Hostile Skies: A Combat History of the American Air Service in World War I

by James J. Hudson

From April to November 1918, the American Air Service grew from a poorly equipped, unorganized branch of the US Expeditionary Forces to a fighting unit equal to its opponent in every way. This text details the actual battle experiences of the men who made up the service squadrons.

Genres: History, Aviation, Military Fiction, World War I, War, Military History, Nonfiction

338 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1968

About the author

James J. Hudson enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the Second World War, and was stationed at various bases, including North Africa and Italy while participating in the Sicilian, Naples-Foggia, and Southern France campaigns.

Hudson's aerial combat experience as a fighter pilot included 191 missions of the strafing, dive-bombing, escort, interception, and convoy-patrol type in P-39, P-38, and P-47 aircraft. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Arkansas and his Ph.D. in history from the University of California at Berkeley.

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, this is the best comprehensive account I've yet come across of the development of American air power (U.S. Army) during the First World War. Besides providing a full and detailed history of the development and deployment of fighter, bomber, observation/reconnaissance, and balloon units on the Western Front, the author also shed light on the training and combat service of American pilots with Italian air force units on the Italian front and over the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Furthermore, this book is all the more remarkable because the author was able to personally contact many of the surviving veterans (who, in the 1960s, were still plentiful). Any aficionado of First World War aviation should have this book in his/her library.

[Danno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of the American Air Service in World War 1. It does great credit to most of the pilots who flew and were lost during the war. I wish it would spend some time on trying to locate the missing in action after the war.

[Drew Ames · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading about World War I aviation for several decades. My WWI list on Goodreads only captures those books I own and can find :-)

(The list is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...)

Anyway, this is the first book I've read that offers a comprehensive operational history of the American Air Service in the Great War from its initial conception, through the challenge of training Americans to fight, to operations, ending with the armistice. From what I can tell, every squadron — pursuit, day bombing, night bombing, observation, and balloon — are covered and placed in the context of the war on the ground and its major operations.

There is important detail on the command structure, and Billy Mitchell gets a fair amount of coverage, especially early in the book and during the Château-Thierry campaign. He was certainly a visionary and a brave commander. As an aside, the Spad XVI that he flew in France is now housed at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center.

Given the scope of the book, it necessarily does not provide tons of detail on every action, but the author does a great job interspersing the big picture, operational narrative with accounts of missions and air battles, with special care to name those lost or captured. The book also has chapters on American pilots and ground crew that served with foreign allies.

Given that this was first published in 1968, I'm surprised I hadn't learned about it before now. Even so, this is a fantastic treatment of the subject and a perfect companion to the squadron histories and pilot memoirs I've been reading.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a very good history of the American air element in World War I. It covers the scene in Washington, as well as higher Army command behind the lines in France, but mostly focuses on the day-to-day of the fliers themselves. It does get a little into the weeds as to who was who and exactly what they did, good for the enthusiast and probably a little tedious for the reader with more general interest. Hudson's writing style is generally dry and matter-of-fact, though occasionally he takes an opportunity to build a little tension when narrating events. He gives a few conclusions throughout the text and in an epilogue, though given his obvious exhaustive research, I would have liked to have seen a little more in the way of his thoughts in the epilogue. Kudos for the inclusion of some sketch maps, and doubly so for the inclusion of so many black-and-white photos from the period. Certainly a good place to start if one is interested in this topic.

[Kaks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding.A Very well researched book on the American Air Service in WW1.A few illustrations & Maps.the maps were a little confusing and laking in detail,but Mr.Hudson makes up for by putting you in the cockpit of americas early aviators.My wife bought this book at a garage sale for me,it was new and still in its clear wrapper,Not a big fan of ww1 history i think i would have shelved it untill a rainy day,but the picture on the cover kept making me smile.

[Cws]

940.44 Hud This book given as a memorial book- great for my WWI buffs.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather dry but very detailed.