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Mechanics in Columbus replaced the engine in Kilner's plane the following morning, and he flew to Casas Grandes without incident. Upon landing, he found to his surprise that he was the first to arrive. He then took off and flew 10 miles to Pershing's headquarters at Colonia Dublan, where Foulois and the three others who had landed at Ascension soon appeared. Willis walked in the next day, and a detachment was sent out to salvage his plane. (The salvage party was fired on but eventually recovered some parts of the plane.) Meanwhile, Gorrell remained missing.

The 1st Aero Squadron, now with improved Curtiss JN-3 craft, were assigned as scouts for Villa's pursuit; above seven Jennies are shown, likely at Columbus:

Gorrell stumbled around until dawn after abandoning his plane in the dark. Then he approached a remote ranch, intending to steal a horse. Pistol in hand, the airman confronted a mounted Mexican. Gorrell offered the terrified man $8 to guide him to the nearest American troops. The guide was none too eager, knowing that Villa's men would kill him if he were discovered helping an American, but the pistol in the young pilot's hand persuaded the Mexican. Gorrell's reluctant savior carried the airman 20 miles to a column of U.S. cavalry at Ascension.

Gorrell rested for a few hours, then borrowed a Ford sedan from the U.S. 6th Infantry. He drove back to his crippled plane with fuel and oil and managed to start the engine. He flew the plane 30 miles south to Ojo Federico, where he landed near an American truck convoy. He refueled, but as he taxied for takeoff, his wing struck a fuel barrel. Once he was airborne, the canvas began to rip from the wing. Gorrell brought his plane down once again and hitched a ride to Colonia Dublan, where he finally rejoined his squadron. Two days later he returned to his plane, repaired it and flew it back to headquarters.

While Gorrell had been wandering through the rough country of Chihuahua, the other fliers of the 1st Aero Squadron were assigned to locate American troops advancing south along the Mexico Northwestern Railway. Lieutenant Dodd, with Foulois in the observer's seat, flew toward Cumbre Pass. Foulois reported that "the plane began to buck and shake violently in ever-increasing turbulent air. We had the throttle on as far as it would go, and the engine was straining valiantly at its limits. Ahead, the ground rose abruptly above us, and I knew that much as Dodd and I wanted to complete our mission, we had reached the absolute ceiling of our plane. We had no choice but to return to headquarters and report our failure." Discouraged, they returned to Colonia Dublan.

A Curtiss JN3 prepares for takeoff during the Mexican Punitive Expedition in 1916.

One of the squadron's Jennys, piloted by Lieutenant Thomas Bowen, was caught in a gust of wind during takeoff later that same day. Bowen was injured in the ensuing crash and the Jenny was destroyed, leaving the squadron with only six functional planes (including Gorrell's still-missing craft). Over the next several days, the fliers again tried to push the JN-3s over the mountains, but the 100-hp engines were not powerful enough. After only a few days of operations, it became clear that the JN-3s (which had been designed as trainers) could not fly over the 12,000-foot-high mountains, nor could they withstand the gusty winds, rain, hail and snow that were prevalent in the area.

There were other problems with the planes as well. Their wheels bogged down in the deep sand, and the hot, dry air quickly dried out the wooden planes. Especially troublesome were the propellers, which delaminated in the dry heat. Metal propellers were too heavy for the underpowered engines, and only a propeller laboriously carved from dried native wood proved successful. The pilots soon learned to carry a spare propeller, stored in a humidity-controlled box strapped to the side of the fuselage, on every mission.

News of the equipment problems of the 1st Aero Squadron quickly leaked back to the rest of the country. Byron Utecht, a New York World correspondent accompanying the Pershing forces, quoted Foulois when he wrote that the airmen were "risking lives ten times a day, but are not given equipment needed." Utecht said the pilots blamed "politics, personal ambition and utter lack of knowledge of aviation as being responsible for the dangerous plight of the 1st Aero Squadron." Lieutenant Herbert A. Dargue was quoted as saying, "It is nothing short of criminal to send the aviators up under such conditions as we are meeting here."

