185th Aero Squadron The 185th Aero Squadron was a Air Service , United States Army unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I . Known as the " Bats " , the 185th Aero Squadron is notable as it was the first and only night pursuit ( fighter ) squadron organized by the United States during World War I . Its mission was night interception of enemy aircraft , primarily bombers and observation aircraft . It was engaged in combat for less than a month before the 1918 Armistice with Germany . After the armistice , the squadron returned to the United States in June 1919 and was demobilized . There is no modern United States Air Force or Air National Guard unit that shares its lineage and history . History . Origins . The 185th Aero Squadron was organized on 11 November 1917 at Kelly Field # 2 , Texas by the transfer of men from the 24th Aero Squadron . Many of the men had experience flying or maintaining the Curtiss JN - 4 B " Jenny " trainers . On the 15th , additional men were transferred to the squadron from the 2d Recruit Battalion and 3d Recruit Battalion . On 20 January 1918 , the squadron was transferred to Aviation Concentration Center , Mitchell Field , Long Island for duty overseas . After just over a week , the squadron embarked on the RMS Adriatic , arriving in Liverpool , England on 16 February after being delayed in Halifax , Nova Scotia for a convoy . At Liverpool , the squadron boarded a train and arrived at Winchester , England that evening , where it was assigned to the Romney Rest Camp . Training in England . On 28 February , the squadron was divided into Flights and placed under control of the Royal Flying Corps for training . " B " , " C " and " D " flights were transferred to 4 Training Depot Station ( TDS ) at RFC Hooton Park in Cheshire . " A " flight was transferred to 63 TDS , RFC Ternhill , Shropshire . At Hooton , the squadron was trained in the airplane repair shop , the engine repair shop and also in motor transport repair . Other men were trained in various clerical duties . The men at Ternhill were trained in a similar manner . The squadron was trained on both Sopwith strutter s and Sopwith Camel s with rotary engines and Dolphin planes equipped with Hispano - Susia engines . In April , the 185th Aero Squadron was recombined at RFC Hooton where the squadron continued training . On 16 June , the squadron was inspected by RFC Colonel Mansfield , Commander of the 37 Wing and he expressed his appreciation for the work provided by the squadron , owing to the shortage of British men who were at the front . By July , the men of the 185th were becoming impatient , as it was rumored the squadron would remain in England on a permanent basis , however orders were finally relieved to report to the Flower Down Rest Camp near Winchester on 7 August . After a final inspection at Flower Down , the squadron received a final inspection before boarding a train to Southampton on 11 August . Late the next afternoon , the squadron crossed the English Channel and arrived at American Rest Camp # 2 in Le Harve , France . Combat in France . The next day the squadron boarded a troop train , bound for the St . Maixent Replacement Barracks , arriving on 16 August . There the squadron was equipped with steel helmets and gas mask s and training in the tear gas chamber . On 20 August , the squadron boarded a troop train and proceeded to the 1st Air Depot , Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome , arriving on the 23d . Once the authorities at the depot realized the 185th was fully trained , the men were assigned to aircraft maintenance duties and also at the depot . The need for pilots being so great on 16 September , seventeen squadron pilots were transferred out to fill vacancies in other squadrons at the front , leaving the 185th with two trained pilots , and still without any aircraft to fly . Finally , on 7 October , orders were received to move to Rembercourt Aerodrome and join the 1st Pursuit Group . After a rainy , long , uncomfortable trip by truck , the squadron arrived on the 10th late in the afternoon . On 12 October , fourteen Sopwith Camel s were assigned to the 185th and the pilots began trial flights . A few days later , five pilots , who had been transferred out at Colombey returned to the 185th . At Rembercourt , the 185th was designated as a " Night Chase " Squadron , the first of its type organized by the American Army . Night Pursuit work was in its infancy . The Sopwith Camels were planes that were considered almost to be obsolete , except for training . The pilots were not trained in night flying , with many of them never having taken off after dusk . Also , the squadron had to experiment with wing flares , parachute flares and instrument lights . Also the airdrome had no landing lights , and the searchlights and Anti - Aircraft batteries were not versed with American planes flying after dusk . In addition , there were not enough searchlights for the guidance of our pilots , who frequently could not find the airfield at night and had to make forced landings after running out of gasoline . Many accidents were caused and there was a chronic lack of spare parts for the airplanes . Night Pursuit Operations . Nevertheless , on 18 – 19 October 1918 , the first orders were issued and the 185th Aero Squadron ( Night Pursuit ) stood its first alert that night from dusk until dawn . On the night of the 21st the squadron was alerted that there were several enemy aircraft flying over Troyon , and the squadron took off in its first night interception mission . However upon arrival over the area , no enemy aircraft were seen . On the night of the 22d , the squadron made a low - level fight over enemy territory and Lieutenant Kelton fired about 100 rounds into a troop train between Spincourt and Longuyon . However , due to poor visibility , he was unable to report the results . The only aerial combat of the squadron happened on the night of 23 October when Lts Kelton and Johnson were on alert when a report came in that enemy Gotha bombers were over Bar - le - Duc . Immediately , both pilots took off to intercept the enemy aircraft . Kelton reported that he observed searchlights in the Bar - le - Duc area performing sweeps to locate the enemy aircraft . He saw one bomber and fired a burst of 20 shots that struck the aircraft . He then saw another enemy aircraft that he fired a burst of 10 shots at . He observed Anti - Aircraft fire and searchlights in the sky and saw tracer bullets being fired into the air . He fired at long range at the aircraft but the results were unobserved . It was later learned that Kelton and Johnson frightened away the enemy aircraft by their unexpected appearance before dropping all of their bombs . They later jettisoned the remainder of their bombs in an open countryside area as they returned to their lines . Although the 185th did not shoot down any of the aircraft , by disrupting their mission , a symbolic victory was achieved . Two pilots were killed in aircraft accidents , Lt Ewing on 28 October and Lieutenant Kelton on the 30th . Ewing ' s plane caught on fire and crashed 500 yards southwest of Rembercourt ; Kelton was on a strafing mission in enemy territory and did not return from the mission . Active operations of the squadron ended on 11 November with the signing of the Armistice with Germany . Demobilization . Daylight Proficiency flights were conducted after the Armistice with Germany , however , no flights were permitted to be flown over German - controlled territory . The squadron remained at Rembercourt for about a month . On 11 December 1918 orders were received from First Army for the squadron to report to the 1st Air Depot , Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome to turn in all of its supplies and equipment and was relieved from duty with the AEF . The squadron ' s planes were delivered to the Air Service Production Center No . 2 . at Romorantin Aerodrome , and there , practically all of the pilots and observers were detached from the Squadron . During the organization ' s stay at Colombey , the men attended to the usual camp duties . Personnel were subsequently assigned to the Commanding General , Services of Supply and ordered to report to one of several staging camps in France . There , personnel awaited scheduling to report to one of the Base Ports in France for transport to the United States and subsequent demobilization . On 6 May 1919 , the 185th was moved to Base Station # 5 near the port of Brest prior to its return to the United States . Upon arrival the men were caught up on any back pay owed to them , de - loused , a formal military records review was performed and a passenger list was created prior to the men boarding a ship . On 1 June 1919 , the 185th Aero Squadron boarded a troop ship and sailed for New York Harbor , arriving on the 28th . It proceeded to Mitchel Field , Long Island on 15 June where the personnel of the squadron were demobilized and returned to civilian life .