Air Vice-Marshal Raymond Collishaw (November 22, 1893 - September 28, 1976) was the highest scoring Royal Naval Air Service flying ace and the second highest scoring Canadian pilot of World War I. November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (272nd in leap years). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of World War I. When the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was founded on April 13, 1912 it was intended to encompass all military flying. ... A flying ace is a military aviator who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft. ... World War I, also known as the First World War and (before 1939) the Great War, the War of the Nations, War to End All Wars, was a world conflict lasting from August 1914 to the final Armistice (cessation of hostilities) on November 11, 1918. ...

Raymond Collishaw was born at Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada on 22nd November 1893. He joined the Canadian Fisheries Protection Services as a cabin boy at the age of fifteen. By 1915 he had worked his way up to first officer. Nanaimo Harbour There are several federal and provincial electoral districts with the name Nanaimo. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

In January 1916, Collishaw joined the Royal Naval Air Service. Over the next two years he scored 60 victories, including 38 assessed "destroyed." He commanded the famous Black Flight of No. 10 Naval Squadron. This unit, all Canadians and flying Sopwith Triplanes with black trim, claimed 87 German aircraft destroyed or driven down in three months. During WWI, Collishaw was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order with bar. 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 - The Royal Army Medical Corps first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... Categories: Aircraft stubs | British fighter aircraft 1910-1919 | World War I aircraft ... The Distinguished Service Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy (United Kingdom), and formerly also to officers of the navies of other Commonwealth countries, for gallant or distinguished conduct during enemy actions. ... This article is about the award given in the United Kingdom; a separate article describes the award given in the United States. ... Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...

At the end of the war he remained in what had become the Royal Air Force. He served in Russia during 1919 as part of the Allies intervention on the White Russian side of the Russian Civil War. He added another victory to his total during this conflict as well as managing to sink an enemy gunboat with a bomb dropped from his Sopwith Camel. The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Russian Civil War was fought from 1918 to 1922. ... The Sopwith Camel Scout was a British World War I single-seat fighter aircraft that was famous for its manoeuvrability. ...

During the Second World War he attained the rank of Air Vice-Marshal following distinguished service commanding the Desert Air Force in North Africa. He retired, involuntarily, from the RAF in July 1943. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... An Air Vice Marshals sleeve/shoulder insignia Air Vice Marshal is the third most senior rank active in the Royal Air Force today, after the inactivation of Marshal of the Royal Air Force as a substantive rank in peacetime during defence cuts of the 1990s. ... The Desert Air Force (DAF) was a formation made up of squadrons from the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth air forces . ... North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Raymond Collishaw died on 28th September 1976 in West Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 82. West Vancouver is a Canadian city in the province of British Columbia. ...

His memoirs were titled Air Command, A fighting pilot's Story and were published in 1973. 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

In recent years, there has been debate over whether his kills had been understated, due to the Royal Naval Air Service receiving less credit than the Royal Flying Corps. Some "historians" credit him with 81 (unofficial, but this seems not very credible, because it's excat one over Richthofen) kills, which would place him at the top of WWI flying aces, ahead of the "Red Baron" and top British Empire ace Billy Bishop. A flying ace is a military aviator who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft. ... Portrait of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, who brought down 80 Allied aircraft before being shot down and killed on April 21, 1918. ... Billy Bishop William Avery Billy Bishop VC, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC, ED (February 8, 1894 – September 11, 1956) was a Canadian World War I flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, the highest number for a British Empire pilot. ...

External link

• theaerodrome.com