{"id":989,"date":"2017-05-26T17:15:15","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T23:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/?page_id=989"},"modified":"2021-07-20T13:05:06","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T19:05:06","slug":"allison-henderson-chapin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/the-biographies\/allison-henderson-chapin\/","title":{"rendered":"Allison Henderson Chapin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

(Washington, D.C., October 8, 1894 \u2013 Rockville, Maryland, July 17, 1977).1<\/a><\/p>\n

Chapin\u2019s grandfather was from Connecticut, but moved initially to Ohio and then to Iowa.2<\/a>\u00a0 Chapin\u2019s parents left Iowa for Washington, D.C., not long before he was born; his father had served in the Iowa National Guard and worked for the census office in Iowa and Washington.3<\/a><\/p>\n

Details of Chapin\u2019s university attendance are sketchy, but he apparently attended Georgetown or George Washington University (or possibly both) for a time.4<\/a>\u00a0 He was working as a bank clerk at the Silver Spring (Maryland) National Bank when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. \u00a0He attended ground school<\/a> at Ohio State University, graduating August 25, 1917.5<\/a>\u00a0 He was one of at least sixteen men from Maryland at the O.S.U. School of Military Aeronautics that summer. Frederick Joseph Seligman, who later became a White House press photographer, took a photo of the Marylanders, including Chapin, in early August 1917, and it was published in the Baltimore Evening Sun<\/em> on August 7, 1917, under the title \u201cMaryland Boys To Fly In France<\/a>.\u201d The rumor around that time was that the top men in the ground school classes would go to France for their advanced training, but not long afterward it was learned that advanced instruction was supposed to take place in Italy. Chapin was one of the eighteen men from his class who chose or were chosen for training in Italy.<\/p>\n

As one of the 150 men of the \u201cItalian\u201d or \u201csecond Oxford detachment\u201d Chapin sailed to England on the Carmania<\/i>, departing New York for Halifax on September 18, 1917, and departing Halifax on September 21, 1917. \u00a0The Carmania<\/i> docked at Liverpool on October 2, 1917, and the men proceeded not to Italy, but to Oxford, where they repeated ground school at the Royal Flying Corps’s No. 2 School of Military Aeronautics at Oxford University.<\/p>\n

\"Newspaper
From Murton Campbell’s diary entry for November 2, 1917, in the version printed in The Norwalk Reflector-Herald in 1930.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Christ Church and Exeter, Chapin roomed with Murton Llewellyn Campbell, Charles William Harold Douglass, and Roland Hammond Ritter.6<\/a>\u00a0 Like many of the cadets (and Oxford students), Chapin was not to be restricted by rules, as Campbell recounts. \u00a0\u201cWent out with Chap to the theater tonight. \u00a0He had his regular girl and I had her friend. \u00a0I got in before 11 but Chap was about 3\u20134 hours late. Dug and I put out a ladder over the wall for his benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

On November 3, 1917, Chapin, along with most of the rest of the detachment, left for machine gun school at Harrowby Camp, near Grantham, in Lincolnshire. \u00a0He and Murton Campbell continued to pal around together. On their second weekend, they took off for nearby Nottingham and double dates, returning late Sunday night.8<\/a>\u00a0 The next day, November 19, 1918, when fifty of the men, including Campbell were posted to flying schools, \u201cChap was left out, due I think to political reasons\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0. hated very much to leave old Chap behind.\u201d9<\/a><\/p>\n

The cadets at Grantham celebrated Thanksgiving in great style, with many of the men who were already at flying schools coming in to join them. Festivities included a lively football game<\/a>; Chapin played for the winning team, the \u201cUnfits.\u201d10<\/a><\/p>\n

Chapin\u2019s R.A.F. service record indicates that on December 3, 1917, he went from Grantham to 31 T.S. at Wyton (Cambridgeshire); seven other members of the detachment were assigned to Wyton at the same time.11<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The
This is from the list Foss drew up showing where cadets were posted on December 3, 1917. In addition to Chapin, Allen Tracy Bird, \u00a0John Hurtman Fulford, Temple Paul Hardin, Francis Kinloch Read, William Winslow Wait, Alfred August Gaipa , and Galloway Grinnell Cheston went to No. 31. T.S. \u00a0Earl Adams, Robert Alexander Anderson, Guy Maynard Baldwin, Thomas John Herbert, and Stanley Cooper Kerk were already there, having been posted in the middle of November 1917.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The machines available for flying at No. 31. T.S. were the Avro and the DH.6 (training aircraft), and the R.E.8 and the DH.9 (two-seater reconnaissance & bomber aircraft).12<\/a>\u00a0 By the latter part of February 1918 Chapin had completed enough flight training to be recommended for a commission, and Pershing\u2019s cable forwarding the recommendation to Washington is dated February 28, 1918. \u00a0The confirming cablegram announcing his appointment as a first lieutenant is dated March 11, 1918.13<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

The next station listed on Chapin\u2019s sketchy R.A.F. service record is \u201c3 (T) Grp\u201d (presumably 3 Training Group, headquartered at Birmingham and renamed Midland Area on May 8, 1918); he was transferred from there to R.A.F. Station Buckminster about seven miles south of Grantham effective June 11, 1918.<\/p>\n

