147th Aero Squadron

My Grandfather was in the 147th Aero Squadron from 1917 to 1923/24. I'm not sure of the dates my mom and I have been trying to get his military records without success.

I find very little information on the 147th. I have many photos he took while in the service including pictures of Rickenbacker and other aces. I also have a personal log book by a clerk which covers the year 1920.

He retired a Sgt. Major and was a passenger with his best friend Charles Allen when his plan crash, my grandfather survived. I have a couple of newspaper articles about the crash he had saved; one inaccurately has him as the pilot. I’m not sure when he started flying but I have a letter of recommendation from the officer that trained him. I think he did recon during WWI.

His name was Sgt. Major Walter C. “Frenchie” French and later known as “Frog”. He said he was the shortest pilot and had required permission from the President (not sure what he meant).

I purchase a few books I saw recommended but I would appreciate any information or pictures of the 147th during this time.

[Cigogne]

As a Sgt. Major...(Master Sergeant?) he would not have been a pilot during the war with the squadron. Only commissioned officers flew in US units as 1st or 2nd Lieutenants. The noncommissioned officers served in the ground crew or other non-flying positions.

[Cigogne]

... also pilots with the rank of Captains and Major also flew. There are also photos of Col. Billy Mitchell in flight gear shown by and taking off in his SPAD XVI two-seater.

Several Issues of Over The Front have info on the 147th Aero Squadron.

Some articles to consider are the ones on Ralph O'Neill, and also "Abe" Abernethy who flew with the unit.

Also, if you want to read entries from their official histories look here:

http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/us_1st_pursuit.html

(Note: The title places the 17th, 103rd, and 183rd Aero Squadrons in the First Pursuit Group. This is inaccurate for the 1917-18 time period. The First Pursuit Group consisted of only these squadrons: 27th Aero, 94th Aero, 95th Aero, and 147th Aero. Later the 185th Aero (Night Fighter) squadron was formed as part of the First Pursuit Group shortly before the end of the war.)

Happy reading!

I’m sure he flew; I even have a set of orders stating it. I’m sure he didn’t fly in combat but I think he did do some reconnaissance flying. As I understand noncommissioned officers flew with officer permission or orders. Also one of my uncles was given his flight log. Is there much information on non-combat pilots? Would his military records still be around?

We think he joined the military in 1917/18 at age 18. Not sure when he was assigned to the 147th but I know he was with them in 1919 until the 147th was given a new number.

I’m ordering back issues of “Over the Front”. I hope to match up names with some of the photos, he took while with them. Most of the stuff I have is from Kelly Field (when I think he was Master Sergeant) but I have some during the War too.

How long on average did it take to become a Sgt. Major?

[CodyPaul]

Originally posted by Cigogne@Sep 16 2004, 03:22 PM
[b] As a Sgt. Major...(Master Sergeant?) he would not have been a pilot during the war with the squadron. Only commissioned officers flew in US units as 1st or 2nd Lieutenants. The noncommissioned officers served in the ground crew or other non-flying positions.

You need to look again. There were indeed enlisted pilots in the Air Corps at least until after World War II.

Quoted from the Air Force Museum site:

"It is not the policy of the War Departmetn to train enlisted men in flying aeroplanes..."
This was the rebuke to Lt. Frank P. Lahm's message announcing that one of the two new aviators he had trained was a corporal. Yet in USAF history about 4,150 pilots trained and flew not as commissioned officers but as enlisted men -- almost 3,000 rated pilots and about 1,150 liaison pilots.


On July 18, 1914, Congress authorized the training of enlisted pilots and William A. Lamkey became the second on record, but he purchased his discharge and flew in Mexico for Pancho Villa. The third enlisted pilot was Pvt. William C. Ocker (1914), who was commissioned in 1917. Later he and Lt. Carl Crane revolutionized aviation by developing a system of flying by instruments that made all-weather flight possible. By April 1917, 26 other enlisted regular Army personnel had become pilots. During WW I, 60 enlisted mechanics earned wings in France and ferried aircraft from French factories to U.S. aero squadrons at the front but none are known to have flown in combat."

