Josiah Rowe's grandfather

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference

Josiah Rowe had a grandfather, a pilot in the American Army Air Corps in the First World War.

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Josiah Rowe's grandfather served as a pilot in the American Army Air Corps during the First World War. There, the grandfather met the Ninth Doctor in a base in Foggia, Italy, when the Doctor ingratiated himself with the CO, before stealing a Spad XIII. Before the Doctor left, the grandfather took a picture of his fellow pilots, which happened to include the Doctor in the background.

Josiah's grandfather wrote about his encounter in a letter he sent to his home. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man?)

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

In March 2005, Josiah Rowe wrote about his grandfather's tale on Clive Finch's conspiracy website Doctor Who?, offering to scan the photograph and the letter and send them to Clive. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man?)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the real world, the Army Air Service did train pilots at an airbase near Foggia during the First World War.[1] One of these pilots was Josiah P. Rowe, Jr.[2][3]

His grandson, Josiah Rowe IV, wrote the entry in PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? on the "Who is Doctor Who?" website, in which his grandfather met the Ninth Doctor. The younger Josiah, however, erred in referring to the aviation branch of the US Army as the Army Air Corps; during World War I, it was the Army Air Service, and was renamed the Army Air Corps in 1926.

References[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. The Foggiani. National Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved on February 7, 2024.
  2. Rowe, Josiah P. (1986). Letters from A World War I Aviator. Sinclaire Press. ISBN 0-9616886-0-2
  3. Hynes, Samuel (2014). The Unsubstantial Air p. 76. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-53558-2