The U. S Army's 'eyes in the sky' on the Western Front
The enormous loss of life among European populations in the First World War created a sense of national sacrifice which is memorialised in virtually every city, town and village. So it is understandable why Europeans have viewed the Great War as their conflict to the detriment of the contribution made by the United States of America, which joined the Allied cause in April 1917 when the fighting had taken its toll for almost three years. The war ended in November 1918 and victory was in no small measure due to the contribution American Forces made at sea, on land and in the skies. America's sacrifice might be thought small by the standard of losses in this war, but still almost 322,000 were killed or wounded. This book concerns the wartime actions of two flying squadrons of the American Expeditionary Force. The 90th Aero Squadron was a short range corps observation unit providing tactical reconnaissance flying Salmsons and Breguets, and with Sopwiths and Spads in a fighter role, for III Corps of the U. S Army. The squadron flew 256 missions over the Western Front. The 91st Aero Squadron, by contrast, was a long range strategic reconnaissance unit tasked providing aerial intelligence from the entire length of the U. S First Army's front in France. Its observation aircraft included Salmsons, Breguets and de Haviland DH-4's among others, with Spads in the fighter role. The 91st scored 21 enemy kills creating 'aces' of four of its pilots.
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