The 103rd Aero Squadron was organized on 31 August 1917 at
Kelly Field,
Texas, where its enlisted members, drawn from other units, trained until being moved to
Garden City, New York for preparation for overseas movement. On 23 November 1917 the unit sailed on board the
RMS Baltic from its port of embarkation at New York City. The
Baltic joined a convoy at
Halifax, Nova Scotia and arrived at
Liverpool on 7 December 1917. Because of a
measles outbreak, it was
quarantined at Winnall Down Camp outside
Winchester until 23 December 1917, when it proceeded to France through
Southampton and
Le Havre. The squadron arrived at
Issoudun on 28 December 1917, where it spent the month of January constructing hangars for the instructional school being built there. On 1 February it resumed training for combat at the front. On 11 February 1918 Major
William Thaw, formerly with the Lafayette Escadrille, took command of the 103rd Squadron at the Ferme de La Noblette, near
La Cheppe, followed on 18 February by the assignment of 17 former pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps. Combat operations began almost immediately in early March, using
Spad VII fighters, and flying with the newly formed
Groupe de Combat 21 (21st Pursuit Group) of the
Aéronautique Militaire in support of the French 4th Army, and the squadron recorded its first aerial victory on 11 March. By mid-May the 103rd was the leading American pursuit squadron, with half of the AEF's 28 aerial victories. Baer was the sole ace of the AEF, with nearly one-third of all victories, but he was shot down in a fight with eight
Albatros D.Va fighters of the
Leutnant der Reserve August Raben-led
Jasta 18 near
Laventie on 22 May, after
Gefreiter Deberitz of Jasta 18 severed the flight control cables of Baer's
SPAD VII with the gunfire from his Albatros, and Baer was captured following his crash, with only a broken knee as his sole injury. On 4 July 1918 the squadron relocated to
Toul and was assigned to an American command, the 2nd Pursuit Group. On 29 July Thaw moved up to command of the new 3rd Pursuit Group and was replaced by Lafayette Escadrille veteran Capt. Robert L. Rockwell. The 103rd relocated to
Vaucouleurs in the
Meuse department of France for operations with the 3rd Pursuit Group. In September the squadron shifted northwest to
Lisle-en-Barrois to support the
Meuse-Argonne Offensive. On 18 October, Capt. Robert Soubiran, another Escadrille veteran and a former member of the 103rd, returned to the squadron to take command. The squadron recorded its last aerial combat on 4 November near
Montmédy, claiming three aircraft destroyed. At the
hour of the armistice, the squadron had 21 Spad XIIIs and 21 pilots available for operations. 14 pilots received 21 awards of the
French Croix de Guerre, and eight received 17 awards of the
Distinguished Service Cross. Seven pilots were recognized as aces with five recording all their kills with the 103rd. Beginning 13 September 1918, 1st Lt.
Frank O'D. Hunter shot down eight German aircraft in six weeks, tying Baer for the lead in squadron victories, for which he received five awards of the DSC and the
Croix de Guerre with palm. Baer was released at the Armistice by the Germans and returned to the squadron. He submitted a claim for a kill occurring on the morning he was shot down, which was confirmed, and became the leading ace of the 103rd with nine victories. After the armistice, the squadron was based at Foucaucourt and assigned to the First Army, alerted for possible
occupation service with the
Third Army. It received nine new pilots in early December, but was taken off operations on 14 December. The squadron's SPAD aircraft were delivered to the Air Service American Air Service Acceptance Park No. 1 at
Orly Aerodrome to be returned to the French. There practically all of the pilots and observers were detached from the squadron. All of its pilots except four were transferred out of the squadron by 4 January 1919, and those four by 24 January.
Lineage • Organized as
103rd Aero Squadron on 31 August 1917 : Re-designated as:
103rd Aero Squadron (Pursuit), 13 February 1918 : Absorbed American pilots of
Escadrille de Lafayette (Aéronautique Militaire), 18 February 1918 : Re-designated as:
103rd Aero Squadron, 4 March 1919 • Demobilized on 18 Aug 1919
Assignments • Post Headquarters, Kelly Field, 31 August 1917 • Aviation Concentration Center, 5 November 1917 • 3rd Air Instructional Center, 28 December 1917 • Air Service Headquarters, AEF, 13 February 1918 : Attached to
Groupe de Combat 21,
Fourth Army (France) 18 February 1918 – 10 April 1918 : Attached to
Sixth Army (France) 11 April 1918 to 30 April 1917 : Attached to
Army of the North (France) 31 April 1918 to 4 July 1918 •
2nd Pursuit Group, 4 July 1918 •
3rd Pursuit Group, 7 August 1918 • 1st Air Depot, 5 January 1919 • Commanding General, Services of Supply, 6–19 February 1919 • Eastern Department, 4 March – 18 Aug 1919
Other personnel • 1Lt. Stuart Emmet Edgar, died shortly after takeoff due to an engine malfunction • Lt. Herbert B. Bartholf, DSC, 2 aerial victories • Lt. Warren E. Eaton, DSC, 1 aerial victory [Founder
Soaring Society of America] • Lt. John Frost, DSC, 2 aerial victories • Cpt. Christopher W. Ford, DSC, 3 aerial victories • Lt. Ernest A. Giroux, DSC (KIA) •
Cpt. James Norman Hall, DSC, 3 aerial victories • Lt. Warren T. Hobbs, SSC (KIA) • Lt. Livingston G. Irving, DSC, 1 aerial victory • Lt. Eugene B. Jones, SSC (KIA) • Cpt. Richard C. M. Page, DSC, 2 aerial victories • Lt. Percy R. Pyne, DSC, 1 aerial victory • Lt. John I. Rancourt, DSC, 1 aerial victory • Lt. Joseph Waddell, SSC DSC:
Distinguished Service Cross; SSC:
Silver Star Citation; KIA:
killed in action Officers assigned during hostilities Former members of Lafayette Flying Corps in
italics; former members of Lafayette Escadrille in
bold A ♦ symbol indicates present for duty on 11 November 1918
Pilots • 2nd Lt. William C. Appleton♦ •
1st Lt. Paul F. Baer (prisoner of war, ace) • 1st Lt.
