Who's Who - Frederick Gillet
Captain Frederick Warrington Gillet
(1895-1969) was America's second-highest scoring
air ace of
World War One, with his total of 26 victories bested only by
Eddie
Rickenbacker's 23.
Gillet was born in Baltimore, Maryland on 28 November 1895. Prior to enlisting with the U.S. Air Service on 1 April 1917 - the eve of President Woodrow Wilson's declaration of war with Germany - Gillet was educated at the University of Virginia.
He was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on 25 July 1917 and saw service on the Western Front from March 1918 following a period of training first in Canada and then in England.
Posted to 79 Squadron in France on 29 March 1918 Gillet amassed some 20 victories prior to the war's close chiefly flying the Sopwith Dolphin, a total which included three 'kills' on 10 November, the day before the war ended.
During his wartime service Gillet was awarded the British Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) with Bar, the British War Medal, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
He died on 21 December 1969 in Baltimore at the age of 75.
A "Brass Hat" was a high ranking officer.
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