The Aerodrome Home Page
Aces of WWI
Aircraft of WWI
Books and Videos
The Aerodrome Forum
Help
Medals & Decorations
Search The Aerodrome
Today in History


Name: Duerson "Dewey" Knight
Duerson Knight
Country: United States
Rank: Lieutenant
Service: United States Air Service
Unit: 1 (RAF)
Victories: 10
Born: 21 January 1893
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died: 23 April 1983
Place of Death: Walnut Creek, California, USA
 
 
The son of Thomas Duerson Knight, an attorney, and Helen Whitaker (Fowle) Knight, daughter of Governor Fowle of North Carolina, Duerson Knight was a track star at University High School and the University of Chicago (class of 1916). He joined the United States Air Service in 1917. He was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant on 22 March 1918. To gain combat experience, he was temporarily assigned to the Royal Air Force. Flying the S.E.5a with 1 Squadron, he scored his first victory on 27 May 1918 and became an ace in less than a week. By August 1918, he achieved ten confirmed victories before being reassigned to a squadron in the United States Air Service in September 1918. Knight returned to the University of Chicago in 1919.
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 27 May 1918 1425 1 S.E.5a (C6479) C (DES) 1 S of Bailleul
2 27 May 1918 1450 1 S.E.5a (C6479) C (DES) 1 Kemmel
3 28 May 1918 0635 1 S.E.5a (C6479) C (OOC) 2 Meteren-Bailleul
4 28 May 1918 0700 1 S.E.5a (C6479) DFW C (DES) 2 Meteren-Vieux Berquin
5 01 Jun 1918 1940 1 S.E.5a (C1106) Pfalz D.III (OOC) 3 Armentières
6 09 Jun 1918 0630 1 S.E.5a (C1106) Fokker DR.I (CAP) 4 Dickebusch
7 09 Jun 1918 0720 1 S.E.5a (C1106) Pfalz D.III (OOC) Estaires
8 23 Jun 1918 0600 1 S.E.5a (C1894) C (DES) 5 NW of Lestrem
9 27 Jun 1918 0427 1 S.E.5a (C1894) LVG C (DES) 6 E of Meteren
10 22 Aug 1918 0720 1 S.E.5a (C1812) Fokker D.VII (CAP) Achiet le Grand
1 Shared with Capt Percy Clayson, Lt Harold Kullberg, Lt Basil Moody, Lt Ernest Kelly
2 Shared with Lt E M Forsyth, Lt Basil Moody, Lt Ernest Owen, Lt A K Scroggs, Lt H B Bradley, Lt Ernest Kelly, Lt Harold Kullberg, Lt Kenneth Laing, Capt Percy Clayson, Capt K S Henderson
3 Shared with Capt Charles Lavers, Capt Percy Clayson, Lt Wallace Smart, Lt L W Mawbey, Lt E M Newman, Lt Harold Kullberg, Lt C B Henderson, Lt H S Hennessy, Lt Ernest Kelly
4 Shared with Lt H B Bradley, Lt H P Parkinson, Lt Ernest Owen, Lt Harold Kullberg, Lt Kenneth Laing, Lt E S Crossley, Lt John Bateman, Lt C B Henderson, Capt Percy Clayson
5 Shared with Capt Percy Clayson, Lt Harold Kullberg, Lt John Bateman, Lt C B Henderson
6 Shared with Capt Percy Clayson, Lt Harold Kullberg
 
Books
Norman Franks. SE 5/5a Aces of World War I. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2007
Franks, Norman. American Aces of World War 1. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2001
Franks, Norman and Frank Bailey. Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918. London: Grub Street, 1992
 
Aces · Aircraft · Books · Forum · Help · Medals · Search · Today