{"id":1374,"date":"2017-06-19T20:45:17","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T02:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/?page_id=1374"},"modified":"2023-05-01T16:39:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T22:39:00","slug":"john-joseph-devery-jr","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/the-biographies\/john-joseph-devery-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"John Joseph Devery, Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

(Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, August 31, 1891 \u2013 January 25, 1949, Dade County, Florida).1<\/a><\/p>\n

Devery\u2019s father worked as an engineer for New York City\u2019s Board of Transportation.2<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0John Joseph Devery, Jr., upon completing high school in 1912, also went to work as an engineer, \u201cspending four years\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. doing work on the subway tunnels under the East river in New York and other important undertakings, in some of them where it was necessary to work under compressed air.\u201d3<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Part
From Devery’s R.A.F. service record.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His R.A.F. service record notes that from 1912 to 1917 he was an \u201cInspector Under Water Tunnel Construction including Cassion [sic] Work\u201d for the Public Service Commission of New York, and also that he had a \u201cKnowl. of Automobile Motors.\u201d4<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He attended ground school at the University of Texas, graduating August 25, 1917.5<\/a> He planned to marry Agnes Culleton in October, but, when he was ordered to Mineola preparatory to departure for Italy, as it was thought, the wedding was moved up to September 2, 1917.6<\/a><\/p>\n

With the 150 men of the \u201cItalian\u201d or \u201csecond Oxford detachment\u201d Devery sailed to England on the Carmania<\/i>, which left New York for Halifax on September 18, 1917, and departed Halifax as part of a convoy for the Atlantic crossing on September 21, 1917. \u00a0Devery\u2019s cabin mates on board were William Ludwig Deetjen, Leonard Joseph Desson, and Philip Dietz. When the Carmania docked at Liverpool on October 2, 1917, the men learned that they were not to proceed to Italy, but to remain in England, where they would attend ground school (again) at the Royal Flying Corps\u2019s No. 2 School of Military Aeronautics at Oxford University. \u00a0 On November 3, 1917, Devery travelled with most of the detachment to Harrowby Camp near Grantham in Lincolnshire to attend machine gun school.<\/p>\n

While fifty of the men at Grantham were sent on to flying schools on November 19, 1917, the rest, including Devery, continued their course at Harrowby Camp through the end of November. \u00a0On November 29, 1917, they celebrated Thanksgiving in great style, with many of the men who were already at flying schools coming in to join them. \u00a0Festivities included a football game between the \u201cUnfits\u201d and the \u201cHardly Ables.\u201d8<\/a>\u00a0 Devery played for the winning Unfits and appears in photos<\/a> of the team taken that day.9<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A
From Fremont Cutler Foss’s list of men assigned to squadrons on December 3, 1917.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few days later, on December 3, 1917, all of the men still at Grantham were posted to flying squadrons, and Devery, along with Walter Ferguson Halley, Clayton Knight, Clark Brockway Nichol, Wilbur Carleton Suiter, and Grady Russell Touchstone, was assigned to No. 44 Squadron, a home defense squadron at Hainault Farm in Essex.10<\/a>\u00a0 Knight, who was billeted with Devery, described their time at 44, where \u201cthere was absolutely no formality in the Mess, in contrast to our experiences at Oxford and Grantham.\u201d \u00a0The regular pilots of No. 44 flew Camels, but there was a B.E.2c used for training.11<\/a><\/p>\n

At the end of January 1918 the men at No. 44 were \u201cposted away to a regular flying training unit at Stamford,\u201d11a<\/a> almost certainly to No. 5 T.D.S. at Easton on the Hill a mile or so southwest of Stamford. Devery\u2019s presence there is documented by an entry in the diary of Hilary Baker Rex, who lists Devery as among the pall bearers at the funeral of their fellow second Oxford detachment member Clark Brockway Nichol, killed at 5 T.D.S. on February 18, 1918.11b<\/a> Devery\u2019s R.A.F. service record suggests that he was moved again in early March.12<\/a><\/p>\n

