“To fly, fight and die?”: The Story of Frederick Lord

Frederick Lord, circa 1918

You have probably never heard the name Frederick Ives Lord, but you should. He was a World War I flying ace, and a soldier who fought in numerous wars – and was from Manitowoc.

Frederick was born in 1897 or 1900 (this is up for debate) in Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Alma and  Alman Lord. Alman seems to have moved to Milwaukee and worked as a salesman for a newspaper shortly after Frederick was born, leaving Alma and Frederick to live with Alma’s parents. Around 1917 the family, without Alman, move to Texas, where as the story goes, Fredrick makes an important decision.

World War I was beginning, and Frederick wanted to be involved. At just 17 years old, Frederick was unable to join the American Army but he greatly wanted to be “over there” fighting the ‘Huns’. Hun' became an unflattering synonym for Germans during World War I, used by Britons to emphasize their enemy's brutality.

Frederick ran away to Canada and managed to join the Royal Flying Corps. He arrived in England and was assigned to the 79th Squadron. Flying his Sopwith Dolphin, Frederick would be shot down, become a double ace with 12 confirmed kills, and earn 2 distinguished flying crosses. This quote from his first action sums up his experience pretty well “I sighted on the leader carefully and fired, what a mistake! These 3 planes suddenly looked like the whole German flying corps. They were on all sides of me at the same time! I wound up the watch and kicked the compass for want of something better to do while they gave me lessons on flying and shooting.”

Suffering from what we now would call PTSD, he later wrote “My nerves are shattered and I can't eat. What is it all about? Stay drunk to keep from thinking and keep going? To fly, fight and die? I don't even feel sorry for those that are gone as they are already safe in hell teaching the Germans how to play craps.”

Frederick would shake these feelings and survive the first world war. Earning his second Distinguished Flying Cross in 1919 during the allies intervention in the Russian Revolution, he was known to repeatedly attack from his aircraft and toss empty whiskey bottles at the fleeing enemy.

Lord came home and again became an American citizen, trying his luck at barnstorming and being a part owner in an aircraft company. He was an adviser to the Mexican government during their revolution, flew bombers for the Abraham Lincoln brigade during the Spanish Civil War and transported aircraft for the Royal Air Force during the second world war. Lord seems to have drifted along after that, never sitting in one place to long. In 1967 he was murdered in his home in California.