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| Lt. David Endicott Putnam, 139th Aero Squadron |
For a short time, he was called the ace of aces of the AEF, but David Endicott Putnam usually doesn't show up these days in accounts of WWI air warfare—certainly not with the frequency of Eddie Rickenbacker or Frank Luke. There are several reasons I can identify why this might be the case.
1. There is no consensus as to his actual number of victories. This could impact perceptions of the magnitude of his achievement. Various sources report different numbers of confirmed kills by him (although all the numbers suggested are impressive) and he had a huge number of unconfirmed kills. These unconfirmed seem to be primarily due to his willingness to fly missions deep into enemy territory.
2. His flying time and victories were divided between the Lafayette Flying Corps and the U.S. Air Service. The bulk of his confirmed kills were with the French. For the U.S., all his flying with the 139th Aero Squadron, which included four confirmed victories, was performed in about a month and a half.
3. Putnam was shot down and killed on the first day of the St. Mihiel Offensive and missed all the rest of that battle and the entirety of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Despite his record, which by any reckoning was spectacular, he didn't spend a long time in the limelight, and other American aces came to the forefront.
4. With Putnam's death and Frank Luke's fatal gunfight with the German infantry, the way was wide open for Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker to capture the ace of aces acclaim for the AEF.
Nevertheless, there's what is something of a consensus about the accomplishment's of Lt. Putnam. All of the credible sources agree—regardless of the actual numbers—he was a brilliant fighter pilot.
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| Insignia of the 139th Aero Squadron |
The excellent Aerodrome website has this nice summary of Putnam's service and list of Confirmed and Unconfirmed Victories
A descendant of American Revolutionary War General Israel Putnam, David Endicott Putnam attended Harvard (class of 1920) before he joined the French Foreign Legion on 31 May 1917. Later that year he transferred to the French Air Service, receiving training at Avord. Assigned to Escadrille Spa94 on 12 December 1917, he was reassigned to Spa156 on 7 February 1918. With this escadrille he scored four victories and was transferred to Spa38 on 1 June 1918 where he scored two more victories. Honorably discharged from the French Army in June 1918, Putnam joined the United States Air Service as a 1st lieutenant and briefly assumed command of the 134th Aero Squadron before joining the 139th Aero Squadron as a flight commander.
With the 139th, Putnam scored his last four victories before he was killed in action. Putnam's SPAD XIII was shot down by German ace Georg von Hantelmann. At the time of his death, Putnam was the American ace of aces. Thought to have shot down [about] 30 enemy aircraft during the war, many of his victories were deep within German territory and never confirmed. Putnam was recommended for the Medal of Honor and posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He is buried at the Lafayette Memorial du Parc de Garches, Paris.
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| At the Time of His Death, U.S. Newspapers Were Touting Lt. Putnam as the "Ace of Aces" |
Since the Aerodrome's article and list of confirmed victories is based on the research of aviation historian Norman Franks and the stalwarts at the League of WWI Aviation Historians, I will use their numbers of 13 confirmed victories and 16 unconfirmed for Putnam as authoritative for discussion here.
The question about the magnitude of his achievement is what to make of the 16 additional claims by Putnam that were and remain unconfirmed. The detailed roster of Putnam's victories provided by the Aerodrome provides some insights. The bulk of the confirmed victories are either in friendly territory or close to the front line. The reverse holds true for the unconfirmed list. By my count, 11 of the unconfirmed were clearly in German territory at the time of the action. This, of course, would make eyes-on-the-action confirmation highly improbable. Another interesting point—three of the unconfirmed in enemy territory occurred in the same action and had another claimant (and witness), Sgt. Briq, for these shared victories.
Whatever the actual number, Lt. Putnam belongs in the upper pantheon of great American military aviators.
Source: The Aerodrome; USAF Sources
Believe Putnam Field on Firt Shafter, Oʻahu, Hāwaiʻi, was named after LT Putnam v
ReplyDeleteYes, this is how "The Aerodrome" reports it, but no, this is not how Norman L.R. Franks/Frank W. Bailey report it in "OVER THE FRONT", a more reliable source. According to that 1992 Grub Street book, Putnam's first four confirmed, and eight unconfirmed victories were scored with MS156, not "SPA156". And Putnam's first victory was scored on 19 January 1918, shortly after he transferred from SPA94, so this article's 7 February 1918 date is incorrect. Also note that Putnam's fourth confirmed victory was scored on 1 June 1918 while he was still assigned to MS156. Saying that he only scored only two more victories after being reassigned to SPA38, apparently later that same day, is also incorrect. Putnam had two confirmed victories on 2 June 1918 alone while assigned to SPA38, and then one confirmed and four unconfirmed victories on 5 June, three unconfirmed victories on 14 June, followed by another confirmed victory and one unconfirmed balloon victory on 15 June 1918. He was commissioned into the U.S. Air Service on 10 June 1918 and reassigned as acting CO to the 103rd Aero Squadron on 24 June (which was still at that moment under French control until 1 July 1918). According to Gorrell's History of the USAS, the 134th Aero Squadron never existed in the American Expeditionary Forces and was an unused number. His victory total is listed as 34 (confirmed and unconfirmed), not 30.
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