{"id":7301,"date":"2022-08-01T16:04:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T22:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/?page_id=7301"},"modified":"2022-11-29T12:47:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T19:47:33","slug":"chester-albert-pudrith","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/the-biographies\/chester-albert-pudrith\/","title":{"rendered":"Chester Albert Pudrith"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

(Detroit, Michigan, June 21, 1894 [?] \u2013 Lincoln, England, April 30, 1918).1<\/a><\/p>\n

Pudrith\u2019s paternal grandparents came to the U.S. from Prussia in about 1865, his maternal grandparents from Bavaria in about 1850; both couples had settled in Detroit by 1880. The family name was Pudritzky, but Pudrith\u2019s father, Albert Frederick Pudritzky, changed it shortly before he married Louise Reichrath on August 29, 1893. Chester Albert Pudrith was the oldest of three children and the only son.2<\/a><\/p>\n

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Pudrith in The Aegis 1916 (the Dartmouth College yearbook).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pudrith attended Detroit Central High School before enrolling at Dartmouth. He excelled in athletics, notably football and crew, and was class president; he received the John Barrett medal for \u201cAll-Round Achievement\u201d when he graduated in 1916.3<\/a> He returned to Detroit and for a time worked for his father\u2019s roofing company.4<\/a> Not long after the U.S. entered the war, Pudrith was admitted to the First Officers\u2019 Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, north of Chicago, where he trained for about two months. He applied and was accepted for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, and in early July started ground school at the School of Military Aeronautics<\/a> at the University of Illinois.\u00a0 A photo<\/a> kept by Joseph Raymond Payden suggests that he was close to classmates George Orrin Middleditch (also from Detroit) and Vincent Paul Oatis, both of whom had also been at Fort Sheridan.<\/p>\n

Pudrith\u2019s class of about thirty men graduated September 1, 1917.5<\/a>\u00a0Most of them, including Pudrith, chose or were chosen to go to Italy for flying training and were thus among the 150 men of the \u201cItalian\u201d or \u201csecond Oxford detachment\u201d who sailed from New York for Europe on September 18, 1917, on the\u00a0Carmania<\/i>. After a brief stopover at Halifax the\u00a0Carmania<\/i>\u00a0joined a convoy for the voyage across the Atlantic, setting out September 21, 1917. The men were in first class and enjoyed ship board leisure activities, including concerts featuring the violinist Albert Spalding. They also had Italian lessons, conducted by Fiorello La Guardia, and, once they entered dangerous waters, they took turns at submarine watch.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Carmania<\/i> docked at Liverpool on October 2, 1917. Not long after this, Pudrith wrote home from Oxford that \u201cOur orders have been changed again and from the way things look now our original plans will not be carried out. We are at the above address for advanced ground school work and will probably be here six or eight weeks.\u201d6<\/a> Many of the men were initially unhappy that they were to repeat ground school at the Royal Flying Corps\u2019s No. 2 School of Military Aeronautics at Oxford rather than continuing on to sunny Italy, but Pudrith seems quickly to have made his peace with the situation. \u201cHave had a wonderful lot of experiences the last week. A train ride across England\u2014saw a lot of famous places\u2014talked with a lot of Tommies, etc. We were brought directly here from our boat and were assigned first to ____ College and now to this one.\u201d7<\/a> It is unclear who was responsible for deleting the name of the college where Pudrith was housed\u2014perhaps Pudrith himself, wary of censorship, or perhaps the newspaper. Another member of the detachment, Joseph Kirkbride Milnor, described in his diary how on their first night at Oxford the 150 men were distributed among four colleges: Jesus, Exeter, Christ Church, and The Queen\u2019s, and the next day consolidated into two groups assigned to Christ Church and Queen\u2019s; Pudrith was probably in the former.8<\/a>\u00a0In any case, \u201cWe managed to have our gang together and I am rooming with George Middleditch, Walt Halley and Warren Teoch [sic<\/i>: sc. Leach] in one of the dungeons here\u2014built about 1347.\u201d9<\/a>\u00a0 All four men had attended ground school at the University of Illinois.<\/p>\n