Lt. Carlton G. Chapman, JN-3 No. 53, Mexico, 1916:

Utecht, who had not submitted his work to the censors, was kicked out of Mexico, and Pershing's inspector general questioned all the officers of the squadron. With an eye on their careers, the fliers denied the quotes attributed to them.

The squadron's mechanics -- some of whom used motorcycles to quickly reach a downed aircraft -- did all they could to strengthen the Jennys for use in Mexico, but there was only so much that could be done. After several abortive attempts to cross Cumbre Pass, the 1st Aero Squadron concentrated on carrying mail and dispatches between Columbus and the columns moving south into Mexico. In this capacity, the squadron proved to be successful. During the last few days of March, the six remaining planes flew approximately 20 missions with messages for the various columns of Pershing's command. The planes were moved to Namiquipa beginning April 1, 1916, where 19 missions were flown on one day without a problem.

Foulois knew that his aircraft could not long withstand the rigors of desert flying, and he devised a plan to conserve the remaining planes. He suggested that a radio-telegraph link be established between Casas Grandes and Namiquipa, and that motorcycles be used for routine message traffic. The planes would be reserved for emergency use. He also requested 10 new planes capable of performing in the adverse conditions of Mexico, but he was informed that all available aircraft were already with the punitive expedition.

JN-3 in Mexico

The 1st Aero Squadron did receive more trucks and personnel, however, and by May 1 the squadron boasted 16 officers and 122 enlisted men. Even though Pershing's forces met and defeated a large force of Villa's troops at Parral, the fliers played no part in that action. The planes, in fact, had not yet been equipped with any type of offensive weapon larger than a .22-caliber rifle or a .45-caliber pistol, even though machine guns and bombs had been ordered to outfit them. (The squadron had received a shipment of 3-inch artillery shells in April, but none of the aviators knew how to use them as aerial bombs.)

The Signal Corps had previously experimented with bombsights, bomb-release mechanisms and a variety of aerial explosives, but the tests had been abandoned because Brig. Gen. George P. Scriven, the chief signal officer, felt that airplanes should be used solely for reconnaissance. Many years later, Foulois somewhat ruefully noted that "using the airplanes as offensive weapons...was contrary, of course, to military policy at the time."

The squadron moved to San Geronimo on April 5. Just a day later, Kilner's plane landed too hard, tearing off a wheel. The JN-3 ground looped and was destroyed. The squadron was down to five planes on the eve of its most important and hazardous mission. Early on April 7, 1916, two planes took off and flew from San Geronimo to Chihuahua. One was piloted by Dargue, with Foulois sitting in the observer's seat. Carberry was at the controls of the other plane, accompanied by Dodd. The two planes flew to Chihuahua City with identical messages for Marion H. Letcher, the American consul in that city. Carberry landed north of Chihuahua and Dodd set off with the message for Letcher, while Dargue landed south of the city.

Foulois exited the plane, then ordered Dargue to fly north and rejoin Carberry. Foulois started into town, but as Dargue's airplane was climbing, he was fired on by four mounted Mexican policemen armed with Winchester rifles. Foulois heard the shooting (the first recorded attack against an American military plane) and intervened. The Mexicans stopped shooting but trained their weapons on Foulois, who later said of the episode, "There was nothing I could do but put my hands up -- and pray." Surrounded by bystanders shouting "kill the gringo," Foulois was carted off to jail.

Dargue and his plane were unhurt by the gunfire, and a few minutes later he landed near Carberry's plane, where an angry crowd of Carranza supporters had gathered. The Mexicans, indignant about the American incursion into their country, began to vandalize the two planes. They burned cigarette holes in the wings, cut the fabric and removed a number of nuts and bolts from the aircraft. In desperation, the two pilots started their engines.

The enraged crowd threw rocks as the aviators lifted off. Carberry managed to fly to an American-owned smelter six miles away, but Dargue's plane was struck by one of the stones and the stabilizer was damaged. Dargue brought the crippled plane down safely but was immediately surrounded by the hostile crowd.

