Escadrille N. 124 journal de marche

The Journal is a primarily hand-written document in English and French that details the operations of a campaign during WWI in France. There are two volumes, one covering operations between August 14, 1916 and September 9, 1917 the other between September 10,1917 and February 25, 1918. The squadron was known as Escadrille Lafayette or Escadrille américaine and was an American volunteer air unit fighting for France. Capitaine Georges Thenault was the French commander of this squadron of American volunteers. On February 18, 1918, the squadron ceased as a unit of the French Army and merged into the U.S. Air Corps as the 103rd pursuit squadron. Despite the fact that the squadron was slow to take on popularity in the U.S., the success of the squadron showed the importance of aerial combat to both the Americans and French. The squadron became known as Escadrille Lafayette after Germany filed an objection with the U.S. government complaining that the squadron did not appear the actions of a neutral government in the war. Escadrille américaine implied that the U.S. was allied with France so the name change was meant to neutralize this apparent alliance.

Transcription courtesy of the Smithsonian Transcription Center https://transcription.si.edu/project/6651 and digital volunteers.