On August 30, 1918, Chapin was assigned to the U.S. 85th<\/sup> Aero Squadron, which was stationed at Harlaxton a mile or so southwest of Grantham.14<\/a>\u00a0 In September, the squadron was ordered to France, arriving on September 9, 1918. From Cherbourg they went to Saint-Maixent (Poitou-Charentes) and then, at the end of September, to Chaumont. \u00a0At Chaumont the majority of the commissioned personnel, including Chapin\u2019s fellow Oxford detachment members Robert Thomas Palmer (second Oxford detachment) and Winfield Earl Sisson (first Oxford detachment) joined the squadron; Chapin had up until then apparently been the only pilot.15<\/a>\u00a0 Towards the end of October, the 85th<\/sup> was assigned to the Second Army, and in early November they proceeded to Toul. \u00a0Although apparently well organized, the 85th<\/sup> had few planes (DH-4s) and flew at most two missions (November 8 and 10, 1918) before the armistice.16<\/a><\/p>\n

Chapin remained with the squadron at Toul until February 1, 1918.17<\/a>\u00a0 At some point he had either been injured or fallen ill; he is listed among the \u201csick and wounded, walking cases who require no help or dressing\u201d in documents related to the voyage of the Zeelandia<\/i>. \u00a0The Zeelandia<\/i>, with Chapin aboard, departed St. Nazaire February 28, 1919, and arrived at Newport News on March 13, 1919.18<\/a><\/p>\n

After the war Chapin worked in real estate and insurance, briefly in New York, but mainly in the Washington, D.C. area.19<\/a><\/p>\n

mrsmcq May 26, 2017; revised July 20, 2021, to reflect Palmer\u2019s log book<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Notes<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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

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1<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>For Chapin\u2019s date and place of birth, see Ancestry.com, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918<\/i>, record for Allison Henderson Chapin. For his date and place of death, see Deloneva, \u201cAllison Henderson Chapin, Sr.\u201d \u00a0The photo is a detail from a group photo<\/a> of Squadron 7 at the Ohio State University School of Military Aeronautics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cSalmon B. Chapin.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Ames, Official Register<\/i>, p. 741; Alexander, Report<\/i>, p. 21.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The announcement of his engagement (\u201cEngagements\u201d) indicates he attended both Georgetown and George Washington University. The record for him in the 1940 census indicates two years of college; see Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census<\/i>, record for Allison H Chapin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cGround School Graduations [for August 25, 1917].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6<\/a>\u00a0 <\/strong>Murton\u00a0Campbell, diary entries for October 5 and 29, 1917.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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7<\/a>\u00a0 <\/strong>Murton\u00a0Campbell, diary entry for November 2, 1917.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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8<\/a>\u00a0 <\/strong>Murton\u00a0Campbell, diary entries for November 17 and 18, 1917<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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9<\/a>\u00a0 <\/strong>Murton\u00a0Campbell, diary entry for November 19, 1917; see also Foss, diary entries for November 13 and 14, 1917; and Clement, diary entry for November 14, 1917, on the selection of the men for flying schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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10<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Ludwig, Diary, November 29, 1917.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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11<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The National Archives (United Kingdom), Royal Air Force officers’ service records 1918-1919<\/i>, record for Allison H. Chapin; Foss, \u201cCadets of Italian Detachment Posted Dec 3rd<\/sup>\u201d (in Foss, Papers).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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12<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>This list of aircraft available is taken from p. 123 of A History of the Air Service in Great Britain<\/i>..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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13<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Cablegram 660-S; cablegram 900-R, p. 3 (this is an addendum to a cablegram dated March 9, 1918),<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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14<\/a> \u00a0Supplemental Histories for the 10th<\/sup>, 27th<\/sup>, 30th<\/sup> . . . <\/i>, p.20.\u00a0 Sloan, Wings of Honor<\/i>, p. 387 gives August 22, 1918, as the date of his assignment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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15<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Sloan, Wings of Honor<\/i>, p. 387 (where for \u201cWinfred E. Sisson\u201d read \u201cWinfield E. Sisson\u201d), and roster on p. 20 of Supplemental Histories for the 10th<\/sup>, 27th<\/sup>, 30th<\/sup>\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.<\/i>\u00a0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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16<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Sloan, Wings of Honor<\/i>, p. 377.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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17<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 See the roster on p. 20 of Supplemental Histories for the 10th<\/sup>, 27th<\/sup>, 30th<\/sup>,\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.<\/i> .\u00a0 \u00a0The current (July 20, 2021) Wikipedia article on the 85th Aero has an account of the squadron relocating to Tours at the end of November that is almost certainly in error and that cannot be verified in the sources cited.\u00a0 The log book of Robert Thomas Palmer indicates that the squadron remained at Toul through at least February 5, 1919.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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18<\/a> \u00a0<\/strong>See Ancestry.com, U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939<\/i>, record for Allison H Chapin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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19<\/a> \u00a0<\/strong>See 1930 United States Federal Census<\/i>, record for Allison H Chapin; and 1940 United States Federal Census<\/i>, record for Allison H Chapin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Washington, D.C., October 8, 1894 \u2013 Rockville, Maryland, July 17, 1977).1 Chapin\u2019s grandfather was from Connecticut, but moved initially to Ohio and then to Iowa.2\u00a0 Chapin\u2019s parents left Iowa for Washington, D.C., not long before he was born; his father had served in the Iowa National Guard and worked for the census office in Iowa … Continue reading “Allison Henderson Chapin”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1587,"parent":30,"menu_order":23,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-989","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/989","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=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6652,"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/989\/revisions\/6652"}],"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\/1587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com\/2OD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}