Devery was recommended for his commission around the beginning of April; Pershing\u2019s cable forwarding the recommendation is dated April 8, 1918. \u00a0The confirming cable from Washington is dated May 13, 1918, and later that month Devery was sworn in and placed on active duty (there was considerable grumbling among the men because their commissions were coming through so slowly).13<\/a>\u00a0 Meanwhile, on May 1, 1918, Devery reported to No. 5 Training Depot Station at Easton on the Hill, a couple of miles southwest of Stamford.14<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A
A notice in the Dobbs Ferry Register from June 1918.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brief accounts of his doings based on his letters home were published in a local newspaper, and one of these indicates that around this time he was, like William Thomas Clements, serving as an instructor.15<\/a>\u00a0 His R.A.F. service record puts him (without a date) at No. 26 Training Squadron (Narborough, Norfolk) before he was sent to No. 2 Fighting School at Marske on August 10, 1918.<\/p>\n

Devery, along with fellow second Oxford detachment member Albert Elston Weaver, reported to the U.S. 166th<\/sup> Aero Squadron at Colombey-les-Belles on September 20, 1918 (Paul Vincent Carpenter, Harrison Barbour Irwin, and Perley Melbourne Stoughton arrived a few days later; Fremont Cutler Foss, Linn Daicy Merrill, and Phillips Merrill Payson followed in October).16<\/a><\/p>\n

This squadron had gotten off to a confused and confusing start. \u00a0For a time it was expected to do salvage and repair as an Air Park Squadron, but DH-4s appeared, marking it as a bombardment squadron. \u00a0Then a new C.O. showed up with the expectation that 166 would be an observation squadron (and the DH-4s promptly went to other squadrons). \u00a0The men betook themselves to Colombey-les-Belles aerodrome south of Toul around the beginning of September and awaited developments.<\/p>\n

\"Clipping
From \u201cThe Squadron has an Eventful History” in Cent Soixante Six, the 166th’s newsletter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Towards the middle of the month, it was once again decided that the 166th<\/sup> was to be a bombing squadron. \u00a0Their once and future C.O., Captain Victor Parks, Jr., arrived in mid-September, \u201cand we started on the high road to success, we got four ships, and then we got Devery, Weaver, Tolchan, Pedler and Dale.\u201d17<\/a><\/p>\n

On September 25, 1917, the squadron moved about thirty miles west to Maulan aerodrome and joined the 1st<\/sup> Day Bombardment Group. \u00a0The Meuse-Argonne offensive, to which squadrons of the 1st<\/sup> Day were dedicated, began the next day. 166, however, needed time to settle in and do practice sorties before actually taking part in raids. \u00a0The squadron historian tells of their first mission:\"\"<\/p>\n

On October 18, 1918, the 166th<\/sup> Aero Squadron made its initial raid. \u00a0At 14:10 O\u2019Clock thirteen planes took off. \u00a0The objective was Buzancy. The formation was attacked by a formation of eight Fokkers and in the course of the combat two of our planes were crippled, one with a bullet through the gasoline tank, the other with a disabled engine. \u00a0Both landed behind our own lines. One enemy aircraft was destroyed and has been Officially [sic<\/i>] credited.18<\/a><\/p>\n

Devery, with Ernest Best as his gunner\/observer, participated in this raid, carried out jointly with the 96th<\/sup>, 11th<\/sup>, and 20th<\/sup> squadrons, and was among those who reached the objective.19<\/a>\u00a0 The \u201cRaid Report\u201d for this and subsequent raid reports through October 30, 1918, were filled out and signed by \u201cJ. J. Devery,\u201d as \u201cSquadron Operations Officer\u201d for the 166th<\/sup>.20<\/a><\/p>\n

Devery\u2019s actions in a raid on October 31, 1918, led to his being awarded a Silver Star Citation. \u00a0The citation reads in part: \u00a0\u201cFirst Lieutenant Devery distinguished himself by gallantry in action while serving with the 166th Aero Squadron, American Expeditionary Forces, in action near Tailly, France, 31 October 1918, while on a raiding mission.\u201d21<\/a>\u00a0 During the mission eight Fokkers attacked the planes of the 166th<\/sup> \u201cbefore reaching objective and continued attack back to the lines.\u201d22<\/a>\u00a0 The squadron suffered its only fatality when observer Stanley Lockwood Cochrane was killed by machine gun fire; his pilot, Sam Pickard, was wounded.<\/p>\n

