WW1 US95th Timeline

Timeline of the WW1 US95th Aero Squadron

August 20, 1917 95th Aero Squadron organized at Kelly Field, Texas

September 30, 1917 95th Aero Squadron departs Kelly Field, Texas for Mineola, New York

October 27, 1917 95th Aero Squadron departs Mineola, New York on White Star Liner Adriatic at Hoboken, New Jersey for England

November 10, 1917 95th Aero Squadron arrives Liverpool, England

November 12, 1917 95th Aero Squadron arrives at Southampton, England.

November 13,1917 95th Aero Squadrons arrives Lellavre, France

November 15, 1917 95th Aero Squadron arrives at Issoudun, France

February 10, 1918 Captain James E. Miller assumes command of the 95th Aero Squadron

February 16, 1918 95th Aero Squadron departs Issoudun, France for the front

March 5, 1918 95th Aero Squadron receives its first group of Nieuport N28 fighters

March 9, 1918 Captain James Miller accepts the invitation of Major Davenport Johnson to join him and Major Harmon for a short patrol over the lines in three Spad 7 fighters borrowed from a French squadron. The plane of Major Harmon had engine trouble and he had to turn back. Major Johnson and Captain Miller continued on and ran into four German fighters. Shortly after the fight began, Major Johnson abandoned the fight, leaving Captain Miller on his own. Captain Miller was shot down. The German pilot who downed Miller and a German intelligence officer who had rushed to the crash scene witnessed Captain Miller’s dying last words in which he cursed Major Davenport Johnson for leaving him during the air battle.

March 12, 1918 Major Davenport Johnson assumes command of the 95th Aero Squadron

March 15, 1918 95th Aero Squadron performs first patrol over lines in their Nieuport N28 fighters that haven’t had the machine guns installed yet

April 21, 1918 German ace of 80 victories, Manfred von Richtofen was killed in combat

May 15, 1918 1st Lt. Richard Blodgett killed in action

May 19, 1918 Major Raoul Lufbery killed in action

May 22, 1918 1st Lt. Ed Buford single-handedly engages five enemy planes, shooting down one

May 28, 1918 Capt. John Hambleton wounded in action

May 30, 1918 1st Lt. Wilfred Casgrain captured

June 3, 1918 1st Lt. Sumner Sewall and two other 95th pilots engage six enemy fighters. The two other 95th pilots had to withdraw from the fight after their machine guns jammed. 1st Lt. Sewall engaged the six enemy fighters, shooting down one and allowing the other two US95th pilots to safely escape. 1st Lt. Sewall then made it back to his base after the engagement.

June 27, 1918 Major David McKelvey Peterson assumes command of the 95th Aero Squadron from Major Davenport Johnson

July 3, 1918 1st Lt. Paul Montague captured, 1st Lt. Eugene Jones killed in action

July 5, 1918 1st Lt. Sydney P. Thompson captured, 1st Lt. Carlyle Rhodes captured

July 7, 1918 1st Lt. Stuart McKeown captured

July 12, 1918 1st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt shoots down an enemy Fokker fighter

July 14, 1918 1st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt killed in action

July 20, 1918 1st Lt. Lawrence Richards wounded in action

July 25, 1918 1st Lt. Walter Avery shoots down German ace Karl Menckhoff, 1st Lt. Grover Vann killed in action

July 26, 1918 1st Lt. George Puryear shot down and captured

August 10, 1918 1st Lt. Irby Curry killed in action, 1st Lt. Clarence Gill wounded in action

August 11, 1918 1st Lt. William Russell killed in action

September 8, 1918 1st Lt. Norman Archibald shot down and captured

September 17, 1918 1st Lt. Waldo Heinrichs wounded, shot down and captured

September 18, 1918 1st Lt. William Taylor killed in action

September 29, 1918 1st Lt. Granville Woodward shot down and captured

October 3, 1918 1st Lt. Edward Curtis shoots down his fourth victory, 1st Lt. Walter Avery wounded, shot down and captured

October 6, 1918 1st Lt. George Puryear successfully escapes from German prisoner of war camp

October 18, 1918 1st Lt. Sumner Sewall shoots down an enemy fighter that was attacking an observation plane and is immediately attacked by another eight enemy fighters. 1st Lt. Sewall successfully fends off the eight enemy Fokkers until the observation plane escapes and then he too makes his escape from the fight

November 6, 1918 1st Lt. James Knowles gains his fifth victory, 1st Lt. William Vail is attacked first by four enemy fighters and then another five enemy fighters join in the attack. 1st Lt. Vail is severely wounded but manages to get back almost to his aerodrome and is hospitalized

November 11, 1918 the ARMISTICE is signed and the war is over