{{Short description|American aviator (1893–1934)}} {{Infobox military person | name = William Thaw II | image = Lieutenant Colonel William Thaw II.jpg | image_size = 250 | caption = Lieutenant Colonel William Thaw II, 1918 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|8|12|df=y}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|4|22|1893|8|12|df=y}} | burial_label = | burial_place = Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Plot: Section: 20, Lot: 55 | birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, | death_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | nickname = | allegiance = {{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}<br/>{{flag|United States|1912}} | branch = Aéronautique Militaire (France)<br>Air Service, United States Army | service_years = 1914–1918 (France) <br> 1918 (USA) | rank = Lieutenant Colonel | unit = Aéronautique Militaire * Escadrille D.6 * Escadrille C.42 * Escadrille N.65 * Escadrille N.124 (Lafayette Escadrille) Air Service, United States Army * 103d Aero Squadron * 3d Pursuit Group | commands = 103rd Aero Squadron<BR>3d Pursuit Group | battles = 50px&nbsp;World War I | awards = Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, french Legion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre | relations = | other_work = }} thumb|William Thaw II and Stephen McGordon photographed while flying under the four bridges of New York's East River, October 1913. Mr. Thaw is seated at the left hand steering wheel at the right of the picture.|alt= [[File:William Thaw, right arm in a cast, member of the Lafayette Escadrille stands in front of a Nieuport XVI.jpg|left|thumb|William Thaw II, right arm in a cast, member of the Lafayette Escadrille stands in front of a Nieuport XVI|alt=]] Lieutenant Colonel '''William Thaw II''' ({{Birth date|1893|8|12|df=y}}{{spaced ndash}}{{Death date|1934|4|22|df=y}}) was an American combat aviator who served in World War I and became a flying ace. Credited with five confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories, he is believed to be the first American to engage in aerial combat in the war.<ref name=aero>{{cite web |url=http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/thaw.php |title=William Thaw |accessdate=2010-10-09}}</ref> He was the first to fly up the East River under all four bridges.<ref name=nie/>

==Early life== He was born on August 12, 1893, to Benjamin Thaw, Sr.<ref name=aero/> He learned to fly in 1913, while he was attending Yale University. His father bought him a Curtiss Hydro flying boat that he took to France for the Schneider Trophy races. When war broke out, Thaw gave his airplane to the French and enlisted in the Foreign Legion.<ref name=nie>{{cite book |author=Norman Leslie Robert Franks |author-link=Norman Leslie Robert Franks |title=Nieuport Aces of World War 1 |date= 25 April 2000|publisher= Osprey Publishing |pages=66–67 |isbn=1-85532-961-1 }}</ref>

==Military career== He joined ''Escadrille 6''.<ref name=aero/> He then became a corporal in ''Escadrille 42'' in 1915, flying a Caudron. He flew a Nieuport in ''Escadrille 65'', before transferring into a French unit composed of American volunteers, known as the Escadrille Americaine, Escadrille 124 under its new designation became nicknamed the Lafayette Escadrille.<ref name=nie/>

Thaw scored his first victory using a Nieuport on 24 May 1916. His next was on 27 April 1917. He had two unconfirmed claims in late 1917. He was transferred to the United States Army Air Service, where he commanded the 103rd Aero Squadron and the 3rd Pursuit Group. He would score three quick wins in April and May 1918. His final tally was one enemy observation balloon and four airplanes shot down.<ref name=aero/>

Thaw has been credited with purchasing the Escadrille's famed pet male lion "Whiskey".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usaww1.com/previews/TheLafayetteEscadrille_NarayanSengupta_PreviewL.pdf |title=The Lafayette Escadrille |last1=Sengupta |first1=Narayan |page=57}}</ref> Purchased by several pilots for 500 francs, the lion was adopted by the unit as a sort of mascot. Eventually Whiskey and a female lion purchased by the Escadrille, "Soda", were taken to a Paris Zoo (ref. Air & Space, January 2015), but still remembered the pilot. In one visit, the lions rolled over on their backs in their cage in order to allow Thaw to pet them.<ref>Gibbons, Floyd, Death From Above, Weston County (Upton, WY) Gazette, June 4, 1936, column 3, p. 6</ref>

==Final years== He married Marjorie Everts on March 2, 1921.<ref name=gaz/><ref name=widow/> He died of pneumonia on 22 April 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<ref name=aero/><ref name=gaz>{{cite news |title=Colonel Thaw, War Ace, Dies After Week's Illness . |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HeAdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3663,2740374&dq=benjamin+thaw&hl=en |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=April 23, 1934 |accessdate=2010-10-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=William Thaw 2nd, War Ace, 40, Dead; Won 3 Citations for Service in Lafayette Escadrille and Third Pursuit Group. Became Aviator in Youth. First to Fly Up East River Under All Four Bridges. Member of Pittsburgh Family |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/04/23/archives/william-thaw-2d-war-ace-40-dead-won-3-citations-for-service-in.html |work=Associated Press in the New York Times |date=April 23, 1934 |accessdate=2010-10-09 }}</ref> He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.<ref name=aero/> His widow died in 1936.<ref name=widow>{{cite news |title=Mrs. William Thaw 2D; Widow of the Lafayette Escadrille Commander Dies on Coast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/03/16/archives/mrs-william-thaw-2d-widow-of-the-lafayette-escadrille-commander.html |work=New York Times |date=March 16, 1936 |accessdate=2010-10-09 }}</ref>

==Honors and awards== *Distinguished Service Cross (DSC): "The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William Thaw, Major (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Reims, France, March 26, 1918. Major Thaw was the leader of a patrol of three planes which attacked five enemy monoplanes and three battle planes. He and another member of the patrol brought down one enemy plane and the three drove down, out of control, two others, and dispersed the remainder."<ref name=aero/> *Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) with Oak Leaf Cluster: "The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to William Thaw, Major (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Montaigne, France, April 20, 1918. In the region of Montaigne Major Thaw attacked and brought down, burning, an enemy balloon. While returning to his own lines the same day he attacked two enemy monoplanes, one of which he shot down in flames."<ref name=aero/> *French Ærslegionen.<ref name=aero/>

==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} * List of World War I flying aces from the United States

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Refbegin}} {{Refend}}

==External links== * [http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/thaw.php William Thaw at The Aerodrome] * {{Find a Grave|33631317}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thaw, William}} Category:American World War I flying aces Category:Aviators from Pennsylvania Category:French World War I flying aces Category:Lafayette Escadrille Category:Members of the Early Birds of Aviation Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Category:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion William Category:1893 births Category:1934 deaths Category:American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Category:American recipients of the Legion of Honour Category:Burials at Allegheny Cemetery Category:Lieutenant colonels Category:French recipients of the Legion of Honour