When these men arrived here, the pilots for patrol could take perhaps a few hops at the school here in their future machine and then be ready and fit for work. The bombers and mechanics would be ready and able to do their work immediately upon arriving. The small number of pilots for fast single-seaters could take the short course at the army school here, and would soon be ready for duty. If necessary, the observers for the fighting planes could likewise attend for a short term the army school here. Conditions here make a man’s complete training at any one of the three divisions long, inefficient, and practically impossible, while at home there is every facility to train any required number of men quickly, cheaply, and efficiently. As yet no trained man has been sent over. Of course, I know that pilots are being trained in A[rmy], but this branch is by no means one-third of aviation. When I left, there were no schools for mechanics and a school for bombing and machine gun work was unthought of, especially in naval aviation are the two latter most important.
An example of the sort of mechanic we have now can be shown in the case of Ken S[mith]. He with an observer and mechanic landed at 2 P.M., 60 miles off shore, when the motor died. Not until night fell did the mechanic find out that the first tank being empty, the second tank was not feeding, being stopped up. The men, therefore, were unable to get off that afternoon when it was calm, and when the small trouble had finally been set aright next morning the sea was too rough to get off, in an attempt a wing was broken and as a result the men were nearly lost, spending 60 hours on the water before the boat filled and sank. For just such reasons we want the very best mechanics.
Take the importance of an expert observer—the simplest case being on a patrol boat, the Navy hopes that the aeroplane will occasionally see a submarine. If the machine does and is not noticed ’till it is near, the observer may get a good crack at it. After patrolling perhaps for weeks without getting a shot, the observer must be able to make good at every occasion when luck is with him. With one shot a month perhaps he must be sure. Therefore, every effort must be made to give the men expert training bombing.
The situation then is train the men in the States, giving them what they need most, plenty of experience on any flying machine and plenty of practice dropping bombs and shooting machine guns from any machine and plenty of experience in dealing with any aeroplane motor. This has to do only with the men themselves. About the machines, until the Liberty motor or some American motor is a success,137 I suppose we’ll use the foreign machine, but now the need is for men who can fly and shoot and bomb and fight. I hope we will soon get some encouragement by receiving some capable men and remarkable machines. The longer I stay here the more I am convinced that to conquer the Germans, we must first conquer them in the air.
I expect to leave for England to train on land machines and go through the school of fire and acrobatics in a few days now, so I’ll spend Xmas in England, together with Bob and Ken, Di having dropped out on account of weight. Love, Dave
Tuesday, December 4, 1917. Sam [Walker] left for Le Croisic.
Wednesday, December 5, 1917. Saw a good show at the Alhambra.138
Thursday, December 6, 1917. Saw Chevalier. Also Winterbottom and Porterfield, English officers. We are getting darn sick of hanging around Paris.
Friday, December 7, 1917. Feeling low, slept most of morning. At 12:00 Bart [Read] and Moseley Taylor appeared. We had lunch with them, frocked around, then got package from Kirt from Alice. Curt [Read], [Edward] Shorty Smith, Phillip Page, [Ashton] Tex Hawkins also arrived then.139 Had dinner and went to show.
Saturday, December 8, 1917. Received word to leave for England to train week from Monday. I feel ill. Day in bed.
Sunday, December 9, 1917. Encore
Monday, December 10, 1917. Had dinner with Bart, Mose [Taylor], Pete Taige, Grub Clover, Fry Spenser.140
Tuesday, December 11, 1917. Bob [Lovett] going to England for administration.141 Shorty to take his place, Scab arrived from Le Croisic. Packed, bed 12:00. Left at 9:10. After a delightful trip we arrived at Boulogne. As we were late, we missed the boat. We also missed our baggage. Therefore we spent a night in a wretched hotel. The best hotel was full—the Folkstone. Found our bag in morning. Took 12:00 boat. Smooth and fair trip, arriving at Folkstone at 2:15. Made quick connections and arrived in London at 4:30. Tried the Carlton and Piccadilly [hotels] and then stopped at the Savoy. Saw the “13th Chair.”142
Friday, December 14, 1917. Reported at 30 Grosvenor Gardens [and] found that as usual Van [der Veer] had made a mistake.143 Gosport could take one of us a week.144 Saw [Philip] Page there. Sent Hen [Landon] some cigarettes. Called up Alice Bowler, and then dined with her [ ]. So we had some more pleasures—in London—perhaps not the same as Paris, but O.K. for all that, and some excitement.
Saturday, December 15, 1917. Reported at 30 [Grosvenor], lunched with Alice and saw “Chu Chin Chou.” Dinner at Carlton and saw “Arlette.”145
Sunday, December 16, 1917. Frocked around, rotten day. Ken saw [Laurence] Callahan,146 our old friend.
Monday, December 17, 1917. My khaki suit was altered, left my blues too, also coat. Lunched with Alice at cute little restaurant, Au Petite Blanche. Also dined with her and saw “Brewster’s Millions.”147 Saw Mrs. and Mr. Burton. On reporting learned we too were to go to Gosport.
Tuesday, December 18, 1917. Got transportation and orders. Shopped a bit, in afternoon Shorty and I went to Hendon,148 but not having a pass we failed to get into the R.F.C. station there. At 6:30 Shorty and I started for dinner and show. A raid started and we could not get a taxi. Managed to get Al[ice] and then we had dinner at the Ritz. The raid was not very exciting, a.a. guns booming, and once an aeroplane passed straight above us. The motors could be heard but the aeroplanes were invisible. This lasted about two hours. Few people remained in the streets, taxies did not move, telephones were stopped, everything just waited. After dinner we found a taxi and got Sister [Dorothy Foster] and saw “Dear Brutus,” a very good show.149 Had a great time.
3
With the RFC at Gosport, Turnberry, and Ayr
December 1917–March 1918
Of the American naval air stations established in France in 1917, only Dunkirk on the English Channel coast near the Belgian border exposed aviators to encounters with enemy aircraft. Lumbering flying boats conducting antisubmarine patrols proved easy prey for German warplanes and thus required armed escorts—fast, maneuverable, single-seat chasse (pursuit) machines. To obtain the trained pilots necessary to fly these aircraft, the navy made arrangements with the American army to instruct a dozen enlisted aviators at their new school at Issoudun, France.150 Others were recruited from among American pilots then serving with French escadrilles. The RFC took three additional officer-pilots (David Ingalls, Ken MacLeish, and Edward “Shorty” Smith) for advanced instruction at the School of Special Flying at Gosport, near Portsmouth. Evelyn Preston, a friend and correspondent of many members of the Yale Unit’s social set, reported, “Bob, Dave Ingalls, and Ken MacLeish are the ones chosen for acrobatic work. Do you realize they are the only three out of the whole naval aviation that were chosen, and all of them the outcome of Huntington?”151
The School of Special Flying began as something of an experiment, founded in the summer of 1917 under the direction of Lt. Col. Robert Smith-Barry. An officer of forceful personality and strong views, Smith-Barry learned to fly in 1911 at Larkhill in Wiltshire and at the Central Flying School at Uphaven. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1914, flew night antizeppelin patrols, and later commanded No.60 Squadron. Known as both brilliant and eccentric, he received permission to reorganize the flying school at Gosport. Sir Hugh Trenchard, one of Britain’s most important military aviation pioneers, claimed that Smith-Barry