How effective was the American Air Service in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive?
Billy Mitchell put together 1485 aircraft — pursuit, bombardment, observation — for St. Mihiel. There American (there were many British and French areo squadrons as well as a few Italian ones) had air supremacy. During the Meuse-Argonne, however, Mitchell was not able to put that many aircraft into the skies. One must recall that the Meuse-Argonne was fought in dismal weather conditions which kept much of the Air Service on the ground. Mitchell did have a good air operations op-plan, and the Air Service moved from St. Mihiel to fields for the Meuse-Argonne with suprising quickness, but many planes were in bad need of maintenance and many air pilot and air observers were in dire need of some rest. St. Mihiel rates an A+, Meuse-Argonne a C. Response from Air Service Historian and Mitchell Biographer, Professor James Cooke Page Two Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 Contributed by Charlotte Descamps of Varlet Farm As you are probably aware, a lot is happening in the Salient in order to