[CodyPaul]

"Between the world wars, at least 263 enlisted pilots served in the Air Corps. They were encouraged by the Air Corps Act of 1926 which directed at least 20% of pilots assigned to tactical units be enlisted, a rate never achieved, however. Enlisted pilots flew many different aircraft and such diverse missions as weather reconnaissance, test flights following maintenance, anti-aircraft target towing, cargo and passenger hauling, parachute drop tests, photo mapping, and scientific test flights.

During the depression, enlisted pilot training ceased in June 1933. Some reserve officer pilots, released from active duty due to funding cuts but eager to continue flying, reenlisted as privates, bolstering their meager salary with flight pay. Enlisted pilots on active duty peaked in April 1935 at 117. Only a handful remained in late 1939, but this would change abruptly in WW II.


On the eve of World War II, it soon became apparent that there were not enough college graduates or young men with two years of college to fill planned aviation cadet requirements. As a result, in 1941 Congress authorized an enlisted pilot training program. As aviation students, they would receive the same primary, basic, and advanced flight training as aviation cadets who would be commissioned as officers upon graduation. Enlisted students would graduate as staff sergeant pilots and would serve as flight instructors, transport pilots, and in similar utility roles. (Later in the program, technical sergeants and master sergeants were allowed to retain their higher rank.) It was never intended that sergeant pilots be placed in a position of command over an officer. Candidates had to have a high school diploma and rate in the top 50% of the class with at least 1.5 credits in math, and be between the ages of 18 and 22.

Despite discrimination from some officers, 2,576 enlisted men are known to have graduated as sergeant pilots under this program. Ultimately they flew virtually all types of AAF aircraft. Although most were elevated to the new rank of flight officer (F/O) with officer privileges or to second lieutenant before assignment to a combat unit, about 332 pilots departed the U.S. while still sergeants and about 217 flew combat missions overseas as sergeants. Not counted in this number are other sergeant pilots based in the US flying antisubmarine combat patrols. At least 137 Americans enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and were trained as Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) pilots, then later transferred to the Army Air Force as sergeant pilots before promotion.

Half of the first graduating class of flying sergeants went overseas with the P-38 equipped 82nd Fighter Group. Members of this class shot down 130 enemy aircraft and nine became aces. In all, former sergeant pilots destroyed 249.5 enemy aircraft and 18 became aces flying fighters. William J. Sloan was the leading ace of the Mediterranean Theater with 12 victories. Four WW II enlisted pilots became general officers (seven pre-WW II enlisted pilots also became generals). Also included among former sergeant pilots are international race car driver Carroll H. Shelby and USAF test pilot and later air show aerobatic performer Robert A. "Bob" Hoover. "

[CodyPaul]

"The sergeant pilot training program ended in late 1942 since the educational requirement for cadets had been lowered to that for an aviation student (high school diploma) and all students were to be appointed at graduation as flight officers or second lieutenants. The promotion of those pilots still sergeants was ordered on November 17, 1942, but promotions didn't catch up with all sergeant pilots who were overseas until 1944. Eventually nearly all became second lieutenants. Not wanting to be mistaken as unblooded new pilots, some of these combat veterans scoured their new gold bars with dirt until they resembled those of first lieutenants. (In WW II, AAF regulations also provided for enlisted glider pilot and enlisted service pilot, but generally such pilots were flight officers or above.)


When the Air Force was established in 1947, Master Sergeants Tom Rafferty (right) and George Holmes (left) transferred to the USAF. The former, a 1933 flying school graduate, was killed in 1950. Holmes became a pilot in 1921 and rose to lieutenant colonel in WW II, but at war's end, like Rafferty, he chose to revert to his former rank of master sergeant and served as the USAF's last sergeant pilot until his retirement in 1957. At center is sergeant pilot Chester F. Colby, who earned his wings in 1921. "

(link to the picture: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/ep/ep-5a.htm )

[CodyPaul]

You might also be interested to know that Chuck Yeager was one of those Sgt. pilots who rose to be a General Officer.

