Sumner Sewall

Name:

Sumner Sewall

Country:

United States

Rank:

Captain

Service:

United States Air Service

Units:

95^th Aero

Victories:

Born:

17 June 1897

Place of Birth:

Bath, Maine, USA

Died:

25 January 1965

Place of Death:

Bath, Maine, USA

Cemetery:

Oak Grove Cemetery, Bath, Maine, USA

The son of William D. and Mary L. (Sumner) Sewall, Sumner Sewall left Yale (class of 1920) in his freshman year to join the United States Ambulance Service and served on the Western Front before joining the United States Air Service in Paris on 23 August 1917. In February 1918, he was assigned to the 95th Aero Squadron, eventually becoming a flight commander. Flying the SPAD XIII, he was credited with seven victories including two balloons. Though unconfirmed, it is believed that Sewall shot down Otto Rosenfeld behind the German lines on 7 July 1918. Two days before the Armistice was signed, a Fokker pilot became lost in the fog and landed at the 95th's aerodrome. With revolvers drawn, Sewall and two other pilots captured the German and his plane (Fokker D.VII 4635/18 is in the Smithsonian Museum). He was discharged from the army at Garden City, New York on 20 February 1919. After the war, Sewall graduated from Yale, became a director of United Air Lines and entered politics. A Republican state senator during the 1930's, he was elected governor of the state of Maine during World War II.

Ex-Gov. Sewell of Maine Dies
The Bridgeport Post - Tuesday, January 26, 1965

The Boston Herald, Boston, Massachusetts, Tuesday, 26 January 1965, page 20

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Sumner Sewall, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for repeated acts of extraordinary heroism in action near Menil-la-Tour, France, June 3, 1918, and near Landres-St.-Georges, France, October 13, 1918. On June 3, Lieutenant Sewall with two other pilots attacked a formation of sis hostile planes. Through his companions were forced to withdraw because of jammed guns, he continued in the fight for 15 minutes and succeeded in sending one of his adversaries down in flames. On October 18, while on a voluntary patrol, this officer saw an American observation plane being attacked by a German machine (Fokker type), accompanied by eight other hostile planes. He immediately attacked and destroyed the Fokker and was in turn attacked by the eight planes. By skillful maneuvering he evaded them and escorted the observation plane back to our lines.

General Orders No. 32, W.D., 1919

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) Oak Leaf Cluster

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Sumner Sewall, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Rocourt, France, July 7, 1918. Lieutenant Sewall fearlessly attacked a formation of five enemy planes (type K Fokker) and separated one from the group, pursued it far behind the enemy's lines and sent it down in crash, following it within 30 meters of the ground in spite of severe fire from a machine-gun, rifles, and anti-aircraft guns, bullets from which passed through his clothing.

General Orders No. 32, W.D., 1919

Croix de Guerre

A pilot eager to fight and devoted to duty. On 3 June 1918, he attacked with his patrol an enemy formation of six planes, pursued one of them to 200 meters above the ground and brought it down. During the operations between the Marne and Aisne Rivers, he spent his energy without restraint, brought down an enemy plane in flames and forced a second adversary to land.

French Croix de Guerre citation

Opponents

u/c	Otto Rosenfeld

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	03 Jun 1918		95^th	SPAD XIII	Two-seater	Dieulouard
2	05 Jul 1918		95^th	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII ¹	Château Thierry
3	16 Jul 1918		95^th	SPAD XIII	Two-seater ²	Château Thierry
4	26 Jul 1918		95^th	SPAD XIII	Rumpler C ³	Villeneuve-sur-Fère
5	18 Sep 1918	1635	95^th	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	Landres
6	04 Nov 1918	1540	95^th	SPAD XIII	Balloon ⁴	Boinville
7	05 Nov 1918	0625	95^th	SPAD XIII	Balloon	Hannonville

1	Shared with Lt Waldo H Heinrichs, Lt J L Mitchell
2	Shared with Lt Edward Curtis
3	Shared with Lt C S Gill, Lt Waldo H Heinrichs, Lt James Knowles, Lt G W Puryear
4	Shared with Lt A J Weatherhead

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)