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Memorial Day Tribute: New London's Unsung Hero of World War I

Lt. Schuyler Lee of Broad St. 19-year-old ace fighter pilot

When the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, New London joined towns across the state in contributing to the war effort. Over 1,450 of its residents were involved in some way in the conflict; of that group, 430 New Londoners went overseas to the Western Front with about 10% of that number—41—losing their lives.

Among those killed in action was Lt. Schuyler Lee of 27 Broad Street in New London whose father, Dr. J. Beveridge Lee, was the rector of the . Schuyler Lee’s achievements as a fighter pilot in World War I were nothing short of amazing, especially when one considers the fact that this remarkable young aviator was only 19 years old when he was shot down and killed on April 12, 1918.

Though Schuyler Lee’s hometown was New London, he attended private school at Phillips Andover in Massachusetts. It was at Andover that Lee responded to the call for service and joined the Andover Field Service (i.e., ambulance service) on March 17, 1917—nearly 3 weeks before America had declared war. Lee shipped out for France well before the American army got there and served in the ambulance corps, retrieving wounded French soldiers until August of 1917. At that time, Lee applied to and was accepted for flight training in the E’cole Militaire D’aviation (Military Aviation School) in Tours. He began his training on August 1, 1917, having just turned 19 two days before. Lee was made a corporal and commissioned as a pilot (avion de chasse) on October 22, 1917. By January 1, 1918, Schuyler Lee was assigned to unit 96 of the Lafayette Escadrille and was breveted a lieutenant.

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The Lafayette Escadrille was essentially a volunteer American aviator group that flew planes in support of the French war effort. Since Lafayette had helped the United States secure its independence from Britain in the American Revolution, many Americans felt an obligation to return the favor. Schuyler Lee shared this belief along with 37 other American volunteer aviators. He saw his first combat action on February 3, 1918, in the Rheims sector and shot down three German airplanes.

Lee wrote of the experience: "I had my first fight on the morning of the 3rd of February. Five French and eight Boches were in it. Three of the men with me got one, while one of our men was shot down. It is a totally new and unpleasant feeling to go out with a fellow and come back without him."  Lee’s Spad was hit 20 times by German bullets during the dogfight. So skilled and brave was Lee in action on that day that the French government awarded him the prestigious Croix de Guerre with palm medal—the highest form of that award. Lee would also win two other citations before his death.

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 Soon after his initial action, Lt. Lee was reassigned to be part of the French aviation service and was sent to the Amiens sector in March 1918. While patrolling in the Amiens sector during the month of March, Schuyler Lee shot down 5 more German planes, becoming an “Ace.” While flying his Spad near Beuvraignes on April 12, 1918, Lt. Schuyler Lee was shot down and killed, crashing just east of Montdidier. He was only 19 years old. Aerial Age Weekly in its September 9, 1918, issue gave the following account of Lee’s fatal crash:

 The official journal of August 20 prints the citation of Flight Lieutenant Schuyler Lee of New London, Connecticut, formerly of the Lafayette Escadrille, who was killed in an air battle east of Montdidier in April. The citation praises the courage and dash shown by Lieut. Lee since his first days at the front, notably on February 3rd when he helped bring down eight enemy machines.

A French officer, pilot in the same escadrille, wrote to Schuyler's father: "A perfect gentleman and model soldier, your son had won the affection and the sympathy of every one here. I can't tell you enough how much all here, officers and men, feel the loss of such a perfectly gallant comrade." Principal Stearns of Phillips Andover wrote to the elder Lee: “Schuyler went to his death and his God clean, strong, and unsullied.” In the book Phillips Academy, Andover in the Great War, Schuyler Lee was described as being “exceedingly beloved” by his classmates and his teachers. He was one of 77 students from Phillips Andover who perished in the Great War—an astonishingly high toll for one school to bear.

Of the 430 New Londoners who served overseas during the war, only two others received the Croix de Guerre besides Schuyler Lee. One was an ambulance driver named Sgt. Donald Mitchell of 5 Granite Street in New London. Sgt. Mitchell was attached to the French 5th Division and was given the Croix de Guerre by General Petain himself. The other recipient was Lawrence Jerome McGinley of 269 Hempstead Street. McGinley had 3 brothers who also served in the war: Winthrop, Thomas, and Arthur—the longtime sports editor of The Hartford Times. First Lieutenant Lawrence McGinley served with ambulance section 510 in the war. Petain signed his award as well. New London also was well represented in the Great War by the heroic John Coleman Prince, after whom the New London American Legion Home is named. No New Londoner, however, got more medals and achieved more in World War I than the unsung 19 year-old aviator from Broad Street—one of the very few designated aces of the war from all of New England.

 

Notes, Sources, and Links:

1. NY Times July 7, 1918

2. Memorial Volume of the American Field Service In France

3. Phillips Academy: Andover in the Great War

4. Lt. Schuyler Lee is buried in Beuvraignes in France.

 5. Connecticut Service Records in the Great War: 3 Vol 1933.

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