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Lt Henry R. Clay (Ace) Uniform


hawk3370
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Gentlemen for you consideration the wings and uniform of Lt. Henry R. Clay. This uniform has never been seen in the collector arena. Lt. Henry Clay served with Nr 43 Squadron RFC, and the US 148th and 41st Aero Squadrons. He is credited with 8 1/2 Kills and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the British Distinguished Flying Cross and the WW1 Victory medal with three bars. Lt Clay died from Flu complications shortly after assuming Command of the 41st Aero Squadron in France in 1919. The group consist of his trunk with his initials, flight helmet and goggles, Tunic with wings and DFC ribbon, British style overseas hat with rank and US eagle. Sam brown belt, several pictures and copies of his victories and letters home. The center portion of this unique and beautiful bullion wing is ribbed white silk. I have only seen one other example of this wing in all my research. Unfortunately his family retained his original DSC and DFC with certificates.

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Additional pic of the Clay group. Notice the US eagle on the british overseas cap and US eagle buttons. Also notice that he continues to wear the USR and Crossed Signal Flags collar insignia, there is no record or indication that he went to the new wing and prop insignia prior to his death. This is exactly the way the uniform came directly from the family.

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Additional pic of the Clay group. Henry Clay center with a group of pilots from the 148th Aero Squadron.

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IMPERIAL QUEST

Incredible....wow

 

Now THAT is a unique wing. I have never seen one with a white silk background like that...very very nice!

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Outstanding! Thanks for this posting.

 

I saw an example of this wing for sale years ago - the dealer, an honest gentleman, thought it was fake and had it priced accordingly!

 

Charlie W.

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IMPERIAL QUEST

Hello Major,

 

Any future hopes of getting the DSC and DFC from the family? One question I have for you about the ribbon on the uniform....what is the significance of the horizontal stripes on the ribbon? The DFC medal ribbon had diagonal stripes as in the example I see framed on the wall behind the uniform. Any ideas?

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Hello Major,

 

Any future hopes of getting the DSC and DFC from the family? One question I have for you about the ribbon on the uniform....what is the significance of the horizontal stripes on the ribbon? The DFC medal ribbon had diagonal stripes as in the example I see framed on the wall behind the uniform. Any ideas?

 

Steve,

The horizontal stripes were the 1st style Brit DFC ribbon, it was only used for a short period of time before going to the diagonal. Quite scarce to find the original 1st style ribbon. As for obtaining the original medals, I have made several attempts to dislodge them but it doesn't appear that they will part with them.

 

Terry

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Wings of Honor by James J. Sloan, Jr. states that Lt. Clay died of influenza on February 17, 1919. Also has a great photo of him on page 202.

 

Yet

 

Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War by Bruce Robinson published in 1939 lists Lt. Clay as having been killed on August 26, 1918.

 

The web site http://www.aerofiles.com/acesww1.html American Air Aces of World War I lists him as KIA

 

Does anyone have this book and maybe we can find out what is true as we now have conflicting books.

 

SKELTON, MARVIN L. AND GEORGE H. WILLIAMS. Lt. Henry R. Clay Sopwith Camel Ace.

 

Joe

 

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IMPERIAL QUEST
Steve,

The horizontal stripes were the 1st style Brit DFC ribbon, it was only used for a short period of time before going to the diagonal. Quite scarce to find the original 1st style ribbon. As for obtaining the original medals, I have made several attempts to dislodge them but it doesn't appear that they will part with them.

 

Terry

 

Thanks very much for the reply, I had no idea on the ribbon. thumbsup.gif

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Wings of Honor by James J. Sloan, Jr. states that Lt. Clay died of influenza on February 17, 1919. Also has a great photo of him on page 202.

 

Yet

 

Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War by Bruce Robinson published in 1939 lists Lt. Clay as having been killed on August 26, 1918.

 

The web site http://www.aerofiles.com/acesww1.html American Air Aces of World War I lists him as KIA

 

Does anyone have this book and maybe we can find out what is true as we now have conflicting books.

 

SKELTON, MARVIN L. AND GEORGE H. WILLIAMS. Lt. Henry R. Clay Sopwith Camel Ace.

 

 

According to the Family he died of the Flu after taking over the 41st Aero Squadron in 1919.

 

Terry

Joe

 

post-1465-1238888358.jpg

post-1465-1238888390.jpgpost-1465-1238888407.jpg

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Croix de Guerre

Beautiful grouping! My gosh! :blink:

 

PS I like the way you have your uniforms displayed. Did you make add the hat display posts to your mannequin torsos or did they come that way? I have never seen any like that.

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Beautiful grouping! My gosh! :blink:

 

PS I like the way you have your uniforms displayed. Did you make add the hat display posts to your mannequin torsos or did they come that way? I have never seen any like that.

 

Croix-de-Grerre,

I make my own mannequins. The hat support is very simple, consist of a dowel inserted in a piece of wood cut to fit the bottom of a cut off plastic coke bottle. For the overseas hats I change the shape of the wood to match the hat and staple some cardbord on the sides to give it form. If you want to send me your e-mail address, I will send you some pic. The mannequins are very easy to construct, takes about an hour or so and cost about $15.

 

Terry

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That is truly a stunning uniform! The American Fighter Aces Album states he died in Coblenz on 17 Feb 1919 as well.

Also according to them he only served with the 43 FS for three months and saw no action with them. He then transferred to the 148th Aero Squadron USAS(which was operating under British control) and they flew Sopwith Camels. He is credited with 8 kills, a Fokker D VII on 18 August north of Noyon. He is credited with a second D VII three days later between Vehr and Beaumetz. On the 25th of August he is credited with a third D VII location unknown, and he is credited with a DFW two seater two days later over Remy. He scored a double on the 4th of September when he was victorious over two D VII's and his seventh victory was another D VII while on a dawn patrol between Bourlon and Espinay on the 24th of September. His last victory is shared(but they give him full credit for it) with his squadron mate Lt. Elliot White on the 27th of September when they brought down a Halberstadt two seater.

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  • 9 years later...
Chris Liontas

Bringing this back to the top to ask if anyone knows where this uniform went. It was sold by Dennis Jackson to a collector who I had heard was selling his collection several years ago. Does anyone know where it went?

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  • 2 weeks later...

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