John Ludford served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Cadet with the Royal Flying Corps, 44th Wing at Camp Borden during World War I. He was killed on September 18, 1917 when his Curtiss JN-4 aircraft collided with another over Camp Hoare, the RFC Canada flight training location at Camp Borden, Ontario. Cadet Ludford was the first member of Beta Theta to die in World War I.