Meanwhile, even though he had been dragged off to jail, Foulois managed to contact a Colonel Miranda of the Mexican army, who released the airman and escorted him to the military governor of Chihuahua, General Eulallo Gutierrez. Gutierrez ordered his troops to help Foulois find Dargue. When Foulois and his escorts arrived, Dargue was doing his best to hold off the angry mob, armed with no more than his wits and bare hands. Dargue's plane was repaired later that afternoon, and the somewhat shaken airman flew back to San Geronimo.

President Carranza< /i>

The incident revealed the unpopularity of the American intervention among Mexicans of every political persuasion. Indeed, the airmen of the 1st Aero Squadron felt the anger of the populace on more than one occasion. On the following day, April 8, Mexicans fired at Carberry and Dodd as they flew over Chihuahua. Lieutenant Carlton G. Chapman made a forced landing that same day at Santa Rosalia, where he was captured by Carranza supporters. He was eventually released, but not before looters stole field glasses, goggles and ammunition from his plane.

Carranza's forces, led by Minister of War Alvaro Obregon, did not initially resist U.S. intervention. But it wasn't long before the Mexican president, a strong nationalist, became increasingly concerned about the American presence in his country. Fearful that some of his military commanders might defect to Villa, Carranza began to demand that the Americans return home.

Carranza's troops resisted Pershing's forces on several occasions. One of the worst clashes occurred on April 12, 1916, at Parral, when American cavalrymen fired on a hostile crowd of Carrancistas. Two soldiers were killed, as were a large number of Mexicans. That afternoon, Foulois carried an ultimatum from a furious General Gutierrez to Pershing, demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Army's 1st Aero Squadron w/eight new Curtiss JN-2 biplanes, North Island, July, 1915

A defiant Pershing scribbled a reply that he would withdraw when he was ordered to do so by the U.S. president or the secretary of war, which Foulois carried back to Chihuahua City. (The wings of Foulois' airplane were damaged during that flight and were replaced with the wings of one of the remaining planes, leaving the squadron with only four aircraft.) The Wilson administration was having second thoughts about the punitive expedition, and Pershing was ordered to halt operations while high-level officials conducted talks on the situation in Mexico.

Dargue and Gorrell took off on a reconnaissance mission to locate a force of Carrancistas on April 14. They flew 315 miles, an unofficial American distance record at the time. Lieutenant I.A. Rader undertook a similar mission on that day but was forced to land at Ojito, nearly 100 miles from the nearest U.S. force. He abandoned his plane, leaving the squadron with only three planes.

Five days later, Dargue and Willis undertook another scouting mission to Chihuahua City. They carried a new Brock aerial camera capable of making sequenced photos, but they experienced engine trouble 20 miles northwest of Chihuahua and crashed in the woods. Dargue was unhurt, but Willis was temporarily pinned in the wreckage and suffered a broken ankle and a severe scalp wound. The plane, the camera and the photographic plates had all been destroyed in the crash, so Dargue set fire to the wreckage.

In the dry conditions, the surrounding forest caught fire, and the conflagration raged out of control, consuming thousands of acres of countryside. The two men escaped the flames and began to walk to San Antonio, Willis hobbling on his broken ankle. After traveling 40 miles, they stole a mule and rode the remaining 25 miles into San Antonio.

While Rader, Dargue and Willis were walking home, the remaining two JN-3s and the rest of the squadron were sent back to Columbus for refitting. The fliers arrived on April 20, 1916, and found four new Curtiss N-8s, an export version of the JN-4, the latest model of the Jenny. These were the first of 94 JN-4s ordered by the Army in 1916 (the JN-4 soon became the standard U.S. trainer).

The aviators tested their new planes during the last week of April and found them lacking. Foulois was particularly unimpressed. He condemned the N-8s at first glance, then set fire to the two surviving JN-3s for good measure. Despite his wanton destruction of government property, Foulois was promoted to major. The airmen complained so bitterly about their new planes that the N-8s were quickly withdrawn from the border and sent to San Diego, where they were used for training and experimentation. The Technical Aero Advisory and Inspection Board of the Signal Corps decided instead to equip the 1st Aero with the Curtiss R-2, which boasted a 160-hp engine.

