What's all this, then?
This is a geographic look at aeroplane squadrons during World War I. I made it because I wanted a good overview of the balance of power at any given time, and for squadron movement analysis. Maybe you'll be interested in such things, too.
It doesn't seem to work for me.
Chrome is my main development and testing platform, so if you're using something else, you may well experience problems. I sometimes double check to make sure things work on Firefox or Safari, but otherwise browser compatibility is pretty far down on my list of priorities. Issues with older versions of IE in particular are unlikely to get addressed.
You also need to have JavaScript turned on in your browser. (If that sentence makes no sense to you, you probably do have it turned on.)
Of course bug reports are always welcome, so feel free to email me with them.
Boy, some things are slow!
There's a fair bit of data to display, and I'm adding more as time goes by. A relatively modern machine will be a big help in speeding things up. Otherwise there's not much that I can do, as speed optimization is also pretty far down my priority list, unfortunately.
So how does this thing work, generally?
There are several global controls:
How does the By Aerodrome mode work, exactly?
The map shows the location of every aerodrome known to me. The color of the aerodrome represents the nationality with the most squadrons stationed there (red = German, olive = Commonwealth, light gray = Belgium). Move the mouse pointer over the aerodrome dots to see the name of the aerodrome, the squadron(s) stationed there, and their occupation dates.
If you need to find a specific aerodrome, use the -- Select Aerodrome -- dropdown box. The selected aerodrome will be highlighted and brightened, however it may be offscreen so you might have to scroll around a bit to find it. You can use the Toggle Unselected Aerodromes button to switch off the unselected aerodromes, which can also be a help.
The text area below the map will show every aerodrome and the squadrons stationed there at any point during the war. Note that some aerodromes are known by name, but not location, so even though you see an aerodrome at the bottom of the page, you may not be able to find it on the map.
How does the By Date mode work, exactly?
The map shows the location of every squadron in the system on 2-Apr-1917. You can change that date using the dropdown controls, or use the arrows to move ahead or back to the next date when a squadron moved. Mouse over the aerodromes to see the squadron(s) stationed at that location.
The text area below the map shows each of the squadrons and their location at the given date. Mouse over the aerodrome name to highlight it on the map.
How does the By Squadron mode work, exactly?
Choose a unit from the -- Select Squadron -- dropdown to see all the aerodromes that unit occupied during the war. (Until you do this, there's really nothing to see in this mode.)
The squadron's aerodromes are also listed in chronological order at the bottom of the page. You can mouse over the aerodrome names to highlight them on the map.
Sometimes the map will show discontinous lines, indicating that at least one aerodrome for that squadron is in an unknown location.
Why don't you show other squadrons, like German BOGOHLs and/or FA(A)s? Or Belgian observation squadrons? Or any French squadrons at all?
Unfortunately, complete location information is not always available, especially for French and German squadrons, many of whose records were destroyed during World War II. If you happen to have access to that information, I'd love to hear from you.
I expect that I will eventually be able to get the USAS and selected French and German squadrons online sometime ... please have patience.
How trustworthy is your data?
I'd like to think pretty good, actually. I've taken some pains to sift the data printed in my sources, which isn't always as straightforward as one might wish. I've also tried to pay closer attention to diacritical marks and punctuation than the average English speaker does, so I use Béchamps, not Bechamps. Editorial help where I've made mistakes is always appreciated -- no matter how hard ones tries, mistakes always get through!
However, even with perfect data there are a few philosophical issues that pop up with data such as this. To begin, on any given day I must show a squadron in a single location, so if the source material says it was in location "A" on 01-Jan through 07-Jan and then location "B" on 07-Jan through 10-Jan, I've arbitrarily assigned 07-Jan to location "B". Also, some of the dates have been estimated. For example, where the source material says a move happened "in May" without providing a specific date, I've used the 15th of the month as likely to minimize the error. (Likewise "at the end of October","that autumn", etc.)
So, what sources did you use?
As you might expect, Google Maps and MapQuest were very helpful in tracking down some place names. In addition, I used the following references:
| The Aerodrome | web forum | Many useful threads and knowledgeable people. |
| Calle.com | web site | A now-defunct website that had a lot of European geographical data. The domain is now in use by a hotel reservation service. |
| Constable | web site | British squadron data provided by Miles Constable, originally posted on the web, but now apparently unavailable. |
| OtF6.1 | magazine | Over the Front volume 6, number 1, specifically the Project Aerodromes article by H. Hugh Wynne. |
| tJP | book | The Jasta Pilots, by Norman Franks, Frank Bailey, and Rick Duiven. Contains Jasta location information. |
Why does the site ask to store data on my computer for offline use? Are you trying to do something nefarious?
I have updated (as of Aug 2 2014) the page for offline use. So once you've visited the site, you do not need an internet connection to use it again. You don't need to accept the offline data if you don't want to.