According to Rath\u2019s First Day Bombardment Group, Account of Operations<\/i>, Devery participated in all the raids, sometimes two a day, made by the 166th<\/sup>, except those on November 3, 1918.<\/p>\n

\"A
Devery sits in the cockpit of a DH-4. He flew most of his raids with Ernest Best as his observer\/gunner, but on November 4 and 5, 1918, he flew with Henry Irving Jenks, the gunner seen here. The three men in the foreground are not identified. This photo is from the album of Richard Smith Austin, another observer with the 166th. My thanks to Mike O’Neal for this copy of the photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On November 4, 1918, Devery, this time with Henry Irving Jenks as his observer\/gunner, took part in the one mission flown, a raid on the railway yards of Montm\u00e9dy. \u00a0The narrative account of this raid reads in part \u201c8 E[nemy] A[eroplanes] attacked near Montmedy before reaching objective, 15:15, 1 E.A. went down in flames, another crashed, and one went down out of control. (166th<\/sup>).\u201d23<\/a>\u00a0 A General Order dated November 17, 1918, states that \u201cFirst Lieutenant J. J. Devery and Second Lieutenant A. Tolchan, H. I. Jenks and H. Feinstein, 166th<\/sup> Aero Squadron, 1st<\/sup> Day Bombardment Group, are hereby credited with the destruction, in combat, of an enemy Fokker, in the region of Vigneul, at 12000 feet altitude, on November 4th<\/sup>, 1918, at 15:13 o\u2019clock.\u201d24<\/a><\/p>\n

Devery, again with Jenks, took part in the First Day Bombardment Group\u2019s final raid on November 5, 1918, but, like nearly half of the 166th\u2019s teams that day, did not reach Mouzon, their objective. \u00a0Devery appears in photos<\/a> of the men of the 166th that were presumably taken at Maulan around the time of the armistice.<\/p>\n

\"A
This card, one of two for Devery in New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917\u20131919, describes his activities once he was commissioned. I assume that “RA” (“**accept apmt in RA”) stands for Regular Army.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the armistice Devery remained with the 166th<\/sup>, now reassigned to the U.S. Third Army, which was charged with the occupation of the Rhineland. \u00a0On March 19, 1919, he was promoted to Captain. \u00a0In April he was reassigned to the 24th<\/sup> Aero Squadron, also with the Third Army. At the end of June 1919 he sailed home on the U.S.S. Leviathan<\/i>, arriving at Hoboken on July 5, 1919. He served with the 628th<\/sup> Aero through October 1919.25<\/a>\u00a0 He continued in the Aviation Service as a mechanics and flying instructor at various stations, lastly Bolling Field in Washington, D.C. \u00a0He resigned in early 1930 to go into private aviation.26<\/a>\u00a0 Not long afterwards, he moved to Florida, where he resided until his death in 1949.27<\/a><\/p>\n

mrsmcq June 20, 2017<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Notes<\/h3>\n

(For complete bibliographic entries, please consult the list of\u00a0works and web pages cited<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n

1<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Devery\u2019s place and date of birth are taken from Ancestry.com, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918<\/i>, record for John Joseph Devery. \u00a0His place of death is taken from Ancestry.com, Florida Death Index, 1877-1998<\/i>, record for John Joseph Devery Jr; the date of death taken Ancestry.com, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007<\/i>, record for John Joseph Devery Jr. \u00a0The photo is a detail from a photo<\/a> of football players at Grantham at Thanksgiving<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJohn J. Devery.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cRiver View Manor and Hastings Happenings,\u201d probably October 1917.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

4<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0The National Archives (United Kingdom), Royal Air Force officers’ service records 1918-1919<\/i>, record for John Joseph Devery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

5<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGround School Graduations [for August 25, 1917].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

6<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHastings Man Marries.\u201d His wife\u2019s name is given in this article as \u201cCullerton,\u201d but it was probably \u201cCulleton.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