Twelve R-2s were delivered to the squadron in May, but the planes, which had been very hastily constructed, were missing vital spare parts and had faulty wiring and leaky fuel tanks. The aircraft even lacked compasses, instruments and tool kits when they arrived. The experienced mechanics at Columbus soon put the planes into flying shape, however. The R-2s used in Mexico were eventually equipped with automatic cameras, radios and Lewis machine guns, as well as incendiary and explosive bombs (the weapons were never used in Mexico).

Despite the use of airplanes, the U.S. Army never managed to locate the elusive Pancho Villa. Instead of easing tensions along the Mexican border, the U.S. incursion only further inflamed the situation. In late June, a clash between an American patrol and a force of Carrancistas left 12 Americans dead and another 23 as prisoners. Anti-American demonstrations occurred throughout Mexico, and Pershing was informed by the Carranza government that his movement in any direction but north would be resisted. Although more U.S. troops continued to pour into Mexico, the services of the 1st Aero Squadron were needed less and less after reliable ground communication links were established.

The pilots of the squadron flew 540 missions in Mexico between March 15 and August 15, 1916. The average mission length was 36 miles. The squadron's greatest contribution was maintaining communications between Pershing's columns, which penetrated 700 miles into Mexico. As the summer of 1916 turned to fall, the U.S. military began to worry less about Pancho Villa and more about the war in Europe. The last U.S. troops left Mexico in February 1917, just two months before the United States entered World War I.

Curtis JN-2s of the First Aero Squadron assist Gen. 'Blackjack' Pershing in his pursuit of Pancho Villa, following his cross border raid on Columbus NM in 1916.

Although the 1st Aero Squadron remained at Columbus until August 1917, most of the experienced fliers were transferred to several new squadrons being formed. Major Foulois rose rapidly through the ranks and soon commanded the U.S. Air Service of the First Army during World War I.

General Black Jack Pershing also had a new command, but before leaving the border area to take charge of the U.S. Expeditionary Force in Europe, he thanked the 1st Aero Squadron for "the faithful and efficient service it has performed as part of this expedition." On August 5, 1917, the 1st Aero Squadron, commanded by Major Ralph Royce, left Columbus for the Western Front.

Additional Sources:

www.nasm.si.edu
www.firstworldwar.com
www.electriciti.com
www.brooksart.com
glennhcurtiss.com
eles.freeservers.com
www.latinamericanstudies.org
www.af.mil
www.afapo.hq.af.mil
www.ngb.army.mil

