13th PROVISIONAL COMPANY, [U.S. ARMY AIR SERVICE]

[Long Island, N.Y.?]: Pictorial News Co., 1918.. Panoramic photograph, 11 x 39¾ inches, with title caption, publisher, and "No. 233" written in negative in lower part of the image. With two-page "Duty Roster" in envelope on verso. Framed. Wear to frame, minor water damage to left margin of photo, slight creases along upper margin, small scrape to center-right of photo. "Duty Roster" worn and chipped along several edges and with a few small holes (from previous hanging). Overall very good. A panoramic photo of the 13th Provisional Company, U.S. Army Air Service, a specialized training unit for aircraft mechanics. The photo features 112 soldiers in three (truncated) rows (note the propeller insignia visible on several of the soldiers' sleeves, designating them as aviation mechanics). Four officers in campaign hats sit in the middle of the front row. The accompanying typed "Duty Roster" divides soldiers by "Sergeants," "Cooks," and "Privates," with tent and cot numbers added in manuscript. The officers are not included on the roster.

The Air Service started as the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force in 1917, and then on May 24, 1918, merged with the Aviation Section, Signal Corps of the U.S. Army to become the U.S. Army Air Service. The Air Service's early organization fluctuated substantially during World War I, with numerous units (like this one) formed temporarily and then disbanded, renamed, or merged with other units. There is no record of this unit in the ORDER OF BATTLE OF THE UNITED STATES LAND FORCES IN THE WORLD WAR, although extrapolating from personnel records and oral histories, this unit was likely stationed at Hazelhurst Field or Mitchel Field, both located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, two of the largest air bases in the country at the time. This unit was likely formed toward the end of the war, and while they could not have known it at the time, most of these soldiers were never deployed overseas or even served active duty stateside. In an oral history conducted by the Chesaning (Michigan) Public Library in 1976, former Sgt. Arthur Walser (1898-1980) relates how he was working at Curtiss Aircraft and had hoped to join the Army, but had trouble obtaining a release from his employer, and for good reason: aircraft manufacturing had exploded with America's entry into World War I, and Curtiss was a major military contractor. Walser was finally released, but enlistments had closed, although "they opened enlistments if you could pass a certain exam in Detroit, motor mechanics, and there was four of us went down and we passed, then we came home and sat here and waited until they called us and we were supposed to be trained in what we went in. We were sent directly to Long Island..." (Art and Ferne Walser Oral History Interview). This was October 30, 1918. Walser was transferred to the 107th Aero Squadron, which was in France at the time, but he never departed; the Armistice was signed on November 11. He was discharged on December 10. Walser notes that his fellow sergeant (and hometown friend), Wayne Perrott (1899- 1939), had been transferred to the 45th (in England), but he never departed either.

An uncommon photo at the dawn of American air power. Transcript, Art and Ferne Walser Oral History Interview. River Rapids District Library (Chesaning, Mi., 1976) (accessed online). ORDER OF BATTLE OF THE UNITED STATES LAND FORCES IN THE WORLD WAR (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1949). (Inventory #: WRCAM55300)