A cenotaph grave marker is in Sumter, HERE.
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Ervin was born in Alcolu, near Sumter. When in high school (Sumter High class of 1911... http://www.edmundshigh.com/alumni.html?x=info&c=11)...[scroll to his pic & click on it]...in Sumter, he often exclaimed "hot tamale!", which lead to his nickname ("Molly") which stuck with him until his death. A family photo of him at about age 12-13 with family & he driving the car, HERE.
Ervin was doted on by his grandfather Alderman. College education was at Davidson and U. of Georgia. He was sort of a dare-devil who drove race cars at the race track in Sumter, S. C., USA, which his grandfather (D. W. Alderman) built for him. In June 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Army (our army had only 55 airplanes at the time) and got some pilot training. He became disappointed with the pace toward getting over into the war. In April 1918, he requested an honorable discharge in order to accept a commission as 1st Lt., Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Flying Corps, a training arm of Britain's Royal Flying Corps. There was no U. S. Air Force, yet, for WWI. Then, in England, he was attached to the 48th Squadron, Royal Air Force (a new fusion of the Royal Flying Corps & the Royal Naval Air Service) of the British Expeditionary Force. As a pilot, he flew a Bristol F2B Brisfit . In combat, he was shot down twice but landed safely; he is credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft. Well behind enemy lines on a scouting mission with his British observer, Sgt. Thomas W. Smith, he and his British observer were greatly outnumbered by enemy scout planes; and they perished in battle as their plane was raked by gunfire & exploded in mid-air. His final rank was as a First Lt. Updated info is from the July/August issue of Air Force Magazine.
The USA later had the Army Air Forces [there was no independent US Air Force until 1947]. He is buried in a common grave with Sgt. T. W. Smith in Regina Trench Cemetery maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Courcellette, France.
From a Sumter Daily Item article after the naming of Shaw AFB is this paragraph: "A movement to name Sumter's new Army Airfield after Lt. Shaw was started at a reunion of his high school class in May 1941. The campaign was based on the fact that he was the first Sumter man to be killed in action and the only Sumter County aviator to die in combat. There were three candidates (all deserving the honor) with Shaw's name being selected by the War Department. Shaw Field (now Shaw Air Force Base) was activated in November 1941, and the first class of cadets arrived for basic flight training Dec. 15, 1941."
Being the first Sumterite killed in the "Great War" & the only Sumter Aviator to die in combat in that war, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter County, S. C. was named after Ervin, the base being established in June 1941.
*****************************
Ervin was born in Alcolu, near Sumter. When in high school (Sumter High class of 1911... http://www.edmundshigh.com/alumni.html?x=info&c=11)...[scroll to his pic & click on it]...in Sumter, he often exclaimed "hot tamale!", which lead to his nickname ("Molly") which stuck with him until his death. A family photo of him at about age 12-13 with family & he driving the car, HERE.
Ervin was doted on by his grandfather Alderman. College education was at Davidson and U. of Georgia. He was sort of a dare-devil who drove race cars at the race track in Sumter, S. C., USA, which his grandfather (D. W. Alderman) built for him. In June 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Army (our army had only 55 airplanes at the time) and got some pilot training. He became disappointed with the pace toward getting over into the war. In April 1918, he requested an honorable discharge in order to accept a commission as 1st Lt., Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Flying Corps, a training arm of Britain's Royal Flying Corps. There was no U. S. Air Force, yet, for WWI. Then, in England, he was attached to the 48th Squadron, Royal Air Force (a new fusion of the Royal Flying Corps & the Royal Naval Air Service) of the British Expeditionary Force. As a pilot, he flew a Bristol F2B Brisfit . In combat, he was shot down twice but landed safely; he is credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft. Well behind enemy lines on a scouting mission with his British observer, Sgt. Thomas W. Smith, he and his British observer were greatly outnumbered by enemy scout planes; and they perished in battle as their plane was raked by gunfire & exploded in mid-air. His final rank was as a First Lt. Updated info is from the July/August issue of Air Force Magazine.
The USA later had the Army Air Forces [there was no independent US Air Force until 1947]. He is buried in a common grave with Sgt. T. W. Smith in Regina Trench Cemetery maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Courcellette, France.
From a Sumter Daily Item article after the naming of Shaw AFB is this paragraph: "A movement to name Sumter's new Army Airfield after Lt. Shaw was started at a reunion of his high school class in May 1941. The campaign was based on the fact that he was the first Sumter man to be killed in action and the only Sumter County aviator to die in combat. There were three candidates (all deserving the honor) with Shaw's name being selected by the War Department. Shaw Field (now Shaw Air Force Base) was activated in November 1941, and the first class of cadets arrived for basic flight training Dec. 15, 1941."
Being the first Sumterite killed in the "Great War" & the only Sumter Aviator to die in combat in that war, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter County, S. C. was named after Ervin, the base being established in June 1941.
