William Tipton

William Dolley Tipton
William Dolley Tipton, 1918
Born	11 December 1892 Jarrettsville, Maryland, USA
Died	12 December 1945 Adena, Ohio, USA
Buried at	Section 10, Site 10604, Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Royal Air Force (United Kingdom) Air Service, United States Army
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Royal Air Force No. 3 Squadron RAF Air Service, United States Army 17th Aero Squadron
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross
Other work	Commander of 104th Observation Squadron

Royal Air Force

Air Service, United States Army

Lieutenant (later Colonel) William Dolley Tipton (sometimes erroneously referred to as William Duncan Tipton) began his military career as a World War I Sopwith Camel pilot. The U.S. Air Force officially credits him with four aerial victories during the war, although other sources claim he had five, and thus was a flying ace. He was one of the founding officers of what would become the Maryland Air National Guard. As a member of the Maryland National Guard, he was mobilized during World War II. He rose to the rank of colonel during the war. He died on December 12, 1945 in an aircraft accident. Tipton Airport (formerly Tipton Army Airfield) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, is named in his honor.

Tipton joined the U.S. Army Air Service on June 5, 1917, as a flying cadet. He was commissioned on March 9, 1918, and was one of the American pilots forwarded to the Royal Flying Corps for advanced training and combat seasoning.

According to some sources, he won his first two air battles in May 1918, while attached to the British No. 3 Squadron. Rejoining the American 17th Aero Squadron on 21 June, he became a balloon buster on 22 August 1918. Four days later, he destroyed two Fokker D.VII in a late afternoon dogfight, but was also wounded and shot down, most probably by Leutnant Hermann Frommherz. Tipton spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Germans. He was awarded the British Distinguished Flying Cross during the war

The U.S. Air Force aerial victory credit register does not include the two alleged victories from May. Instead, it includes a single aerial victory on 7 June 1918. The register does corroborate Tipton's last three victories. Tipton flew his first combat missions in May 1918, so it is possible that he did indeed score the two victories the U.S. Air Force does not credit to him. It is also possible (speculation) that these victories were attributed to the wrong "William D. Tipton," especially given that the sources that credit him with these victories frequently misidentify him as "William Duncan Tipton."