Lieutenant Robert Miles Todd was an American World War I flying ace credited with five enemy planes destroyed.

Early life

Robert Miles Todd was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on 24 June 1897.

World War I

Todd joined the United States Air Service on 6 August 1917. He was studying engineering at the University of Cincinnati; however, he graduated from the Ohio State University School of Aeronautics in October. He then underwent aviation training at Benbrook Field, Texas before moving on to Canada for further training. Todd served with the

17th Aero Squadron The 17th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I. As a Day Pursuit (Fighter) Squadron. its mission was to engage and clear enemy aircraft from the skies and provide escort to ...

in France; the American squadron was under British control. Todd destroyed four enemy airplanes and an

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...

during August 1918. On 26 August 1918, Todd and seven squadronmates were in a dogfight with 40

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

s of Germany's

Jagdgeschwader 3 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 (JG 3) "Udet" was a ''Luftwaffe'' fighter wing of World War II. The ''Geschwader'' operated on all the German fronts in the European Theatre of World War II. It was named after Ernst Udet, an important figure in the develo ...

. Immediately after Todd shot down his final victim on 26 August 1918, he fell under the guns of Rudolf Klimke of Jagdstaffel 27, one of seven Camels downed that day by the Germans. Todd was wounded, but survived, and was held captive as a prisoner of war until December 1918. German soldiers rescuing him from the overturned wreckage of his plane broke his foot, and he was abused by German housewives on the way to prison.

List of aerial victories

Post World War I

After his return to the U. S., Todd once again took up engineering. During World War II, Todd returned to military service; however, his eyesight was no longer acute enough for him to fly. He served in logistics for both the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

and the Ninth Air Force until 1944, commanding a 5,000 man air depot group. He also served as a commander of a staging area for gliders. He stayed on after war's end to aid in the disposal of combat material, but quit in disgust when he found that serviceable goods that could have been converted to civilian use were instead being dumped. Todd moved to San Diego in 1952. He retired from military service as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in 1965. His autobiographical memoirs were published in 1978, entitled ''Sopwith Camel Fighter Ace''. In 1981, he was one of a group of aces who returned to France for an Armistice Day celebration. In 1982, he belatedly received the Purple Heart for the wound he received on 26 August 1918. Robert Miles Todd died of pneumonia in the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla, California on 20 January 1988.Robert Miles Todd at Find a grave
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References

Bibliography

* ''Sopwith Camel Fighter Ace'' Robert M. Todd. AJAY Enterprises, 1978. , . * ''Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920''. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. , . * ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. , .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Robert Miles American World War I flying aces 1897 births 1988 deaths