William Portwood Erwin

Name:

William Portwood "Bill" Erwin

Country:

United States

Rank:

Lieutenant

Service:

United States Air Service

Units:

1^st Observation

Victories:

Born:

18 October 1895

Place of Birth:

Ryan, Oklahoma, USA

Died:

19 August 1927

Place of Death:

Pacific Ocean

The son of W. A. Erwin of Chicago, Illinois, William Portwood Erwin was assigned to the 1^st Observation Squadron on 19 July 1918. A Salmson 2A2 pilot, he and his observers were credited with 8 victories. He and his navigator, Alvin H.Eichwaldt, were lost at sea while searching for two planes, the Golden Eagle and the Miss Doran, that were missing in the Pacific during the Dole Air Race from California to Hawaii in 1927.

Rescuing Airplane Thought Lost in Pacific
The Helena Independent - Saturday, August 20, 1927

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William P. Erwin, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in the Chateau-Thierry and St. Mihiel Salients, France. Lieutenant Erwin, with Second Lieutenant Byrne E. Baucom, observer, by a long period of faithful and heroic operations, set an inspiring example of courage and devotion to duty to his entire squadron. Throughout the Chateau- Thierry actions, in June and July, 1918, he flew under the worst weather conditions and successfully carried out his missions in the face of heavy odds. In the St. Mihiel sector, September 12 - 15, 1918, he repeated his previous courageous work. He flew as low as 50 feet from the ground behind the enemy's lines, harassing German troops with machine-gun fire and subjecting himself to attack from ground batteries, machine- guns, and rifles. He twice drove off enemy planes which were attempting to destroy an American observation balloon. On September 12 and 13, 1918, he flew at extremely low altitudes and carried out infantry contact patrols successfully. Again on September 12 he attacked a German battery, forced the crew to abandon it, shot off of his horse a German officer who was trying to escape, drove the cannoneers to their dugouts, and kept them there until the infantry could come up and capture them.

General Orders No. 70, W.D., 1919

French Croix de Guerre

On 20 July 1918, he volunteered for an infantry liaison mission at night fall, executed this mission at 200 meters altitude. He brought back his observer, who was mortally wounded, and his plane was full of bullet holes.

Croix de Guerre citation

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	15 Sep 1918	1230	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ¹	EA	Mammey
2	29 Sep 1918	0455	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ²	Rumpler C	Fleville
3	06 Oct 1918	0715	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ³	EA	St. Juvin
4	08 Oct 1918	1630	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ³	Two-seater	Apremont
5	08 Oct 1918	1715	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ³	Two-seater	Sommerance
6	15 Oct 1918	1535	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ²	EA	Thenorgues
7	18 Oct 1918	1550	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ²	Fokker D.VII	Sommerance
8	22 Oct 1918	1455	1^st	Salmson 2A2 ³	Two-seater	NW of Remonville

1	Observer Lt H W Dahringer
2	Observer Lt B V Baucom
3	Observer Lt Arthur Easterbrook

Books

American Aces of World War 1: by Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey (Illustrator) / Paperback / Osprey Publishing (September 25, 2001)
Over the Front: by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)

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