A cenotaph grave marker is in Sumter, HERE.
*****************************
Ervin was born in Alcolu, near Sumter. When in high school (Sumter High class of 1911... http://www.edmundshigh.com/alumni.html?x=info&c=11)...[scroll to his pic & click on it]...in Sumter, he often exclaimed "hot tamale!", which lead to his nickname ("Molly") which stuck with him until his death. A family photo of him at about age 12-13 with family & he driving the car, HERE.
Ervin was doted on by his grandfather Alderman. College education was at Davidson and U. of Georgia. He was sort of a dare-devil who drove race cars at the race track in Sumter, S. C., USA, which his grandfather (D. W. Alderman) built for him. In June 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Army (our army had only 55 airplanes at the time) and got some pilot training. He became disappointed with the pace toward getting over into the war. In April 1918, he requested an honorable discharge in order to accept a commission as 1st Lt., Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Flying Corps, a training arm of Britain's Royal Flying Corps. There was no U. S. Air Force, yet, for WWI. Then, in England, he was attached to the 48th Squadron, Royal Air Force (a new fusion of the Royal Flying Corps & the Royal Naval Air Service) of the British Expeditionary Force. As a pilot, he flew a Bristol F2B Brisfit . In combat, he was shot down twice but landed safely; he is credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft. Well behind enemy lines on a scouting mission with his British observer, Sgt. Thomas W. Smith, he and his British observer were greatly outnumbered by enemy scout planes; and they perished in battle as their plane was raked by gunfire & exploded in mid-air. His final rank was as a First Lt. Updated info is from the July/August issue of Air Force Magazine.
The USA later had the Army Air Forces [there was no independent US Air Force until 1947]. He is buried in a common grave with Sgt. T. W. Smith in Regina Trench Cemetery maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Courcellette, France.
From a Sumter Daily Item article after the naming of Shaw AFB is this paragraph: "A movement to name Sumter's new Army Airfield after Lt. Shaw was started at a reunion of his high school class in May 1941. The campaign was based on the fact that he was the first Sumter man to be killed in action and the only Sumter County aviator to die in combat. There were three candidates (all deserving the honor) with Shaw's name being selected by the War Department. Shaw Field (now Shaw Air Force Base) was activated in November 1941, and the first class of cadets arrived for basic flight training Dec. 15, 1941."
Being the first Sumterite killed in the "Great War" & the only Sumter Aviator to die in combat in that war, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter County, S. C. was named after Ervin, the base being established in June 1941.
*****************************
Ervin was born in Alcolu, near Sumter. When in high school (Sumter High class of 1911... http://www.edmundshigh.com/alumni.html?x=info&c=11)...[scroll to his pic & click on it]...in Sumter, he often exclaimed "hot tamale!", which lead to his nickname ("Molly") which stuck with him until his death. A family photo of him at about age 12-13 with family & he driving the car, HERE.
Ervin was doted on by his grandfather Alderman. College education was at Davidson and U. of Georgia. He was sort of a dare-devil who drove race cars at the race track in Sumter, S. C., USA, which his grandfather (D. W. Alderman) built for him. In June 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Army (our army had only 55 airplanes at the time) and got some pilot training. He became disappointed with the pace toward getting over into the war. In April 1918, he requested an honorable discharge in order to accept a commission as 1st Lt., Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Flying Corps, a training arm of Britain's Royal Flying Corps. There was no U. S. Air Force, yet, for WWI. Then, in England, he was attached to the 48th Squadron, Royal Air Force (a new fusion of the Royal Flying Corps & the Royal Naval Air Service) of the British Expeditionary Force. As a pilot, he flew a Bristol F2B Brisfit . In combat, he was shot down twice but landed safely; he is credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft. Well behind enemy lines on a scouting mission with his British observer, Sgt. Thomas W. Smith, he and his British observer were greatly outnumbered by enemy scout planes; and they perished in battle as their plane was raked by gunfire & exploded in mid-air. His final rank was as a First Lt. Updated info is from the July/August issue of Air Force Magazine.
The USA later had the Army Air Forces [there was no independent US Air Force until 1947]. He is buried in a common grave with Sgt. T. W. Smith in Regina Trench Cemetery maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Courcellette, France.
From a Sumter Daily Item article after the naming of Shaw AFB is this paragraph: "A movement to name Sumter's new Army Airfield after Lt. Shaw was started at a reunion of his high school class in May 1941. The campaign was based on the fact that he was the first Sumter man to be killed in action and the only Sumter County aviator to die in combat. There were three candidates (all deserving the honor) with Shaw's name being selected by the War Department. Shaw Field (now Shaw Air Force Base) was activated in November 1941, and the first class of cadets arrived for basic flight training Dec. 15, 1941."
Being the first Sumterite killed in the "Great War" & the only Sumter Aviator to die in combat in that war, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter County, S. C. was named after Ervin, the base being established in June 1941.
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