Whereas few of the ground school teachers in the states had actually flown, many of the R.F.C. teachers were experienced pilots: \u201call the instructors are old flying men and know what they are doing.\u201d10<\/a>\u00a0Nevertheless much of the material covered was already familiar to the cadets, and they did not have to work hard to keep up. Time outside of classes was thus free for them to explore Oxford and the surrounding area. Athletics were also high on the agenda of leisure activities: track, rowing, and on at least one occasion, boxing. The entry for October 22, 1917, in\u00a0War Birds<\/i>\u00a0notes that \u201cWe had a boxing-tournament last week. Springs and I went in and won our first bouts, but got knocked out in the second round. Pudrith and Jake Stanley each won in their classes and got a trip to London over the week-end as prizes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The anticipated \u201csix to eight weeks\u201d of ground school turned out to be only four, but this, for all but a few of the men, did not mean moving on to flight training. At the beginning of November 1917 the vast majority of the cadets were sent to Harrowby Camp near Grantham in Lincolnshire for a machine gunnery course. As Parr Hooper, also ordered to Grantham, remarked, \u201cIt looks like we got sent here because there was no other place to send us to\u2014playing for time.\u201d11<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A
Men assigned to Waddington, from the list in Foss\u2019s diary of men assigned to training squadrons in mid-November 1917.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For two weeks the men learned about and practiced on the Vickers machine gun. On their days off, they explored the area around Grantham or went slightly further afield to Nottingham, the nearest large city. John MacGavock Grider kept a photo<\/a> taken of a group setting out from Grantham for Nottingham that includes himself, Pudrith, Halley, Leach, and several others. By mid-November the men were expecting to move on to working with the Lewis machine gun, and the majority of them did just that. But around this time fifty places opened up at training squadrons, and Pudrith was one of the fortunate men who were finally going to start flying. He, along with Middleditch, was in group of ten men posted on November 19, 1917, to Waddington, about twenty miles north of Grantham, where several training squadrons were located. Pudrith and Middleditch were apparently both assigned to No. 44 Training Squadron.12<\/a><\/p>\n

Pudrith\u2019s initial instruction would presumably have been on Maurice Farman Shorthorns (\u201cRumpties\u201d) and perhaps Avros before he moved on to DH.6s\u2014all training rather than operational planes. Ten days after his posting to Waddington, Pudrith returned to Grantham for a visit. The American cadets celebrated Thanksgiving there with a grand feast preceded by a football game. Walter Chalaire, a member of the detachment who was also a journalist, wrote an article about the festivities, including mention of Pudrith: \u201c\u2018Chic\u2019 Pudrith, captain of the Dartmouth varsity eleven in 1915, weight thrower and all round athlete, had his hands full in his capacity as umpire. \u2018Chic\u2019 won the heavyweight boxing championship of the Royal Flying corps at Oxford in October and is now flying a \u2018Clutching Hand\u2019 (De Haviland six type machine).\u201d13<\/a><\/p>\n

Back at Waddington, Pudrith evidently made rapid progress. His fellow second Oxford detachment member William Ludwig Deetjen wrote in his diary that Pudrith and Middleditch were recommended for their commissions on January 15, 1918.14<\/a> On February 11, 1918, Pershing forwarded the recommendation that Pudrith, along with Middleditch and Walter Andrew Stahl, be commissioned a first lieutenant. The confirming telegram (which also confirmed Leach\u2019s appointment) was dated February 20, 1918; these men were thus apparently the first members of the second Oxford detachment to be commissioned.15<\/a>\u00a0Given that Pudrith was training on DH-6s and was at No. 44 T.S., it appears he was being trained for observation or bombing and was expected to fly DH.4 planes operationally.<\/p>\n

On the afternoon of March 12, 1918, at No. 44 T.S., Pudrith went up as a passenger in a DH.4. Deetjen recorded in his diary what happened that day: \u201cat 2 P.M. George Middleditch now on active service was going to give me a joy ride, when [instructor] Beach stopped me, telling me to go with him. Chick Pudrith took my place with George. A [DH.]4 is a wonderful big buss and I had 15 minutes of real joy ride. When I got home word came that George had killed himself in a climbing turn at Scampton and Chick was hurt on the head and leg. Later poor George was reported as being badly injured with little chance for recovery.\u201d16<\/a><\/p>\n

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One of two casualty cards for the air accident involving Middleditch and Pudrith, courtesy of the RAF Museum London.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two days later, Deetjen noted in his diary that Middleditch \u201cdied soon after he reached the hospital.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. Chick is in a bad way now. They fear internal injuries.\u201d Pudrith was cared for at 4th<\/sup> Northern General Hospital in Lincoln, where Deetjen and others visited him. On March 19, 1918, Deetjen was able to report that \u201cHe is improving wonderfully. Of course his nerves are badly shot.\u201d But Pudrith did not recover; he succumbed to his injuries on April 30, 1918.17<\/a> He was buried on May 3, 1918, in Newport Cemetery in Lincoln, in the same section where Middleditch had been buried, as had second Oxford detachment members Donald Elsworth Carlton, Joseph Hiserodt Sharpe and Elwood Diver Stanbery.<\/p>\n

