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Today in History


Name: Jens Fredrick "Swede" Larson
Jens Fredrick Larson

Bucknell Magazine, Winter 2009
Country: United States
Rank: Captain
Service: Royal Flying Corps
Royal Air Force
Units: 8, 34, 84
Victories: 9
Born: 10 August 1891
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 06 May 1981
Place of Death: Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Cemetery: Dalton Memorial Garden, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
 
 
An architect and the son of a Swedish immigrant, Jens Fredrick Larson was 6 feet tall when he enlisted as a gunner with the Canadian Field Artillery on 10 August 1914. He sailed for France in February 1915, was promoted to Lieutenant on 19 August 1916, and transferred to the Reserve Brigade, Shorncliffe in September 1916. In December 1916, he was attached to the Royal Flying Corps and received training at the School of Military Aeronautics, Oxford University. He was posted to 8 Squadron on 5 May 1917, 34 Squadron on 26 May, and 84 Squadron on 8 August. One of the founding members of 84 Squadron, the unit deployed to France on 25 September 1917. Larson was promoted to Captain on 1 January 1918 and scored nine victories flying the S.E.5 before returning to England in May 1917. Injured in September 1918, Captain 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.

Listed as Jens Frederick Larsen in several sources.
Front Back
Canada, Soldiers of the First World War, 1914-1918
Dalton Memorial Garden, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Find A Grave Memorial# 62962640
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 26 Nov 1917 0800 84 S.E.5a (B612) Albatros D.V (OOC) Fonsomme
2 03 Jan 1918 1500 84 S.E.5a (A8342) Two-seater (DES) NE of St. Quentin
3 16 Feb 1918 1020 84 S.E.5a (A8942) Albatros D.V (OOC) La Fère
4 19 Feb 1918 1020 84 S.E.5a Albatros D.V (OOC) 1 St. Gobain Wood
5 15 Mar 1918 0920 84 S.E.5a (C1077) Pfalz D.III (OOC) NE of Ribemont
6 18 Mar 1918 1130 84 S.E.5a (C1077) Fokker DR.I (OOC) Le Cateau
7 03 Apr 1918 1150 84 S.E.5a (C1077) Albatros D.V (OOC) Rosières
8 03 Apr 1918 1152 84 S.E.5a (C1077) Albatros D.V (DES) E of Rosières
9 06 Apr 1918 1120 84 S.E.5a (C1077) LVG C (CAP) 2 N of Hangard
1 Shared with 2Lt John McCudden
2 Shared with Lt Charles Stubbs, Lt Hugh Saunders, Lt Hector MacDonald
 
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)
In Clouds of Glory: American Airmen Who Flew With The British During The Great War
by James J. Hudson / Paperback / University of Arkansas Press (October 1, 1990)
 
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