Name: Claude Victor Gayton Rank: 2nd Lieutenant Service Number: 2483500 Service: US Army Air Service Date of Birth: May 11, 1886 Place of Birth: Bradford County, Pennsylvania Date of Enlistment: February 23, 1918 Date of Death: December 2, 1937 Age: 51 Cemetery: Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York Claude Victor Gayton was the son of Ebenezer Crowell Smith Gayton (1852–1932) and Letitia Adelaide Henderson Gayton (1861–1941), and the husband of Eileen Frances (McAllister) Gayton (1894–1957). They married in 1926. Claude’s father was born in Argyle, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. His mother was born in Brighton, New Brunswick. Claude was the brother of Carol Genevieve (Gayton) Kelsey (1884–1982), Martha Abagail Gayton (1890-1892), John Avard Gayton (1893-1968), and Donald ‘Dyke McLeod Vince Gayton (1898-1982). John also served with the US Army Air Service in WWI as a Pilot. Claude enlisted in the US Army shortly after the US declared war on Germany on April 4, 1917. Claude served as a pilot and flying instructor stateside in the US with the US Army Air Service. Primary and advanced training became a major issue with the United States' entry into World War I. In April 1917, the Army had fewer than 100 flying officers and only three flying fields – Hazelhurst Field in Mineola, New York, Camp Kelly in San Antonio, Texas, and Rockwell Field in San Diego, California. On May 24, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson transferred the Aviation Section from the Signal Corps to the newly established US Army Air Service. The US Army Air Service was a forerunner of today's United States Air Force. Claude and Eileen had two daughters, Terre Joan (Gayton) Welch (1928–2017), and Carol Bernadette (Gayton) Touhey (1930–1981). Claude died at Munsey Park in Nassau Co., NY and he was interred in the McAllister family plot at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings Co., New York.

Claude Victor Gayton

Source: findagrave United States Army World War I - Flight Training Information: Kyle Gayton Welch

Claude Victor Gayton (Right)