Preview event set for Saturday

 

An eccentric war hero with a record that makes him the second-ranking American ace in World War I will be the latest character to join the Historical Walk at Woodland Cemetery next month.

Col. William Lambert, who shot down 22 enemy aircraft in 1918, will be brought to life by Bob Long with assistance from Bill Martin, both of Ashland, Ky.

Lambert’s war record was only surpassed by Col. Eddie Rickenbacker, who had 26 victories.

Long will portray Lambert as a WWI pilot while Martin will provide additional background information that he gained as a close friend.

“I will be off to the side because I personally knew Lambert, if someone has a question,” Martin said.

Every fall members of the Lawrence County Historical Society and volunteers from the community present the history of the county by telling the stories of those who are buried in Woodland Cemetery through re-enactments.

Re-enacters typically stand by the individual’s gravesite. However, the mausoleum that houses the remains of Lambert and his wife is on the Coal Grove side of the cemetery and has always been considered too far away from the sections that are used in the Historical Walk.

On Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Lawrence County Museum characters from this year’s walk will give a preview of next month’s event.

Martin and Lambert met in the late 1960s after a mutual friend introduced them.

“I had always heard that there was a World War I flyer in Ironton,” Martin said. “I went over to meet Lambert and his wife and we became instant friends. He was very eccentric. He loved the Cincinnati Reds but did not like the television announcer so he watched the TV without the sound and listened to it on the radio.”

At that time Lambert was writing his memoirs, which he called “Combat Report.”

“He always referred to his log book as his combat report,” Martin said. “Unfortunately it was not published in the United States because of an over-abundance of World War I books. It was published in England, so many people didn’t get a copy except through him. I helped him with the book, night after night proofing and reproducing photos for it.”

Lambert came back to Ironton after the war to do some barnstorming until his wife stopped those acrobatics.

“A month before they were married he had a crash under (the Ironton-Russell) Bridge,” Martin said. “She grounded him. There are several stories of what happened. I don’t know what is true.”

Lambert’s version was a passenger was sitting in the front open cockpit and grabbed hold of the controls and wouldn’t let lose.

“Lambert said he was in the rear cockpit and was hitting the guy with a wrench,” Martin said. “The plane spun into the ground and Lambert was pretty much beat up.”

Despite his record, Martin said the ace was a reluctant hero.

“He got in the war late and he accomplished this in three months’ time,” Martin said. “He was bound to have been a tremendous pilot. Lambert compared his score with the British and German pilots and didn’t think it was anything significant.”

The Historical Walk will be at 5 p.m. Sept. 28 at Woodland Cemetery.