Charles Gray Little (1895 - 1921)

Born 9 Jul 1895 in Newburyport, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Joy (Bright) Hancock — married about 1920 (to 1921) in Beverley, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Died 24 Aug 1921 at age 26 in Hull, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom [uncertain]

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Biography

Charles was the son of Henry B. and Fanny Gray Little. ^[1][2]He attended Harvard College and enlisted in the Navy Aviation Service at the Boston Navy Yard May 9, 1917. HIs initial assignment was at the Naval Air Station at Akron, Ohio. After completing his training he was commissioned as ensign and assigned overseas at Rochefort and Paimboeuf in France. In 1918, he was commissioned as a lieutenant, appointed a senior flight commander, and was chief pilot in charge of dirigibles which met President Wilson when he arrived in France that year. He was commissioned lieutenant in October 1918.^[3]He was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished service "as a Commanding Officer of a dirigible engaged in patrol and convoy flights in the War Zone, in which operations he did exceptional work, and pushed his flights to the limits of physical and material endurance."^[4] After the war, he was stationed at Cape May, New Jersey.

He married Joy Bright in 1920 in Beverly, Yorkshire, UK.^[5]

He was among 44 United Kingdom and United States military personnel killed in the the crash of airship ZR-2 in 1921, in preparation for its transfer from the UK to the US.^[6]He is buried inn Oak Hill Cemetery, Newburyport.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZZM-RPP : 14 January 2020), Charles Gray Little, 1895.
2. ↑ Year: 1900; Census Place: Newburyport Ward 5, Essex, Massachusetts; Roll: 646; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0424; FHL microfilm: 1240646. Source Information: 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
3. ↑ New England Aviators 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records, Volume 1, p. 426
4. ↑ Harvard's Military Record in the World War, p. 585.
5. ↑ Joy Bright Little Hancock Ofstie at Arlington National Cemetery.
6. ↑ "The R38 crash, 1921," BBC
7. ↑ Find A Grave database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15206498/charles_gray-little: accessed July 18, 2024), memorial page for Lieut Charles Gray “Petit” Little (9 Jul 1895–24 Aug 1921), Find a Grave Memorial ID 15206498, citing Oak Hill Cemetery, Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Bob on Gallows Hill (contributor 46630279).