World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
airfield in France. It was located East-Southeast from the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
of
Bicqueley
Bicqueley () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of ...
, in the
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.department in northeastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Overview
The airfield was secretly constructed by the 477th Aero Squadron (Construction) in seven days in late August 1918. It had eight French "Bessonneau" aircraft hangars and two British RAF type hangars. The construction also erected eight wooden barracks and 7 other buildings for maintenance shops, headquarters and a small clinic.Series L, Miscellaneous Sections of the Air Service, Volume 11, History of the Design and Projects Section of the Construction Division, Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
First to arrive were two French escadrilles, BR 208 and BR 214, on 6 September, from the French 2nd Army Aviation, and working with the American First Army. They were followed on 8 September by the
50th Aero Squadron
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...
(Observation), flying De Havilland DH-4s, from the
First Army Air Service
The First Army Air Service was an Air Service, United States Army unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I as part of the Air Service, First United States Army. The First Army Air Service was the largest and most diverse Air Se ...
's
I Corps Observation Group
The I Corps Observation Group was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I as part of the Air Service, First United States Army. It was demobilized in France after the 1918 Armistice with Germany ...
, ready for the heavy push towards Saint Mihiel in the following days.Series "D", Volume 2, Squadron histories,. Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
They had all gone by the end of September, and the airfield was quiet until early November, before the Armistice: two French escadrilles stayed for a few days (BR 218 and BR 228), then giving way the three escadrilles of the "Groupe de Bombardement no 6" which were stationed at Bicqueley until 10 January 1919.
Eventually the land was returned to agricultural use by the local farmers. Today, what was Bicqueley
Airdrome is a series of cultivated fields located about one and one-half miles east-southeast of Bicqueley, with no indications of its wartime use.
See also
*
List of Air Service American Expeditionary Force aerodromes in France
: ''see also: Organization of the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force''
When the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917, the Air Service of the United States Army existed only as a branch of the Signal Corps, and was kno ...