[Cigogne]

CodyPaul,

We're talking about WWI here, right? (April 1917 to Nov. 1918) You're "muddying the water" a bit with these studies of later policy. I'm focusing on what the practices were "at the front" during WWI with those front line units so we can see where JMalkin's relative fits in. Your "shotgun" treatise into the complete history of AF practice, while interesting, is overstepping the mark by a long shot. I'm not disputing that. I don't care a toss about what Yeager did and when. Wrong war... and timeframe!

The 147th was part of the First Pursuit Group... and was pretty active. In looking over the flight reports the names of those in the patrols are all officers. In order to actively fly during that period in action an enlisted candidate had to get special permission to go through flight training, pass a flight specific physical, and then pass other requirements in order to get a flying commission and promotion to the rank of officer. Also, there was a lot of resistance from officers to enlisted men coming up through the ranks.

You can read more about this in an article in Vol. 15/3 of Over The Front about 2/Lt. Elmer D. Cook of the 638th Aero Squadron. As an enlisted man he went up through the ranks, Private, corporal, sergeant, etc. doing all of the things that go along with that. Because of his ability to command enlisted men he was approved by Spaatz for flight training.

He states that as a Sergeant he could become a 1/Lt. if he'd have opted for Ground Crew, but he wanted to become a pilot and he was able to become a 2/Lt. after overcoming a lot of obstacles put in his way by the officers who were trying to trip him up. He'd commanded a lot of them when they were cadets at the training schools in Texas, Issoudun, etc., and so it was "pay back time" for him when the tables were turned and he was trying to become a pilot. They were all officers now... they'd been cadets earlier when Cook was sergeant. This article gives some good insight into the practices over there at that time. While not specifically JMalkin's grandfather, it does show that there were restrictions and criteria to pass before he could get to officer level. The enlisted men had other duties which included manual labor, running and maintaining the facilities, gunnery training, mechanical repairs, drill, etc. Somebody had to run all those things so the flight cadets and officiers had somewhere to go and something to do. You got to get beyond the dry stuff and into the real story to get your answers.

Those enlisted men that showed aptitude and ability were able to go beyond this. Most of the officer aviators at this time were from college backgrounds and therefore officier rank. Enlisted men who wanted to advance and enter this field of expertise had to get support from a CO who would give them a card or some type of documentation granting permission stating that they were to receive training. Oftentimes this was to be done AFTER there other duties for the day were fulfilled. (See the Elmer D. Cook article for his dealings and support from Major Carl Spaatz)

I certainly would like to know more about JMalkin's grandfather to see how he fits in to this whole scenario. It took a lot to run a squadron and I don't doubt at all that he may have flown... but under what context? Also, reconnaisance duties weren't the task of the 147th Aero. If he did that, how, and where? The history of the 147th is more than the aviators... it would be good to know about the other folks who kept everything going.

I have access to a copy of the Official Squadron record of the 147th Aero Squadron. I'll have to do some reviewing as it is a few hundred pages of entries, etc. Hopefully his name will come up and some of these questions can be answered.

[Cigogne]

JMalkin,

Is your uncle still living? Does he still have this flight log? Diary? Other things related? That is a good place to start. This forum is also another good place.

The other day I ran in to a neighbor. He stopped me when I was driving down the street to ask me something. He spotted a book on WWI aviation on the seat next to me and stated, "My grandfather flew in WWI." When I asked him some questions, he ran in to the house and brought out a big official citation plague signed by some government official. When I looked at the name and rank on the plaque it said...

1/Lt. Percival V. Stout
27th Aero Squadron

He flew with the 27th Aero, (Same one as Frank Luke, Joe Wehner, Jerry Vasconcells, and others.) being assigned on 28 August 1918. He was wounded in action (shot through the lung) in a fight w/ five Fokkers on 28 September 1918. He received the DSC for this action in Dec. 1918.

How's that for a coincidence, eh? I'm trying to find out more from him about his grandfather.

If you want to read more about the squadron, go here and read the excerpts about the 147th Aero in there.

http://www.1stfighter.org/history/1917.html

http://www.1stfighter.org/history/1918.html

http://www.1stfighter.org/history/1919.html

There is a lot of information in those three webpages about the First Pursuit Group, of which the 147th was a component.

Here is a broader listing by year:

http://www.langley.af.mil/staff/ho/chrono.shtml

Happy reading!