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 America's entry into the War. The units were assigned in
March of 1918 to a former French aerodrome at Villanueva, 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 unit's
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 aerodrome 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 94th's aerodrome for their own. This
double victory for the American's 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."
