The Battle of St. Mihiel is of singular significance in the history of United States participation in World War I. It was the first battle in France in which an American army fought under the American flag. The U.S. offensive gained all objectives quickly and with relatively few casualties. It eliminated a menacing salient that had threatened the Allied battleline for four years, and it cleared the way for new offensives that would end the war in less than two months. Aerial operations at St. Mihiel made the battle an important event in the history of U.S. Military aviation. It was,...

There has been a tendency to belittle the work of the U.S. Air Service in World War I while singing the praises of heroes like Rickenbacker and Luke. Compared with the bombing of the U.S. Eighth Air Force in World War II or the B-52's in Southeast Asia, the 138 tons of bombs dropped by the U.S. Air Service in France in 1918 may seem almost too insignificant to mention. Any such comparison, however, should not lead to a conclusion that World War I was of little importance in the overall history of the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Air Service should be viewed in relationship to its own age. World...

In December 1918 Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, Chief of Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), directed his newly appointed Assistant Chief of Staff, Col. Edgar S. Gorrell, to prepare a history and final report on U.S. air activities in Europe during World War I. They summarized Air Service activities from the arrival of the first airmen in France in the spring of 1917 until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. Another important document produced under Gorrell's supervision as part of the history of the Air Service, AEF, is a "Tactical History" written by Lt. Col. William C. Sherman...

Over a period of several years the USAF Historical Division has received hundreds of requests for brief histories of Air Force organizations. Air Force units ask for historical data they can use for the orientation of new personnel and for building morale and esprit de corps. USAF Headquarters and the commands need historical data for organizational planning. Information officers throughout the Air Force want historical materials for public relations purposes. Members and former members of the Air Force are interested in the units with which they have served. Government agencies and private...

There has been a tendency to belittle the work of the U.S. Air Service in World War I while singing the praises of heroes like Rickenbacker and Luke. Compared with the bombing of the U.S. Eight Air Force in World War II or the B-52's in Southeast Asia, the 138 tons of bombs dropped by the U.S. Air Service in France in 1918 may seem almost too significant to mention. Any such comparison, however, should not lead to a conclusion that World War I was of little importance in the overall history of the U.S. Air Force. Aviation technology was not always equal to the tasks to be performed. A major...

The Battle of St. Mihiel is of singular significance in the history of United States participation in World War I. It was the first battle in France in which an American Army fought under the American flag. The U.S. offensive gained all objectives quickly and with relatively few casualties. It eliminated a menacing salient that has threatened the Allied battleline for four years, and it cleared the way for new offensives that would end the war in less than two months. Ariel operations at St. Mihiel made the battle an important event in the history of U.S. Military aviation. This volume...

This volume is part of a series documenting the history of U.S. air activities in Europe during World War I. The narratives here are published by the Office of Air Force History so as to reach a wider circle of persons interested in the Great War and the early history of military aviation. Included in this volume is William C. Sherman's "tactical History" which provides excellent information about the conduct of combat operations.

Like all chronologies, bibliographies, and encyclopedias, Air Force combat units of World War II serves a very special historical function. It traces the lineage of each Army air Corps and U.S. Air Force combat group or higher organization active in World War II, form its origins to 1956. It is a concise official record of those units, their assignments, subordinate organizations, stations, commanders, campaigns, aircraft, and decorations. But more than that, it is an important source of ready information providing readers with a corporate memory of vital statistics.