Page 91 - Demo

At 9:05 am, on May 21, 1931, 659 heavily armed military airplanes of various types streaked along Lake Michigan and %u201cattacked%u201d Chicago. From the roof of Chicago%u2019s Stevens Hotel, Army Air Corps Commandant General Benjamin D. Foulois watched as dogfighters and battle squadrons maneuvered, while thousands of spectators in Grant Park witnessed what a real attack might look like if war came to the Midwest. The maneuvers were designed to determine how quickly a fleet could be assembled in a real emergency.The airplanes had arrived from Dayton, Ohio, where Orville Wright was the honorary chairman for five days of practice formations prior to the Chicago demonstration. The planes involved included onehundred-and-three P-12s, seventeen P-6s, and fiftyeight P-1s. There were also three squadrons of O38s, as well as cargo and observation planes. The fleet over Lake Michigan was led by crack fighter pilots, who took off at dawn from five airports, and quickly formed battle squadrons. The weather cooperated, and Navy Pier became the official %u201cpoint of attack.%u201d After leaving Chicago, the planes headed to back Dayton, Ohio, where they overnighted before flying on to New York, %u201cin anticipation of combat operations off the Atlantic coast.%u201dAfter arriving on the east coast, the fleet spent seven days in similar operations ranging from Connecticut, to Massachusetts, to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania. In Boston, General Douglas McArthur ordered an aerial %u201cattack%u201d on an %u201cenemy%u201d fleet 25 miles off the coast. On Memorial Day, all the aircraft passed in review over Washington DC, with President Hoover watching from the White House lawn.Overall, the exercise was a stunning success. In two weeks, the Army Air Corps flew four million miles without a fatality or serious mishap. In June, Foulois received the prestigious Charles K. MacKay Trophy for the year%u2019s most meritorious flight.Before arriving in Chicago, and again after the %u201cbattle,%u201d the squadron passed over Indiana, and philatelists in at least two cities prepared celebratory covers. In South Bend, covers were dated on the day before the planes attacked Chicago, and in Fort Wayne covers were cancelled as the planes flew overhead on their way back to Dayton, Ohio. A few of the Army%u2019s 659 airplanes flying over Chicago%u2019s Navy Pier, the %u201cofficial point of attack,%u201d on May 21, 1931.