<p>It was standard practice to send fresh American units to the area around Toul, France, on the southern flank of the forward zone. There was enough enemy action to gain some experience of combat, but not enough to overwhelm new pilots. There were two 'tame' German Jagdstaffeln covering the sector, and occasionally they offered battle.
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<p>The 94th Aero Squadron, later to become famed as the 'Hat-in-the-Ring' unit under Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, arrived at Toul on 9 April 1918, two days and one year after the US entered the war. They were equipped with Nieuport 28s, a clean-looking aircraft briefly used by the French and pulled out of front-line service because it often shed its upper-wing fabric during a high-speed dive. No guns were available; when they did arrive, there were not enough to arm all the airplanes with the twin weapons for which the cowling mounts had been designed, so each of the 94th's Nieuports sallied forth to battle with a single .30-caliber machine gun mounted to the left of the cowling.
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<p>One can only imagine the frustrations of the pilots and ground crews. After such a string of experiences, they needed something—anything—to boost their morale. It came, in the unexpected arrival of two German fighters on a rainy 14 April. Lieutenants Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow were killing time, playing cards on a table that held the squadron's field telephone. It was a foul day, with a 500-ft (152-m) ceiling and little air activity. The telephone jangled; two German planes are on the way, said the tinny voice of a forward observer, and you'd better send up a patrol. The two officers were off the ground in little more than a minute, a tribute to one good characteristic of the Nieuports.
