Thomas Hitchcock Jr. (February 11, 1900 – April 18, 1944) was an American polo player and aviator who was killed in an air crash during World War II. He was inducted posthumously into the Polo Hall of Fame.
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Early years
Born in Aiken, South Carolina, Hitchcock learned the sport of polo from his parents, Louise and Thomas Hitchcock Sr. His father was a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame horse trainer who had been a 10-goal polo player and helped found the Meadowbrook Polo Club on Long Island, New York, and who captained the American team in the inaugural 1886 International Polo Cup. Hitchcock played in his first tournament at age 13 and was part of the Meadowbrook Polo Club team that won the 1916 U.S. national junior championship.
Hitchcock attended St. Paul's School, where he played football, and hockey and was a crew team member. After being elected president of the Sixth Form, Hitchcock chose to leave school and join the Lafayette Flying Corps in France during World War I. He was shot down and captured by the Germans, but he escaped by jumping out of a train. He then hid in the woods during the daytime and walked more than one hundred miles over eight nights to the safety of Switzerland. After the war, Hitchcock studied at Harvard University and Oxford University.