Greayer Clover

Who was Greayer Clover?

Greayer "Grubby" Clover was an American aviator in the First World War. He was the namesake for Clover Field, the original name of Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California.

He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1915, winning the state interscholastic tennis cup as a senior. He attended Stanford University for a year, then transferred to Yale University. He left Yale in his sophomore year to join the American Field Service in Europe as an ambulance driver. He persuaded five classmates to join him in this venture. In France, he served for six months in the French Army, seeing active duty in the trenches as Fort Malmaison was recaptured. On the United States entry into the war he joined the American service as a second lieutenant and began training as an aviator. He was killed on a formation practice run on August 30, 1918. An aspiring writer, he kept a diary while serving which was published in 1919 under the title A Stop at Suzanne's: and lower flights.