Hobart A.H. Baker • 1st Lt. Herbert B. Bartholf♦ •
Capt. Charles J. Biddle (ace) •
Capt. Ray C. Bridgman • 1st Lt. B. Drumond Cannon • 1st Lt. Lawrence E. Cauffman♦ • 2nd Lt. Loran B. Cockrell♦ •
Capt. Phelps Collins (Killed in flying accident) •
1st Lt. Charles H. Dolan •
1st Lt. William E. Dugan Jr. • 1st Lt. Paul W. Eaton (Prisoner of war) • 1st Lt. Warren E. Eaton♦ •
1st Lt. Stuart E. Edgar (Killed in flying accident) •
2nd Lt. Clarence H. Faith♦ •
1st Lt. Christopher W. Ford (Prisoner of war) • 1st Lt. John Frost♦ • 1st Lt.
George W. Furlow♦ (ace) • 1st Lt. Ernest A. Giroux (Killed in action) •
Capt. James N. Hall •
Capt. Dudley L. Hill •
1st Lt. Warren T. Hobbs (Killed in action) • 1st Lt. Theodore H. Hubbard♦ • 1st Lt.
Frank O'D. Hunter♦ (ace) • 1st Lt.
Livingston G. Irving♦ •
1st Lt. C. Maury Jones • 1st Lt. Eugene B. Jones (Killed in action) •
1st Lt. Henry S. Jones •
1st Lt. Hugo A. Kenyon♦ • 1st Lt. John O. Kirtland♦ • 1st Lt. John M. Koontz (Wounded in action) •
Capt. G. DeFreest Larner♦ (ace) • 1st Lt. Alfred W. Lawson • 1st Lt. Seth Low • 2nd Lt. Wellford MacFadden Jr (Killed in action) • 1st Lt. Dudley H. Manchester♦ •
Capt. Kenneth A. Marr • 1st Lt. Martin F. McQuilkin♦ • 1st Lt. Charles I. Merrick • 1st Lt. Cord Meyer • 1st Lt. Charles H. Monroe♦ • 1st Lt. Keene M. Palmer (Killed in action) • 2nd Lt. Samuel H. Paris •
Capt. David McK. Peterson •
1st Lt. William Ponder♦ (ace) • 1st Lt. Percy R. Pyne♦ •
1st Lt. John F. Randall •
Capt. Robert L. Rockwell♦ • 1st Lt. William T. Rolph • 1st Lt. Louis F. Schultze •
Capt. Robert Soubiran♦ (last wartime commanding officer) • 1st Lt. McCrea Stephenson • Capt.
Edgar Tobin (ace) • 1st Lt. Van Winkle Todd (Prisoner of war) •
1st Lt. George E. Turnure • 1st Lt. Joseph Waddell • 1st Lt. Doyan Parsons Wardwell♦ •
1st Lt. Charles H. Willcox Headquarters •
Maj. William Thaw II, Commanding Officer • 1st Lt. Phocion S. Park, Adjutant • 2nd Lt. George A. Orr, Adjutant • 1st Lt. John P. Healy, Adjutant♦ (joined squadron 11 Nov 18) • 1st Lt. Henry V. Bell, Operations Officer♦ • 1st Lt. Dan L. Perkins, Engineering Officer♦ • 1st Lt. Claudius H.M. Roberts, Armament Officer • 2nd Lt. Edward H. Carman, Armament officer♦ • 2nd Lt. William H. Bleeker, Supply Officer • 2nd Lt. Elwood S. Frymire, Supply Officer • 2nd Lt. William B. Carill, Supply Officer • 2nd Lt. Robert L.W. Owens, Supply officer • 1st Lt. Rufus K. Goodenow, Supply Officer♦ • 1st Lt. Sigurd H. Kraft, Medical officer • 1st Lt. Omer O. Gain, Medical Officer • 1st Lt. Carroll D. Evans, Medical officer ==See also==