7<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Deetjen, Diary, entry for September 23, 1917.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

8<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Chalaire, \u201cThanksgiving Day with the Aviators Abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

9<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Ludwig\u2019s diary entry for November 29, 1917, lists the \u201cUnfit\u201d team members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

10<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Foss, \u201cCadets of Italian Detachment Posted Dec 3rd<\/sup>\u201d (in Foss, Papers).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

11<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Kilduff, \u201cClayton Knight,\u201d pp. 198-99. There is a group photo that includes Devery on p. 200.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

11a<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Knight, cited in Kilduff, \u201cClayton Knight,\u201d p. 203.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

11b<\/strong><\/a> Rex, World War I Diary, entry for February 21, 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

12<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Devery\u2019s R.A.F. service record notes \u201cBde N E ff Pool,\u201d on March 9, 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

13<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Cables 874-S and 1303-R; Ancestry.com, New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919<\/i>, record for John Joseph Devery Junior. \u00a0See here<\/a> regarding the \u201cnon-flying\u201d status stipulated in 874-S.\u00a0 And see McAndrew, \u201cSpecial Orders No. 147″ and \u201cSpecial Orders No. 205″ regarding active duty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

14<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0See Devery\u2019s R.A.F. service record, cited above.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

15<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cRiver View Manor and Hastings Happenings,\u201d probably June 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

16<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Hicks, \u201cHistory of Operations of the 166th<\/sup> Aero Squadron,\u201d p. 87 (this page is a roster of officers).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

17<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Squadron has an Eventful History\u201d; quotation taken from the December 7, 1918, issue, p. 3. \u00a0The last three men were presumably Alexander Tolchan, Russsell Henry Pedler, and Russell R. Dale, all of whom had trained with the R.F.C. in Canada; see Sloan, Wings of Honor, pp. 223-36.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

18<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Hicks, \u201cHistory of Operations of the 166th<\/sup> Aero Squadron,\u201d p. 85.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

19<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Rath, First Day Bombardment Group, Account of Operations<\/i>, p. 130. (Rath lists ten, not thirteen, planes from 166.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

20<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0See documents appended to Hicks, \u201cHistory of Operations of the 166th<\/sup> Aero Squadron.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

21<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJohn Devery.\u201d I have not found any further description of the actions that led to this award.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

22<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Rath, First Day Bombardment Group, Account of Operations<\/i>, p. 142<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

23<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Rath, First Day Bombardment Group, Account of Operations<\/i>, p. 149.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

24<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGeneral Orders\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. \u00a0,\u201d p. 137. \u00a0The last man named was Herman Feinstein.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

25<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On his post-armistice assignments, see Ancestry.com, New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919<\/i>, record for John Joseph Devery Junior, as well as a letter from him to Leslie A. A. Benson dated August 20, 1919, among the papers in Benson, Leslie A. A. Benson Collection, 1917-1919. \u00a0See War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General, Army Transport Service, Lists of Incoming Passengers, 1917 – 1938<\/i>, Passenger list for Brest Casual Company FRS-3-B, for his passage back to the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

26<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0He appears in a group photo of instructors on p. 26 of Military Training Camps Association, The Mess Kit<\/i>, which also has a brief article by him on pp. 70-71. \u00a0See \u201cNotes from Air Corps Fields,\u201d p. 99 on his resignation at Bolling Field. \u00a0See Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census<\/i>, record for John J Devery, on his subsequent occupation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

27<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Ancestry.com, Florida, State Census, 1867-1945<\/i>, record for John J Devery (1935).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, August 31, 1891 \u2013 January 25, 1949, Dade County, Florida).1 Devery\u2019s father worked as an engineer for New York City\u2019s Board of Transportation.2\u00a0 \u00a0John Joseph Devery, Jr., upon completing high school in 1912, also went to work as an engineer, \u201cspending four years\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. doing work on the subway tunnels under the East … Continue reading “John Joseph Devery, Jr.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1408,"parent":30,"menu_order":35,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1374","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8030,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1374\/revisions\/8030"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}