''Escadrille SPA.124'' of the
French Air Service
The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
was established in February 1918. The members of the earlier ''Escadrille N.124'', more widely known as the
Lafayette Escadrille
The La Fayette Escadrille () was the name of the French Air Force unit escadrille N 124 during the First World War (1914–1918). This escadrille of the History of the Armée de l'Air (1909–1942)#World War I (1914–1918), ''Aéronautique Mil ...
, largely transferred into the
United States Air Service
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
on 18 February as the
103rd Aero Squadron
The 103rd Aero Squadron was an aviation pursuit squadron of the U.S. Air Service that served in combat in France during World War I. Its original complement included pilots from the disbanded Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps. One ...
. The remaining French personnel were formed into a unit operating ''
SPADs''. In May 1918, the unit was dubbed the Escadrille
Jeanne d'Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
to differentiate it from its famous predecessor.
[Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 104.]
History
''Escadrille SPA.124'' was originally commanded by Lieutenant André d'Humières. Though originally slated for incorporation into ''Groupe de Combat 15'', it was assigned to ''Groupe de Combat 21'' (GC.21) to support the
IVe Armée. Other squadrons in GC.21 included the
103d Aero Squadron
The 103rd Aero Squadron was an aviation pursuit squadron of the U.S. Air Service that served in combat in France during World War I. Its original complement included pilots from the disbanded Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps. O ...
, ''Escadrille N 98'', and ''Escadrille N 157''. Capitaine Lucien Couret de Villeneuve was appointed to command ''GC.21''.
[ Three Portuguese pilots, de Souza-Maya, Dos Santos-Leite, Lello Portela, and one Czech pilot, Vaclav Pilat, transferred to the Escadrille Jeanne d'Arc, and kept its international flavor.
GC.21 was assigned to IVe Armée of the ]French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
. On 10 April 1918, ''Escadrille.SPA 163'' rotated into the Group as the 103rd Aero Squadron departed. On 25 May, GC.21 transferred to Ve Armée. The First Colonial Army cited GC.21 for destroying four observation balloon
An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for gathering intelligence and spotting artillery. The use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World ...
s in seven days. On 2 June 1918, the group was reassigned to VIe Armée as a Groupe de Chasse
''Groupe de Chasse'' or ''groupe de chasse'' (usually abbreviated as GC) is the French language term for " fighter group" or "fighter wing". More literal translations include "pursuit group" (the US term for fighter groups prior to 1942) and "hun ...
. On 3 July 1918, GC.21 was posted back to Ve Armée. By war's end, ''Escadrille SPA 124'' was credited with 28 aerial victories.[
''Escadrille SPA.124'', the ''Jeanne d'Arc Escadrille'', continues in service in today's French Air Force."September 3, 2008, the SPA 124 became the 3rd Squadron of the 2/5 Ile-de-France Fighter Squadron."Summary of Squadron History translated from French. Accessed 8 October 2018]
/ref>
Notable personnel
* Pavel Argeyev[
]
References
* Franks, Norman; Frank W. Bailey. ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' Grub Street, 1992. , .
Endnotes
Further reading
* Bailey, Frank W., and Christophe Cony. ''French Air Service War Chronology, 1914-1918: Day-to-Day Claims and Losses by French Fighter, Bomber and Two-Seat Pilots on the Western Front''. London: Grub Street, 2001.
* Davilla, James J., and Arthur M. Soltan. ''French Aircraft of the First World War''. Stratford, CT: Flying Machines Press, 1997.
* ''Les escadrilles de l'aéronautique militaire française: symbolique et histoire, 1912-1920''. Vincennes: Service historique de l'armée de l'air, 2004.
External links
l'Escadrille Jeanne d'Arc
{{wwi-air
French Air and Space Force squadrons