A native of Minneapolis where his father, Francis A. Chamberlain, was Chairman of the First and Security National Bank, Cyrus graduated from Princeton University in the Class of 1910. He returned to Minneapolis and worked as a partner in the Marsh and McLennan insurance firm until the Spring of 1917.
On May 19, 1917, Cyrus sailed to France on the S.S. Chicago and arrived at Bordeaux on May 29th. He joined France's Service Aeronautique on June 3, 1917, and from June 6th to December 8th he underwent aviation and gunnery training at Avord, Pau, and the G.D.E. While in training, he earned his brevet on the Caudron on October 15.
On December 12, 1917, Cyrus was assigned at the Front to Escadrille SPAD 85, and on January 9, 1918, he was assigned to SPAD 98. During the German offensive in the spring of 1918, his squadron flew missions over the front lines. On June 13, 1918, Cyrus dove from 12,000 feet on some German aircraft below. Lured into a trap, he was attacked by other enemy fighters and shot down.
Cyrus Chamberlain was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm. In 1921, Speedway Field in Minneapolis was renamed Wold-Chamberlain Field. (Today it is the "Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport / Wold-Chamberlain Field.") Initially buried in the military cemetery in Coulommiers, his remains were moved to the Lafayette Flying Corps memorial near Paris in 1928. In 1989, Cyrus was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
A native of Minneapolis where his father, Francis A. Chamberlain, was Chairman of the First and Security National Bank, Cyrus graduated from Princeton University in the Class of 1910. He returned to Minneapolis and worked as a partner in the Marsh and McLennan insurance firm until the Spring of 1917.
On May 19, 1917, Cyrus sailed to France on the S.S. Chicago and arrived at Bordeaux on May 29th. He joined France's Service Aeronautique on June 3, 1917, and from June 6th to December 8th he underwent aviation and gunnery training at Avord, Pau, and the G.D.E. While in training, he earned his brevet on the Caudron on October 15.
On December 12, 1917, Cyrus was assigned at the Front to Escadrille SPAD 85, and on January 9, 1918, he was assigned to SPAD 98. During the German offensive in the spring of 1918, his squadron flew missions over the front lines. On June 13, 1918, Cyrus dove from 12,000 feet on some German aircraft below. Lured into a trap, he was attacked by other enemy fighters and shot down.
Cyrus Chamberlain was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm. In 1921, Speedway Field in Minneapolis was renamed Wold-Chamberlain Field. (Today it is the "Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport / Wold-Chamberlain Field.") Initially buried in the military cemetery in Coulommiers, his remains were moved to the Lafayette Flying Corps memorial near Paris in 1928. In 1989, Cyrus was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
