13th Aero Squadron

The 13th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I.

13th Aero Squadron
13th Aero Squadron – SPAD XIII assigned to Major Charles Biddle, likely taken at Souilly Airdrome, France, 1918
Active14 June 1917 – 29 March 1919
Country United States
Branch  United States Army Air Service
TypeSquadron
RolePursuit
Part ofAmerican Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
Fuselage Code"Grim Reapers"
Engagements
World War I
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Captain (later Major) Charles J. Biddle
Lt. Dickinson Este
Insignia
13th Aero Squadron Emblem
"Grim Oscar"
Aircraft flown
FighterSPAD XIII, 1918
TrainerCurtiss JN-4, 1917
Service record
Operations

2d Pursuit Group
Western Front, France: 28 June-11 November 1918

  • Sorties: 1,374
  • Combat missions: 179
  • Enemy combats: 89
  • Killed: 0
  • Wounded: 3
  • Missing: 12
  • Aircraft lost: 11
Victories
  • Enemy Aircraft shot down: 29
  • Enemy Balloons shot down: 0
  • Total Enemy Aircraft Destroyed: 29

Air Aces: 7

  • Maj. Charles J. Biddle, 5 (4 shared)*
    * Biddle had a total of 7 aerial victories, one while serving with Spa73 of the French Air Service and 1 (with one other probable) with the 103d Aero Squadron before he joined the 13th Aero Squadron.
  • Lt Van H. Burgin
  • Lt Thomas Phillips Evans
  • Lt Murray K. Guthrie, 6 (4 shared)
  • Lt Frank K. Hayes, 6 (4 shared)
  • Lt John J. Seerley Jr., 5 (5 shared)
  • Lt William H. Stovall, 6 (3 shared)

The squadron was assigned as a Day Pursuit (Fighter) Squadron as part of the 2d Pursuit Group, First United States Army. Its mission was to engage and clear enemy aircraft from the skies and provide escort to reconnaissance and bombardment squadrons over enemy territory. It also attacked enemy observation balloons, and perform close air support and tactical bombing attacks of enemy forces along the front lines. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany, the squadron returned to the United States in March 1919 and demobilized.

On 16 October 1936 the squadron was re-constituted, and consolidated with the United States Army Air Corps 13th Attack Squadron. Today, the current United States Air Force unit which holds its lineage and history is the 13th Bomb Squadron, assigned to the 509th Operations Group, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

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