The air commanders of

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 ...

were army or navy officers who came to command air services during the first major conflict in which air power played a significant role.

Entente Powers air commanders

British Empire

Australian Flying Corps

*1914–1919 – Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Reynolds, General Staff Officer for Aviation, Australian Imperial Force *1918 - Lieutenant Colonel Richard Williams, Officer Commanding (Acting) RAF Palestine Brigade

Royal Flying Corps

=Director-General of Military Aeronautics

= *1914–1917 – Lieutenant-General Sir David Henderson *1917–1918 – Major-General

John Salmond Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, (17 July 1881 – 16 April 1968) was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served as a sq ...

*1918 – Brigadier-General

Edward Ellington Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Leonard Ellington, (30 December 1877 – 13 June 1967) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the First World War as a staff officer and then as director-general of military aeronau ...

=General Officer Commanding the RFC in France

*1914–1915 – Major-General Sir David Henderson *1915–1918 – Major-General

Hugh Trenchard Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...

*1918 – Major-General

Royal Naval Air Service

=Heads of the RNAS

= *1914–1915 – Captain

Murray Sueter Rear-Admiral Sir Murray Fraser Sueter (6 September 1872 – 3 February 1960) was a Royal Naval officer who was noted as a pioneer of naval aviation and later became a Member of Parliament (MP). Naval career Sueter was born in Alverstoke. Comi ...

, Director of the Admiralty Air Department *1915–1917 – Rear Admiral

Charles Vaughan-Lee Rear Admiral Sir Charles Lionel Vaughan-Lee, (27 February 1867-16 March 1928) was a senior Royal Navy officer in the early 20th century. He served during World War I, rising to the rank of rear-admiral. Biography Vaughan-Lee was born in the Engl ...

, Director of the Admiralty Air Department *1917–1918 – Commodore

Godfrey Paine Rear Admiral Sir Godfrey Marshall Paine, (21 November 1871 – 23 March 1932) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force in the early part of the 20th century. He played a leading role in joint and naval flying training before ...

, Fifth Sea Lord and Director of Naval Aviation

Royal Air Force

=Chief of the Air Staff

= *1918 – Major-General Sir Hugh Trenchard *1918 – Major-General

Frederick Sykes Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes, (23 July 1877 – 30 September 1954) was a British military officer and politician. Sykes was a junior officer in the 15th Hussars before becoming interested in military aviation. He was the first Off ...

France

Director of Military Aeronautics

*1914–1915

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Auguste Edouard Hirschauer André Auguste Édouard Hirschauer (16 June 1857 in Saint-Avold, Moselle, France – 27 December 1943 in Versailles (city), Versailles, Yvelines, France) was a French lieutenant general in the First World War and from 1920 to 1936 represen ...

*''position vacant'' *1916 Henry Jacques Regnier

Head of the Service Aéronautique

*to December 1916 Colonel Édouard Barès *December 1916 to August 1917

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

Paul du Peuty *August 1917 to __ Colonel Charles Duval

Greece

* Hellenic Naval Air Service: Lt Commander Aristeidis Moraitinis (1917–1918)

Imperial Russia

* Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, Field Inspector General of the Imperial Russian Air Service *General

Alexander von Kaulbars Alexander Wilhelm Andreas Freiherr von Kaulbars (russian: Александр Васильевич Каульбарс, translit=Aleksandr Vasil'evič Kaul'bars; 25 January 1925) was a Baltic German military leader who served in the Imperial Russi ...

(Head of Russian Aviation in the Field, 1914-1915) *Colonel Sergey Oulianine (Head of the Directorate of the Air Force, 1917-1918)

Italy

* Maurizio Moris, General Director for Aeronautics (1915) * (1915–1917) * Luigi Bongiovanni (1918–1919)

Romania

General Inspector of Engineering and Aeronautics

*1913-1915 - General Mihail Boteanu

Commander of the RAC

*1915-1916; 1918-1920 - Brigadier General Constantin Găvănescu *1916 - Major Gheorghe Rujinschi *1916-1918 - Major De Malherbe

Director of the Aeronautics

*1916-1918 - Lieutenant-colonel *1918-1920 - Brigadier General Constantin Găvănescu

United States

Chief of Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force in France

*30 June 1917 - Lieutenant-Colonel William L. Mitchell *3 September 1917 - Brigadier-General William L. Kenly *27 November 1917 - Brigadier-General

Benjamin Foulois Benjamin Delahauf Foulois (December 9, 1879 – April 25, 1967) was a United States Army general who learned to fly the first military planes purchased from the Wright brothers. He became the first military aviator as an airship pilot, and achi ...

*29 May 1918 - Major-General

Mason Patrick Mason Mathews Patrick (December 13, 1863 – January 29, 1942) was a general officer in the United States Army who led the United States Army Air Service during and after World War I and became the first Chief of the Army Air Corps when it was c ...

Air Commander, Zone of Advance on the American Expeditionary Force in France

*Brigadier-General

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

Central Powers air commanders

Germany

*''Führer der Luftschiffe'' (Admiral 2nd Class)

Peter Strasser Peter Strasser (1 April 1876 – 5 August 1918) was chief commander of German Imperial Navy Zeppelins during World War I, the main force operating bombing campaigns from 1915 to 1917. He was killed when flying the German Empire's last airs ...

, Commander of naval Airships (1915–1918) *Major, later Lieutenant-Colonel and then Colonel,

Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen General Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen (born Hermann Thomsen; 10 March 1867 – 5 May 1942) was a German military aviation pioneer, a senior air commander in the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, and a founding father of the Ger ...

, Chief of Field Air Services (1915–1916), Air Service Chief of Staff (1916–1919) *Lieutenant-General

Ernst von Hoeppner Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner (14 January 1860 – 26 September 1922) was a Prussian cavalry officer who served as the Commanding General of the German Air Service (''Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. Early life and military ...

, Commanding General of the Air Service (1916–1919)

Inspector of Flying Troops

*Colonel

Walter von Eberhardt Lieutenant-General Friedrich Wilhelm Magnus Heinrich Walter von Eberhardt (7 January 1862 in Berlin – 7 January 1944 in Wernigerode), generally known as Walter von Eberhardt, was a German military commander during World War I and the Lithuanian ...

, Inspector of Flying Troops (1913–1914) *Major

Richard Roethe Colonel Richard Roethe (1865–1944) was a German Army officer and an influential figure in German military aviation during World War I. In 1914 he succeeded Colonel Walter von Eberhardt Lieutenant-General Friedrich Wilhelm Magnus Heinrich Walt ...

, Inspector of Flying Troops (1914–1916) *Major, later Lieutenant-Colonel Wilhelm Siegert, 2nd Staff Officer of Field Air Services (1915–1916), Inspector of Flying Troops (1916–1918) *Captain Wilhelm Haehnelt, Air Commander 5th Army (1915–1916), Air Commander 1st Army (1916–1918), Inspector of Flying Troops (1918–1919)

Austro-Hungarian Empire

*Colonel, later Major General Emil Uzelac, Commander of the

Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops The Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops or Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (german: Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or , hu, Császári és Királyi Légjárócsapatok) were the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the e ...

(1912–1918) *Colonel General Archduke Josef Ferdinand, Inspector General of the Imperial Air Force (1917–1918)

Ottoman Empire

Bulgaria

References

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