First Over the Front
by
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On March 21, 1918, the last desperate German offensive to smash the Allies began in Picardy. To the south, the German Paris Gun fired projectiles 76 miles into the city. The Allies were on the brink of disaster.
Field Marshall Foch became Commander-in-Chief. General John J. Pershing agreed to commit the American First Army to battle.
The First Aero Squadron became the nucleus of the First Corps Observation Group commanded by Colonel Billy Mitchell. On April 4th, they moved to Ourches, 15 kilometers west of Tours on the Meuse River. They were the first American-trained airmen to enter action. Major Royce would lead the offi cial first reconnaissance mission over enemy territory on April 6th.
“Unofficially”, on April 2nd, Lt. Billy Schauffler with Capt. Griffen in the observation seat accidentally flew into enemy territory.
Here is Billy’s story:
“It was all a mistake. We were trying out a new camera and did not intend to go over the German lines.
“We were using an auto road map which was none too accurate and that, coupled with cloud cover, had us completely lost.
“As we focused on a town, I noticed large puff -balls of black smoke appearing in the sky about the plane. I wondered why the French were firing at me. I flew lower to let them see the American flag on my fuselage but they increased their fire.
“Suddenly a burst of machine gun fire tore through the back cockpit floor. Captain Griffen roared into my ear, ‘Those are German uniforms! Let’s get the hell out of here!’ I looked and sure enough they were. The streets of the town were lined with soldiers in field gray. A German officer was standing at the steps of a building firing madly at us with a pistol. We were lost. As I side-slipped away, I sighted four German machine guns on the roof of the church. I dived at them but in the excitement forgot my guns were loaded and didn’t fire a shot.
“On landing safely at home, we counted one hundred seventy-two bullet holes in the wings, fuselage and flags on the sides of my plane. This was an unofficial trip, so I was given no credit.”
(This exciting event is captured by Randy Green in the cover painting. The aeroplane is a SPAD XI over St. Mihiel.)
“Meanwhile, a friend had sent me two silk flags and these I had tacked onto the fuselage and doped over. I wanted the boys in the trenches to see the Stars and Stripes as we flew over the front.
“Afterward, on the 10th of April I was shot down. The ‘Archie’ actually did not hit me but the concussion from the burst I ran into split my wooden prop. Before I could cut the switch, the vibration was so great the motor shook loose. It was hanging by a bolt up against the radiator. I glided from six thousand feet altitude to a landing just back of the lines. The plane was a wreck. As we were in range of German ground artillery, we set fire to the plane and ran like hell for cover. A few seconds later eight almost direct hits exploded around our plane. My silk flags were lost in the fire.”
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About the Book
Lt. “Billy” Schauffler, pilot, First Aero Squadron, is writing this story. His letters add a fascinating human perspective to historic events. Young men of the era, Billy among them, eagerly joined the “Great Adventure” in the air over the Western Front. It was not all flying and fighting. He writes of French hospitality, fine wine and knee-deep mud and prays on the eve of battle for the safety of his men and the day when the sky will be silent and nightingales sing.
Major “Billy” Mitchell and civilian “Billy” Schauffler were both learning to fly in 1916 at the Curtiss Aeronautical Station, Newport News, Virginia. Student pilot “Billy” Schauffler badgered student pilot “Billy” Mitchell about getting into military flying. Captain Thomas Milling, a fellow student pilot, told Schauffler to write a letter of application which he would carry to Army Headquarters in Washington, D. C.
Billy’s letter writing saga began.
The Army fashioned an application form based on Billy’s letter and Milling suggested that all five civilian student pilots fill them in. They did. And within a month they were in the Army.
Lt. Schauffler tells of joining America’s only operational “Air Force” equipped with eight underpowered Curtiss “Jenny” JN-3, biplanes on the Mexican border.
In France he writes with humor about flying obsolete “hand-me-down” French aircraft. He tells of Squadron camaraderie, “La vie en Escadrille.” A squadron visitor wrote, “The aviator at the front regards life in a lighter vein. When it is party time their high jinks have the elements of a Wild West Show. At mealtime it is a banquet without pretty girls.”
Behind the lines he delivered the first airmail to Army Divisions scattered across France. On the battle line he describes hedge-hopping, guns blazing, across no-man’s-land and enduring the muzzle blast of friendly artillery to deliver messages.
Billy was a pioneer pilot in the development of aerial reconnaissance. His letters, often written within minutes after returning from battle, stir the imagination. As he describes attacks we find meaning in the motto, “Beware of the Hun in the Sun.” You are there.
About the Author
Stanley Walsh, engineer, flyer, film producer, is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in Civil Engineering. His professional career included planning and engineering of Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He engaged in aviation-oriented projects overseas in Bolivia, Tunisia, England, The Philippines, Saipan and Vietnam. During World War II he was a Bombardier-Navigator, Ninth Air Force, B-26 Martin Marauders in Europe.
A hobby-turned-second-career is Travel/Adventure film production ranging from the Andes to the Pacific Islands, Italy – including the Italian Isles of Capri, Sicily, French Corsica and the glamorous Lake Region in the North of Italy. Stan is a member of the League of World War I Aviation Historians and the Explorer’s Club. He makes his home base in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.