Veterans' Memorial Project

Edgar Alfred Lawrence

Chicago, IL

World War I

College: Engineering

Graduation Year: 1916

Service Branch: Army

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Date of Birth: 08/18/1893

Date of Death: 06/04/1918

Mr. Lawrence was an aviator killed in action in France. As a flying scout he had been patrolling the American lines. He fell in his plane over 15,000 feet. He had enlisted in aviation in 1917 and received his first training at Long Branch, Canada. From there he went to the University of Toronto for a course in signalling and airplane construction. In November, 1917, he went to Ft. Worth, Texas, and began flying. He became Second Lieutenant in February, 1918, and went to England in March, 1918, going from there to France for his final training. He wrote home saying, “Our squadron is a scout section, so we will drive the fastest single-seated machines the Franch can produce–and that’s what I want. These planes are hard to handle on account of their speed (150 miles an hour) and only the best of pilots are put in charge. I am quite elated.”

-taken from Illinois Alumni News, July 15, 1918, and other sources

Submit additional information or comments

Your Name
Email
Your relationship to veteran
Veteran's home city
State
Years attended U of I
Graduation year
College
Date of birth
Date of death
Branch of Service
Rank
Fraternities, clubs or other organizations affiliated with
Additional comments or information
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.