Air commanders of World War I

The air commanders of World War I were army or navy officers who came to command air services during the first major conflict in which air power played a significant role.

## Entente Powers air commanders

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### British Empire

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#### Australian Flying Corps

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See also: Australian Flying Corps

* 1914–1919 – Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Reynolds, General Staff Officer for Aviation, Australian Imperial Force
* 1918 - Lieutenant Colonel Richard Williams, Officer Commanding (Acting) RAF Palestine Brigade

#### Royal Flying Corps

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See also: List of Royal Flying Corps generals

##### Director-General of Military Aeronautics

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* 1914–1917 – Lieutenant-General Sir David Henderson
* 1917–1918 – Major-General John Salmond
* 1918 – Brigadier-General Edward Ellington

##### General Officer Commanding the RFC in France

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Major-General Hugh Trenchard

* 1914–1915 – Major-General Sir David Henderson
* 1915–1918 – Major-General Hugh Trenchard
* 1918 – Major-General John Salmond

#### Royal Naval Air Service

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##### Heads of the RNAS

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* 1914–1915 – Captain Murray Sueter, Director of the Admiralty Air Department
* 1915–1917 – Rear Admiral Charles Vaughan-Lee, Director of the Admiralty Air Department
* 1917–1918 – Commodore Godfrey Paine, Fifth Sea Lord and Director of Naval Aviation

#### Royal Air Force

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See also: Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I

##### Chief of the Air Staff

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* 1918 – Major-General Sir Hugh Trenchard
* 1918 – Major-General Frederick Sykes

### France

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#### Director of Military Aeronautics

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* 1914–1915 Brigadier General Auguste Edouard Hirschauer
* position vacant
* 1916 Henry Jacques Regnier

#### Head of the Service Aéronautique

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* to December 1916 Colonel Édouard Barès
* December 1916 to August 1917 Commandant Paul du Peuty[1]
* August 1917 to __ Colonel Charles Duval

### Greece

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* Hellenic Naval Air Service: Lt Commander Aristeidis Moraitinis (1917–1918)

### Imperial Russia

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* Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich,[2] Field Inspector General of the Imperial Russian Air Service
* General Alexander von Kaulbars (Head of Russian Aviation in the Field, 1914-1915)
* Colonel Sergey Oulianine (Head of the Directorate of the Air Force, 1917-1918)

### Italy

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Main article: Corpo Aeronautico Militare

* Maurizio Moris, General Director for Aeronautics (1915)
* Giovanni Battista Marieni [it] (1915–1917)[3]
* Luigi Bongiovanni (1918–1919)

### Romania

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Main article: Romanian Air Corps

#### General Inspector of Engineering and Aeronautics

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* 1913-1915 - General Mihail Boteanu[4]

#### Commander of the RAC

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* 1915-1916; 1918-1920 - Brigadier General Constantin Găvănescu[4][5][6]
* 1916 - Major Gheorghe Rujinschi[5]
* 1916-1918 - Major De Malherbe[7][8]

#### Director of the Aeronautics

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* 1916-1918 - Lieutenant-colonel François de Vergnette de Lamotte [fr][7]
* 1918-1920 - Brigadier General Constantin Găvănescu[4][5]

### United States

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#### Chief of Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force in France

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* 30 June 1917 - Lieutenant-Colonel William L. Mitchell
* 3 September 1917 - Brigadier-General William L. Kenly
* 27 November 1917 - Brigadier-General Benjamin Foulois
* 29 May 1918 - Major-General Mason Patrick

#### Air Commander, Zone of Advance on the American Expeditionary Force in France

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* Brigadier-General Billy Mitchell

## Central Powers air commanders

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### Germany

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* Führer der Luftschiffe (Admiral 2nd Class) Peter Strasser, Commander of naval Airships (1915–1918)
* Major, later Lieutenant-Colonel and then Colonel, Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen, Chief of Field Air Services (1915–1916), Air Service Chief of Staff (1916–1919)
* Lieutenant-General Ernst von Hoeppner, Commanding General of the Air Service (1916–1919)

#### Inspector of Flying Troops

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* Colonel Walter von Eberhardt, Inspector of Flying Troops (1913–1914)
* Major Richard Roethe, Inspector of Flying Troops (1914–1916)
* Major, later Lieutenant-Colonel Wilhelm Siegert, 2nd Staff Officer of Field Air Services (1915–1916), Inspector of Flying Troops (1916–1918)
* Captain Wilhelm Haehnelt, Air Commander 5th Army (1915–1916), Air Commander 1st Army (1916–1918), Inspector of Flying Troops (1918–1919)

### Austro-Hungarian Empire

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* Colonel, later Major General Emil Uzelac, Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (1912–1918)
* Colonel General Archduke Josef Ferdinand, Inspector General of the Imperial Air Force (1917–1918)

### Ottoman Empire

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Main article: Ottoman Aviation Squadrons

### Bulgaria

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Main article: Bulgarian Air Force § World War I (1914–1918)

## References

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1. ^ "AIR POWER REVIEW Volume 12 Number 1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
2. ^ Harvey. Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793–1945. p. 419
3. ^ "Giovanni B. Marieni". Marieni-saredo.it. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
4. ^ a b c Valeriu Avram (2013). "Din Istoria Aripilor Românești 1910-1916" (PDF). Buletinul Arhivelor Militare Române (in Romanian). No. 61/2013. pp. 2–17.
5. ^ a b c Războiul de întregire (1916-1919) Comandanți militari români (PDF) (in Romanian). Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei. 2016. ISBN 978-606-524-176-3.
6. ^ "Galeria comandantilor". RoAF (in Romanian).
7. ^ a b Mihail Orzeață; Valeriu Avram (2018). "Romanian Aviation in the First World War" (PDF). Romanian Military Thinking (3): 206–231.
8. ^ "Istoric". RoAF (in Romanian).

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Aviation in World War I

People and aircraft|

* Commanders
* Aces
* Aircraft of the Entente Powers
* Aircraft of the Central Powers
* Zeppelins

Campaigns
and battles|

* Strategic bombing
* German
* Cuxhaven
* Bombing of cities
* Aerial reconnaissance
* Fokker Scourge
* Flight over Vienna
* Bloody April
* Battles

Entente Powers
air services|

* British air services
* Royal Flying Corps
* Royal Naval Air Service
* Royal Air Force
* Australian Flying Corps
* Canadian Air Force (1918–1920)
* French Air Service
* Imperial Russian Air Service
* Royal Italian Air Corps
* Romanian Air Corps
* United States Army Air Service
* Greek air services
* Army Air Service
* Naval Air Service
* Japanese air services
* Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
* Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

Central Powers
air services|

* Imperial German Air Service
* Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops
* Ottoman Aviation Squadrons
* Bulgarian Army Aeroplane Section

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