Allegiance United States Battles and wars World War I Died May 5, 1981 | Name Jens Larson Battles/wars World War I Service/branch Royal Air Force | |
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Born August 10, 1891
Waltham, Massachusetts ( 1891-08-10 ) Buried at Dalton Memorial Garden, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Place of burial Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States Unit Royal Air Force, No. 8 Squadron RAF, No. 34 Squadron RAF, No. 84 Squadron RAF | ||
Jens Frederick Larson (10 August 1891 – 6 May 1981) was an American pursuit pilot and a flying ace in World War I.
He died in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on 6 May 1981
Biography
Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, Larson went to Canada in 1915 and joined the Canadian Army, where he was known as "Swede". After service with the field artillery for nineteen months, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on 19 October 1916. He served with the 24 and 34 Training Squadrons. On 31 July 1917, he became one of the original pilots of No. 84 Squadron, equipped with SE-5s. He earned nine official victories, the last of which was an LVG twin-seater which crashed inside Allied lines after he knocked out the observer. Larson was hospitialized in April 1918 and did not see any further combat service.
Larson returned to Canada in January 1919 before making his home in New Hampshire where he was architect in residence at Dartmouth College from 1919 to 1947. He eventually settled in North Carolina and retired in the 1970s.