Clayton Knight
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Clayton Knight
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(March 30, 1891 – July 17, 1969) was an American aviator during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He was also an aviation artist and illustrator, and is known for being one of the founders of the Clayton Knight Committee and the illustrator of the comic strip '' Ace Drummond''.


Early life and education

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
was Knight's birthplace. He went to school at the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
under famous artists,
Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...
and
George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...
, from 1910 to 1913. In early 1917, Knight's career as an artist in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
was flourishing.


World War I

In 1917, Knight volunteered for the U.S. Army
Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...
. He was most interested in becoming an aviator. Along with 150 other American pilots, Knight was shipped off to England for training during 1917. In total, 2,500 pilots-in-training were transported to France and England. This was done to accelerate the pace of training. He started his training with the No.44 Squadron of the
Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...
, which was formed in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
on July 24, 1917. This particular squadron achieved its first triumph on January 28, 1918. Knight also flew with the 206 squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, and subsequently, the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
. He served with the British Second Army in France. On October 5, 1918, Oberleutnant
Harald Auffarth Eduard Florus Harald Auffarth (also Auffahrt) (c. 1896 – 12 October 1946) Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross, Silver Wound Badge, Hanseatic Cross, was a World War I Germany, German flying ace, fighter ace credited with 29 victori ...
fired at Knight's plane causing it to crash. Knight was flying a British Havilland 9 at the time and, although hurt, he survived the crash landing on German territory. By the time the war ended, Knight was a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
at a German clinic. He was able to recuperate in a British ward.


Career


Artwork and writing

After his recovery, Knight continued his career as an aviation artist. He exhibited his artwork at
Associated American Artists Associated American Artists (AAA) was an art gallery in New York City that was established in 1934 and ceased operation in 2000. The gallery marketed art to the middle and upper-middle classes, first in the form of affordable prints and later in ...
. It is possible that his acquisition of airplane art, which he started acquiring in 1928, may be the most extensive collection of airplane art. Knight became known for his illustrations in aviation books. He also illustrated for ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
.'' Knight and his wife were also illustrators of children's books, and often collaborated. He wrote and illustrated a few ''
We Were There The ''We Were There'' books are a series of historical novels written for children's literature, children. The series consists of 36 titles, first released between 1955 and 1963 by Grosset & Dunlap. Each book in the series is a fictional ret ...
'' books, which were historical novels for children. This particular series was written as a fictional retelling of a historical event, featuring kids as the primary characters. He wrote and illustrated, ''We Were There...at the Normandy Invasion,'' ''We Were There...with the Lafayette Escadrille,'' and ''We Were There...at the Battle of Britain,'' the latter written with his wife. Both Knight and his wife were illustrators for the P. F. Volland Company, most known for publishing children's books. Knight's children's book, ''The Non-Stop Stowaway: The Story of a Long Distance Flight'' (1928) was published under the Buzza Company imprint. Knight was the author, co-author, and/or illustrator of many other books including: *''War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator'' (1926) *''The Red Knight of Germany: The Story of Baron von Richthofen'' (1927) *''Pilot's Luck'' (1929) *''Ships Aloft: A Construction Book for Future Flyers'' (1936) *''Quest of the Golden Condor'' (1945) *''Secret of the Buried Tomb'' (1948) *''Skyroad to Mystery'' (1949) *''Hitch your Wagon-Bernt Balchen'' (1950) *''The Story of Flight'' (1954) *''Normandy Invasion'' (1956) *''Lifeline in the Sky- MATS'' (1957) *''Plane Crash'' (1958) *''Battle of Britain'' (1959) *''About our Armed Forces'' (1959) *''The How and Why Book of Rockets and Missiles'' (1960) *''Layfayette Escadrille'' (1961) *''Rockets, Missiles and Satellites'' (1962)


Clayton Knight Committee

Knight formed The Clayton Knight Committee in 1940 with
Billy Bishop Air Marshal William Avery Bishop, (8 February 1894 – 11 September 1956) was a Canadian flying ace of the First World War. He was officially credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian and British Empire ace of the war, and a ...
. Knight was living in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
at the time. Its mission was to bring Americans to Canada in order to prepare and fight for the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
during the time of U.S. neutrality. The committee was funded by Homer Smith, and assisted by pro-war German émigrés. Essentially it worked as a secret and illegal recruitment company. From 1939 to 1942, Knight's "job" was "Special Correspondent for the Associated Press." This was a cover for his main job, working for The Clayton Knight Committee. Bishop spent most of 1940 in London with
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, which meant Knight had to set up office and find new partners during this time. Their original headquarters was in the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, Art Deco landmark des ...
in New York. It eventually expanded to
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
,
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Memphis, and
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
.


Later years

The Clayton Knight Committee was terminated in May 1942. Between 1943 and 1945, Knight was an official artist for the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
in
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
, the
Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...
, and the Central Pacific. He worked also as an historian. His original artwork, personal diaries, and documents from the wars are held in the Air Force University Library and Historical Branch. Additionally, some of his papers are held by the University of Southern Mississippi's de Grummond Children's Literature Collection. On July 10, 1946, he was made an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) for his service to England in World War I and
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Personal life

Knight's wife was Katherine Sturges Dodge, a fellow illustrator, artist, and designer. They had two sons, Clayton Joseph and
Hilary Knight Hilary Atwood Knight (born July 12, 1989) is an American ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward for PWHL Seattle of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She is also captain of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She ...
, who is the illustrator of the '' Eloise'' series of children's books. Clayton Knight died on July 17, 1969, in
Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...
.


References


Further reading

* *Finch, Boyd. "The Clayton Knight Committee and the Transfer Train: Two Air Forces Courted Logue Mitchell." ''Journal of America's Military Past'' 30, no. 3 (2004): 71. *Heide, Rachel Lea. "Allies in Complicity: The United States, Canada, and the Clayton Knight Committee’s Clandestine Recruiting of Americans for the Royal Canadian Air Force, 1940–1942." ''Journal of the Canadian Historical Association/Revue de la Société historique du Canada'' 15, no. 1 (2004): 207–230. *
Clayton Knight contributions
at ''The New Yorker'' *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Clayton 1891 births 1969 deaths American aviators American aviation writers American children's writers American children's book illustrators American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists Artists from Rochester, New York Aviation artists Eagle Squadrons Military personnel from Rochester, New York Officers of the Order of the British Empire School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni American magazine illustrators American magazine cartoonists The New Yorker cartoonists Writers from Rochester, New York