Editing Sopwith 1½ Strutter (section)

===In French service===
[[File:Sopwith 1B2 Strutter Right Rear.jpg|thumb|left|French Sopwith 1B.2 Strutter in late war camouflage]]
The largest user of the Sopwith was actually the French {{lang|fr|Aéronautique Militaire}}. By May 1916 it was obvious that the [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] [[Farman Aviation Works|Farman]] and [[Société Anonyme des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Breguet|Breguet]] bombers and reconnaissance aircraft were obsolete and with the failure of their [[Tractor configuration|tractor]] aircraft replacements, particularly the [[Nieuport 14]], the Sopwith was ordered in large numbers from French manufacturers in three versions, the SOP. 1A.2 (two-seat reconnaissance), SOP. 1B.2 (two-seat bomber) and  SOP. 1B.1 (single-seat bomber).<ref name="Bruce wind2 p10-1">Bruce 2000, pp. 10–11.</ref><ref name="Bruce II p590"/> While in French service, they equipped a large portion of the French bomber and artillery-observation squadrons and carried out many bombing attacks against industrial and military targets, including the German front lines. It was not as successful against fighters, suffering substantial casualties and downing fewer enemy aircraft than either the aircraft used before it or after. With the belated introduction of the [[Breguet 14|Breguet 14 A.2 and B.2]], the last of the Sopwiths were withdrawn from operational service in early 1918 although they would continue in service with training units until after the end of the war.