Capt. Ian Adamson

1/19/20 - 1/9/14

adamson1.jpg Picture courtesy of Lavyrn Wallace

Capt. Ian Adamson was born in Argentina. His father was British and his mother was Argentine and Ian had dual British-Argentine citizenship. He served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II wearing shoulder insignia with the initials BLAV (British Latin American Volunteers). He was known as the Argentine Scot. Ian flew with the 136th Fighter Squadron, known as the Woodpeckers. He also designed the squadron's woodpecker logo. It was painted on the squadron's airplanes and vehicles, and the pilots wore small silver woodpecker badges.

After the war, Ian enrolled at Columbia University and earned a Master's Degree in Political Science. He also was involved in efforts to educate underprivileged youngsters and was directly responsible for six children. After retirement from Seaboard, Ian lived in Majorca, Spain, where de designed and built a built a cliff-top villa incorporating dormitory accommodation and sports facilities for two dozen youngsters. With his long-time partner, Marie-Claude Coyne, he provided free holidays for more than 600 disadvantaged young people during a 10-year period. The villa has been turned over to local charities.

Capt. Ian Adamson is survived by Marie-Claude Coyne. He is seen here in the cockpit of a Seaboard DC-8.


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