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on March 30:
1135 Maimonides [Moses Ben Maimon] Còrodoba Spain, philosopher/physician
1432 Mehmed II [Fâtih] Sultan of Turkey (1451-81)
1672 Peter I "the Great" Romanov great tsar of Russia (1682-1725)
1674 Jethro Tull agricultural writer (Basildon), baptised
1719 Sir John Hawkins England, wrote 1st history of music
1746 Francisco Jose de Goya Fuendetodos Spain, painter/etcher (Naked Maja)
1790 Joseph Smith Rear Admiral (Union Navy), died in 1877
1804 Salomon Sulzer composer
1823 Joseph Farmer Knipe Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1901
1824 Innis Newton Palmer Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1825 Samuel Bell Maxey Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1895
1836 Karl Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg German industrialist/politician
1842 John Fiske [Edmund Fisk Green] US historian/philosopher
1853 Vincent van Gogh Zundert Netherlands, artist who always lent an ear (Irises)
1880 Sean O'Casey Ireland, playwright (Playboy of the Western World)
1886 Stanislaw Lesniewski Poland, logician/mathematician
1888 Anna Q Nilsson Ystad Sweden, actress (Shenandoah, Uncle Tom's Cabin)
1894 Sergei Ilyushin Russian airplane builder (Ilyushin)
1913 Frankie Laine [Frank Paul LoVecchio] Chicago IL, singer (Hey, Good Lookin', That's My Desire)/ actor (Frankie Laine Show, Rawhide)
1913 Richard Helms CIA head (1966-73)
1914 Sonny Boy Williamson [John Lee] blues musician (Down & Out Blues)
1919 McGeorge Bundy Boston MA, national security adviser under JFK
1930 David Staple joint president (Council of Churches for Britain & Ireland)
1930 Peter Marshall [Pierre LaCock] Huntington Long Island NY, TV game show host (Hollywood Squares)
1931 Aleksey Vasilyevich Sorokin Russian cosmonaut
1937 Warren Beatty Richmond VA, actor (Bonnie & Clyde,Shampoo, Dick Tracy)
1940 Astrud Gilberto Brazil, singer (Girl From Ipanema)
1940 Jerry Lucas Middletown OH, NBA center (New York Knicks, NBA rookie of year 1964, Olympics-gold-60)
1945 Eric Clapton [Eric Patrick Clapp] Ripley England, legendary guitarist/singer (Yardbirds, Cream, Tears in Heaven)
1948 Dave Ball rocker (Procul Harum)
1957 Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM 20, STS 84)
1968 Celine Dion Québec Canada, singer (I'm Your Woman)
1970 Secreteriat race horse, triple crown (1973)
1973 Caroline Ramagos Miss Mississippi-USA (1996)

Deaths which occurred on March 30:
0988 Arnulf II count of Flanders (965-988), dies
1202 Joachim Van Fiore Italian religious founder (Joachimism), dies
1547 François I of Valois-Angoulême King of France (1515-47), dies at 52
1840 George (Beau) Brummell Dandy, dies
1873 Benedict Augustin Morel psychologist (dementia praecox), dies at 63
1910 Jean Moréas [Y Papadiamantopoulos], Greek/French poet, dies at 53
1926 Feliks E Dzerzjinski Lithuanian organizer (KGB), dies at 48
1948 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi
1950 Léon Blum French premier (People's Front Govt), dies at 77
1961 P J Melotte discovered Jupiter's 8th satellite Pasiphae, dies
1966 Maxfield Parrish US painter, dies at 95
1979 Airey Neave British MP (Conservatives), killed by terrorist bomb
1981 Dewitt Wallace US founder (Reader's Digest), dies at 91
1986 James F Cagney actor (Public Enemy, Angels With Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies at his Stanfordville NY farm at 86
1994 Albert Goldman rock biographer (Elvis, John Lennon), dies at 66
2002 Britain’s Queen Mother Elizabeth died at age 101 in her sleep at Royal Lodge, Windsor
2004 Alister Cook journalist (Letters from America)

GWOT Casualties

30-Mar-2003 6 | US: 3 | UK: 3 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Michael Vernon Lalush Southern part Hostile - helicopter crash
US Sergeant Brian Daniel McGinnis Southern part Hostile - helicopter crash
US Captain Aaron Joseph Contreras Southern part Hostile - helicopter crash
UK Major Steve Alexis Ballard Not reported Non-hostile - natural causes
UK Lance Corporal Shaun Andrew Brierley Not reported Non-hostile - vehicle accident
UK Royal Navy Marine Christopher R. Maddison Basra Hostile - hostile fire

30-Mar-2004 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal William J. Wiscowiche Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Master Sergeant Richard L. Ferguson Samarra Non-hostile - vehicle accident

Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

On this day...
0239 BC 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
0804 Liudger becomes 1st bishop of Münster
1282 Inhabitants of Palermo attack French occupation force in the "Sicilian Vespers." The Mafia appeared in Sicily to revolt against French rule after a drunken soldier attacked a young woman on her wedding day.
1456 Prince Louis of Bourbon elected bishop of Liege
1492 King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella sign decree expelling Jews from Spain
1533 Henry VIII divorces his 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon
1533 Thomas Cranmer becomes archbishop of Canterbury
1603 Battle at Mellifont: English army under Lord Mountjoy beats Irish
1814 Britain & allies march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
1822 Congress combined East & West Florida into Florida Territory
1842 Ether was used as an anaesthetic for 1st time by Dr Crawford Long (Jefferson GA)
1856 Russia signs Peace of Paris, ending the Crimean War
1858 Pencil with attached eraser patented (Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia)
1864 Skirmish at Mount Elba AR
1865 Battle at 5 Forks Virginia
1867 US purchases Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2¢ an acre-Seward's Folly)
1870 15th Amendment passes, guarantees right to vote regardless of race
1870 Texas becomes last confederate state readmitted to Union
1889 John T Reid opens 1st US golf course (Yonkers NY)
1912 French protectorate in Morocco established
1919 Gandhi announces resistance against Rowlatt Act
1925 Stalin supports rights of non-Serbian Yugoslavians
1932 Amelia Earhart is 1st woman to fly solo cross the Atlantic
1935 Newfoundland changes time to 3½ hours W of Greenwich, repeats 44 seconds
1941 Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel began its first offensive against British forces in Libya.
1942 1st RSHA-transport from France arrives in camp Birkenau
1942 SS murders 200 inmates of Trawniki labor camp
1945 289 anti-fascists murdered by Nazis in Rombergpark Dortmund

1950 Phototransistor invention announced, Murray Hill NJ

1953 Einstein announces revised unified field theory
1961 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 169,600' (51,690 meter)
1963 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria
1964 Astronaut John Glenn withdraws from Ohio senate race
1966 Barbra Streisand stars on "Color Me Barbra" special on CBS
1967 Cover picture of Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper" is photographed
1970 Miles Davis Bitches Brew released
1973 Ellsworth Bunker resigns as US ambassador to South Vietnam
1980 Mormon Church celebrates its 150th anniversary in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1981 President Reagan shot & wounded by John W Hinckley Jr

1984 US ends participation in multinational Lebanon peace force
1987 Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" sells for record £22.5M ($39.7 million)
1990 Jack Nicklaus made his debut in the "Seniors" golf tournament
1991 William Kennedy Smith allegedly rapes a woman(Patricia Bowman) (found not guilty)
1994 Clinton administration announced it was lifting virtually all export controls on non-military products to China and the former Soviet bloc
1995 Pope John Paul II issued the 11th encyclical of his papacy in which he condemned abortion and euthanasia as crimes that no human laws could legitimize.
1998 In Algeria some 123 people including 58 civilians and many children were reported killed in the west and south in the last 3 days.
1999 Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic insisted that NATO attacks stop before he moved toward peace, declaring his forces ready to fight "to the very end"
2000 Mount Usu (Japan)erupted on Hokaido following 22 years of dormancy
2003 12th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom an Iraqi general, captured by British forces in southern Iraq, was pressed to provide information. A British TV correspondent covering the war in Iraq died after apparently falling from a hotel roof.
2004 Philippine officials reported the arrest of 4 Muslim extremists in the brutal al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Devonshire, England : Blind Days (it is unlucky to sow seed during the last 3 days of March).

Alaska : Seward Day (1867) (Monday)
US Virgin Island : Transfer Day (1917) (Monday)
US : Starry Night
US : Doctor's Day
US : I am in Control Day
US : Take a Walk in the Park Day
National Feminine Empowerment Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Leonard Murialdo, Italian priest/educator

Religious History
1135 Birth of Moses Maimonides, medieval Jewish scholar. Considered the foremost Talmudist of the Middle Ages, his most important writing was "Guide to the Perplexed" (1190), in which he tried to harmonize Rabbinic Judaism with the increasingly popular Aristotelianism of his day.
1492 The Jews were expelled from Spain by Inquisitor_General Tom's Torquemada (Spanish Inquisition).
1771 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'Suffer all, and conquer all.'
1863 Ownership of Wilberforce University in Ohio was transferred to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The school had been founded seven years earlier by the Methodist Episcopal Church.
1917 All imperial lands, as well as lands belonging to monasteries, were confiscated by the Russian provisional government.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Nothing beats fun for having a good time"