning of April 14, the 94th planned to fly its first combat sortie. Two of the pilots, Lt. Douglas Campbell and Lt. Alan Winslow were to keep a sharp lookout at the aeodrome for enemy fighters. Unfortunately the weather on the morning of the 14th was marginal with a heavy mist, and the mission was partially aborted. Later that morning two enemy aircraft buzzed the aerodrome, and Winslow and Campbell rushed to their waiting machines. Within a few minutes Alan Winslow had bagged a Hun, and shortly thereafter Campbell was successful at downing the other aircraft. Both enemy machines fell right on the doorstep of the aerodrome. These were the first two enemy aircraft downed by pilots flying for the American Air Service. It appears that the enemy pilots became disoriented in the bad weather and mistook the 94ths aerodrome for their own. This double victory for the Americans brought joy to the members of the American Air Service and to the local inhabitants would had withstood unopposed attacks by enemy aircraft. The young Winslow, who received the Croix de Guerre, wrote his parents a letter on April 17, 1918 describing the incident and all the commotion made thereafter, in which he indicated that the 14th of April was the, happiest day of my life. Cables poured in from all across the United States, and as Eddie Rickenbacker pointed out in his Fighting the Flying Circus, It was particularly fortunate for the squadron that such an extraordinary success should have marked the very first day of our operations ..... the episode put great confidence into all of us and we felt that we were a match for the whole German Air Force.
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