The Joseph G. Broz album documents Broz’s experience serving with the 27th Aero Squadron and First Pursuit Group during World War I. The album, assembled by Broz in 1979, includes an extensive first-hand narrative describing the everyday life of a soldier in the unit, illustrated by a variety of photographs. Many of the photographs were taken by Broz himself, although at least two were taken by the squadron’s unofficial photographer, Eugene “Tex” Branshaw.

Broz begins the narrative with his enlistment at Jefferson Barracks on April 29, 1917. He describes training at several airfields in Texas and Canada, including instruction received from pilots in the British Royal Flying Corps. Once in France, Broz and the 27th Aero Squadron were involved in action at Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Asine, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Chateau-Thierry, and the Defensive Sector. The narrative and the accompanying photographs depict the daily life of a soldier at the front, including military duties, sanitary conditions, makeshift barracks, and soldiers’ off-duty escapades. Broz includes many photographs of the Sopwith Camel and Nieuport planes used by his squadron. Photographs also show battlefields and war damage to the surrounding towns and countryside.

Broz champions the advancements in aerial warfare made by the 27th Squadron and the First Pursuit Group under the direction of Major Hartney, and he describes in detail the heroic military actions of the pilots, most of whom did not survive the war. These pilots included American Aces such as Eddie Rickenbacker, Frank Luke, and Joseph F. Wehner.

The narrative follows Broz and his fellow soldiers through celebrations at the news of the armistice to the gradual disbanding of the First Pursuit Group. While waiting in camp to return home, Broz was stricken with acute influenza, and he describes his hospitalization and subsequent convalescence. The narrative ends with Broz’s return to the United States and his honorable discharge on May 10, 1919.