publications, as did the Emil Buehler Library at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. Jack Fine at the Buehler Library greatly assisted in the search for photographs. Archivist David Levesque at St. Paul’s School helped identify many of David Ingalls’s school friends and associates, and Roger Sheely generously provided access to his own father’s World War I papers and photograph albums, which contained much material relating to Ingalls’s involvement with the Northern Bombing Group program. Peter Mersky also permitted reproduction of several photographs from his collection. I have also enjoyed working with Darroch Greer and Ron King, producers of the outstanding documentary film The Millionaire’s Unit: America’s Pioneer Pilots of the Great War. They provided several leads and insights into the world of the First Yale Unit.
Finally, my hearty thanks go to the editors and professionals at Ohio University Press who made the task of completing this project a pleasure rather than a burden. These include series editors Ingo Trauschweizer and David Ulbrich and Editorial Director Gillian Berchowitz.
Geoffrey L. Rossano
A Note on the Text
Principal Sources:
Diary, two volumes, September 1917–November 1918
Letters to parents and others, April 1917–November 1918
Typescript diary/memoir prepared in the early postwar period
Observations/Analysis re: training at Turnberry and Ayr
Informal logbook entries scattered through the diary
Technical notebook re: gunnery, equipment lectures at Turnberry
RAF squadron reports
This book incorporates the complete chronological text of David Ingalls’s extant World War I letters and diary, technical notes from his time at Turnberry, an analysis of training at Ayr and Turnberry, random flight records, and official RAF squadron reports/flight reports, supplemented where appropriate by material drawn from his postwar (c. 1924) personal memoir. Also included is the transcript of after dinner remarks made at a 1924 reunion of the Yale fliers. Obvious misspellings have been corrected. In the few instances where Ingalls’s handwriting made deciphering a word or phrase problematic or where words have been inserted to provide clarity, the editor has so indicated with brackets—[ ]—in the text.
Chapter organization reflects discrete periods in Ingalls’s wartime instruction and service, beginning with chapter 1, his early training in Florida and New York. Chapter 2 covers his voyage across the Atlantic and early months in England and France. Chapter 3 includes material related to training with the Royal Flying Corps from December 1917 until March 1918. Chapter 4 documents Ingalls’s service at NAS Dunkirk and with No.213 Squadron, RAF, in the period March–May 1918. Chapter 5 is devoted to his months of training for duty with the Northern Bombing Group and service with an RAF bombing squadron. Chapter 6 covers his time at the front with No.213 Squadron in August–October 1918, the months when he scored all of his aerial victories. Chapter 7 describes Ingalls’s final wartime duties at the navy’s assembly and repair facility at Eastleigh, England, and his trip home.
The volume incorporates both editorial comments and annotations. The editorial material is designed to place Ingalls’s words and actions into historical context, while offering a succinct narrative of his life and the events of his military career. Most of this information is located at the beginning of chapters or in extended footnotes. The objective is not to retell the entire story of naval aviation in this period. Rather, every attempt has been made to give substance to Ingalls’s own voice, to let one young man tell his own story, completely, for the very first time.
Finally, the annotations. Throughout his surviving letters, diary, and other documents, David Ingalls mentioned a vast cast of characters, organizations, places, and events. A few are well known to the casual reader, but most are not, even to those well versed in the history of the period. Many references, at a distance of nearly a century, are quite obscure. To address this issue and help the reader understand the flow of events but not overwhelm Ingalls’s narrative, the editor has indicated the terms, characters, places, and other material to be identified with a footnote number, with the actual identification/explanation placed at the bottom of the page.
Abbreviations
AA antiaircraft
A & R assembly and repair
AEF American Expeditionary Force
BM Boatswain’s Mate
CNO Chief of Naval Operations
CO commanding officer
C.P.S. Carson, Pirie, Scott
DFC Distinguished Flying Cross
DSC Distinguished Service Cross
DSI David Sinton Ingalls
DSM Distinguished Service Medal
DSO Distinguished Service Order
EA enemy aircraft
FAD First Aeronautic Detachment
GM Gunner’s Mate
HOP high offensive patrol
j.g. junior grade
MG machine gun
MM Machinist Mate
NA Naval Aviator
NAS Naval Air Station
NBG Northern Bombing Group
NRFC Naval Reserve Flying Corps
QM Quartermaster
RAF Royal Air Force
RFC Royal Flying Corps
RNAS Royal Naval Air Service; Royal Naval Air Station
VC Victoria Cross
Introduction
In 1925, Rear Admiral William S. Sims, commander of U.S. naval forces operating in Europe during World War I, declared, “Lieutenant David S. Ingalls may rightly be called the ‘Naval Ace’ of the war.”1 Of the twenty thousand pilots, observers, ground officers, mechanics, and construction workers who served overseas in the conflict, only Ingalls earned that unofficial yet esteemed status. In contrast, by November 1918, the U.S. Army Air Service counted more than 120 aces.2
The Cleveland, Ohio, native’s unique achievement resulted from several factors. Unlike their army peers, few naval pilots engaged in air-to-air combat. Instead, most patrolled uncontested waters in search of submarines. A bare handful served with Allied squadrons along the Western Front, the true cauldron of the air war. By contrast, David Ingalls spent much of his flying career stationed at NAS Dunkirk, the navy’s embattled base situated just behind enemy lines, or carrying out missions with Royal Air Force (RAF) fighting and bombing squadrons. He did three tours with the British, all without a parachute or other safety gear, and he hungered for more. The young aviator managed to be in the right place at the right time, and as was true for nearly all surviving aces, luck smiled on him.
David Ingalls’s personal attributes