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Part of the entry for Pudrith from the Newport Cemetery Register of Burials<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the war families of American war dead were offered the choice of leaving their deceased relatives\u2019 bodies in Europe or having them returned to the U.S. Pudrith\u2019s father requested the his son\u2019s body remain in Newport Cemetery \u201cfor the present,\u201d as he intended to visit the grave in 1921. Unfortunately the relevant paperwork got lost, and by the time officials knew of the senior Pudrith\u2019s preferences, the remains had been exhumed and prepared for shipment overseas.18<\/a>\u00a0Pudrith\u2019s body, as well as those of second Oxford detachment members Stanbery and Lloyd Ludwig were transported on the\u00a0Northern Pacific<\/i>, which reached Hoboken on October 28, 1920.19<\/a>\u00a0Pudrith was reinterred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.20<\/a><\/p>\n

mrsmcq August 1, 2022<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Notes<\/h3>\n
\n

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

1<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Pudrith\u2019s place and date of birth are taken from Ancestry.com,\u00a0Michigan, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911<\/i>, record for Chester Pudrith. But see Ancestry.com,\u00a0U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917\u20131918<\/i>, record for Chester A Pudrith, where Pudrith gives June 21, 1893, as his date of birth. All other documents I have found give 1894. Possibly Pudrith was born out of wedlock, but it seems more likely that he, like other would-be pilots, believing it would improve the odds of being accepted for aviation, fudged his age. Pudrith\u2019s date of death is taken from Dwyer, \u201cReport on Air Service Flying Training Department in England,\u201d p. 5. The place is inferred from mentions of Pudrith in Deetjen\u2019s diary.\u00a0 The photo is a detail from a panoramic photo<\/a> of students at the University of Illinois School of Military Aeronautics.\u00a0 See here<\/a> for a formal portrait of Pudrith.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0On Pudrith\u2019s family and last name, see documents available at Ancestry.com. For his parents\u2019 marriage date, see Ancestry.com,\u00a0Michigan, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1822-1940<\/i>, record for Louise Reichrat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNecrology,\u201d\u00a0Dartmouth Alumni News<\/i>, p. 445; \u201cBoat Club Crews Honor Memory of Lieut. Pudrith.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Girton,\u00a0The History and Achievements of the Fort Sheridan Officers’ Training Camps<\/i>, p. 140.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGround School Graduations [for September 1, 1917].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cChester Pudrith, with American Detachment Royal Flying Corps, Writes from England.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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7<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Ibid<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

8<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Milnor, diary entries for October 2 and 3, 1917. A May 4, 1918, obituary for Pudrith mentions Christ Church College in connection with his time at Oxford. See \u201cLieut C. A. Pudrith Dies of Injuries\u201d and \u201cDer sechste Detroiter Flieger tot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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9<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cChester Pudrith, with American Detachment Royal Flying Corps, Writes from England.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

10<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Ibid<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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11<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Hooper,\u00a0Somewhere in France<\/i>, letter of November 4, 1917<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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12<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0See Girton,\u00a0The History and Achievements of the Fort Sheridan Officers’ Training Camps<\/i>, p. 140.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

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

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14<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Deetjen, diary entry for February 28, 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

15<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Cablegrams 592-S and 813-R.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

16<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Deetjen, diary entry for March 12, 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

17<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0April 30, 1918, is the generally accepted date of Pudrith\u2019s death. I should note that an annotation on a document in Pudrith\u2019s World War One Burial File states that a bottle on his grave in Newport Cemetery contained a paper giving his date of death as April 29, 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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18<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Pudrith, World War One Burial File.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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19<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Ancestry.com,\u00a0U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939<\/i>, records for Ludwig, Pudrith, and Stanberry [sic<\/i>].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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20<\/strong><\/a> R & A Niner, \u201cLT Chester A. Pudrith.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Detroit, Michigan, June 21, 1894 [?] \u2013 Lincoln, England, April 30, 1918).1 Pudrith\u2019s paternal grandparents came to the U.S. from Prussia in about 1865, his maternal grandparents from Bavaria in about 1850; both couples had settled in Detroit by 1880. The family name was Pudritzky, but Pudrith\u2019s father, Albert Frederick Pudritzky, changed it shortly before … Continue reading “Chester Albert Pudrith”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7321,"parent":30,"menu_order":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7301","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7301","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=7301"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7727,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7301\/revisions\/7727"}],"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\/7321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}