Kimber, Arthur Clifford

Born March 29, 1896, in Bayville, Long Island, New York. Son of Arthur Clifford and Clara Evans Kimber. Home, Palo Alto, California. Educated Palo Alto High School, and Leland Stanford University, Class of 1917. Joined American Field Service, May 14, 1917; attached Section Fourteen to September 24, 1917. Enlisted U. S. Aviation. Trained Issoudun and Cazeau. Commissioned First Lieutenant; attached 22d Aero Squadron, 2d Pursuit Group. Served with French Spad Escadrille 85. Killed in combat over Bantheville near Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, September 26, 1918. Body as yet unrecovered.

To the memory of Arthur Clifford Kimber, of California, killed in action over Bantheville, France, is linked the distinctive honor of bearing the first official American flag to France after the United States joined in the Great War. These pioneer colors, dedicated at an impressive ceremony under the auspices of the Friends of France, in San Francisco, Kimber unfurled before Section Fourteen, drawn up with a company of French veterans, near Ligny-en-Barrois.

When the Field Service was taken over by the United States Army, Arthur Kimber decided to enlist in aviation, and trained hoping to become a chasse pilot. This ambition he later realized, and during the heat of the great battles over the fields of France, in the summer of 1918, he was doing his share of the work as a fighting scout. He took part in three great battles while with the Americans: the Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Sedan drives. It was while he was so flying, and after a record of splendid achievement, that he was killed behind the German lines, September 26, 1918.

Of Kimber's achievements, Mr. Henry D. Sleeper writes: "His death is equally mingled with tragedy and glory. It is the eternal epic of high-spirited and patriotic youth. The finest blood of a nation is always ready to give the fullest sacrifice. Those who are willing and fit to give the most to life are also willing to give the most to death."

Kimber left behind him at Stanford University an enviable record. Of his life as a student, Chancellor David Starr Jordan said, "The character of this young man was typical of the best in America, wise, resourceful, and resolute, yet at the same time gentle and idealistic. It was my fortune to know him well as a student and to recognize his noble qualities. That war insistently devours such men as Clifford Kimber is its final indictment at the bar of civilization."

Kimber was born at Bayville, Long Island, on March 29, 1896. He was a senior at Stanford when he offered himself to France for war service. Of his death his colonel, E. C. Whitehead, has written:

"Arthur Kimber, of the 22d Aero Squadron, who was killed in action September 26th, stands out markedly as one of the bravest Americans that fought in this war. Even before he came to join the Second Pursuit Group at Toul in August, he had an enviable record among Americans serving in France with the Ambulance Corps and while attached to a French escadrille before joining an American squadron.

"On the 26th of September he set out on a patrol with his squadron. The pursuit planes were equipped with two light bombs. The mission was to "strafe" roads between Grandpré and Dun-sur-Meuse. The group of three led by Lieutenant Kimber went to the region of Romagne. Lieutenant Kimber dived toward the railroad station. His machine suddenly blew to bits. It is, of course, unknown whether the shells of artillery from either side or a bullet from the ground striking the bombs caused the tragedy. He was a remarkable pilot; a strong adherent to the requirements of duty; an outstanding type of American air service officer."

• Tribute from Memorial Volume of the American Field Service, 1921

Author of The Story of the First Flag

An American on the Western Front: The letters of Arthur Clifford Kimber, by Patrick Gregory and Elizabeth Nurser