Air Force | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Displaying 16-30 of 225 results
  • Article

    Punch Dickins

    Clennell Haggerston “Punch” Dickins, OC, OBE, DFC, aviator, First World War flying ace (born 12 January 1899 in Portage la Prairie, MB; died 2 August 1995 in Toronto, ON). Punch Dickins was a First World War flying ace who received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Dickins was a pioneering bush pilot who logged more than 1.6 million km flying over remote reaches of the Canadian North.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/86bfe704-ba22-4038-9c9b-801e1866ba02.jpg Punch Dickins
  • Article

    Clifford MacKay McEwen

    Clifford MacKay “Black Mike” McEwen, fighter pilot and ace, senior air force commander, airline executive, veterans’ advocate (born 2 July 1896 in Griswold, Manitoba; died 6 August 1967 in Toronto, Ontario). McEwen was one of Canada’s top-scoring fighter pilots of the First World War and commanded No. 6 (RCAF) Group, Bomber Command, during the Second World War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Clifford_Mackay_McEwen.jpg Clifford MacKay McEwen
  • Article

    Donald MacLaren

    Donald Roderick MacLaren, fighter pilot, war hero, businessman (born 28 May 1893 in Ottawa, ON; died 4 July 1988 in Burnaby, BC). A First World War fighter ace, MacLaren was credited with 54 air victories in less than eight months — an unparalleled record. He was one of the top ten aces of the war, and third among Canadians, after William “Billy” Bishop and Raymond Collishaw.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Donald MacLaren
  • Article

    Frank Robert Miller

    Frank Robert Miller, CC, CBE, engineer, air chief marshal (born 30 April 1908 in Kamloops, BC; died 20 October 1997 in Charlottesville, Virginia ).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Frank Robert Miller
  • Article

    George Frederick Beurling

    He rebelled against service discipline and was released in Oct 1944. Lost in a world without air combat - "It's the only thing I can do well; it's the only thing I ever did I really liked" - he joined the Israeli Air Force in 1948, and died when the aircraft he was ferrying to Palestine crashed.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 George Frederick Beurling
  • Article

    George Hodgson

    George Ritchie Hodgson, swimmer, pilot, investment broker (born 12 October 1893 in Montreal, Quebec; died 1 May 1983 in Montreal). George Hodgson was Canada's first Olympic swimming champion, winning gold in the 400m and 1500m freestyle at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Hodgson also served with the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during the First World War. He eventually established an investment brokerage firm in Montreal.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/63422e48-0f19-4ec2-8b41-7f1324e37b0b.jpg George Hodgson
  • Article

    George Mitchell Croil

    George Mitchell Croil, airman (b at Milwaukee, Wis 5 June 1893; d at Vancouver 8 Apr 1959). Croil flew with the Royal Flying Corps in Salonika and trained pilots in the Middle East in WWI. In 1919 he joined the Canadian Air Board and was one of 62 officers granted RCAF commissions in 1924.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 George Mitchell Croil
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    Gérard-Charles-Édouard Thériault

    Gérard-Charles-Édouard Thériault, military officer (b at Gaspé, Qué 5 June 1932; d at Victoria, BC 13 Oct 1998).

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Gérard-Charles-Édouard Thériault
  • Article

    Hugh Lester Campbell

    Hugh Lester Campbell, air marshal (b at Salisbury, NB 13 July 1908; d at Ottawa 25 May 1987).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/George_Reed.jpg Hugh Lester Campbell
  • Article

    Ian Willoughby Bazalgette

    Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC, pilot and master bomber (born 19 October 1918 in Calgary, Alberta; died 4 August 1944 near Senantes, France). Bazalgette died after his plane was hit during a bombing mission over occupied France during the Second World War. He was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) in August 1945.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/IanBazalgette/Ian_Bazalgette_Portrait.jpg Ian Willoughby Bazalgette
  • Article

    Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War

    In 1939, Canada found itself at war for the second time in a generation. As in the First World War (1914-18), thousands of Indigenous soldiers and nurses volunteered for the war effort at home and abroad, serving with distinction in the Canadian army, navy, and air force. At least 4,250 First Nations soldiers enlisted in the Canadian military in the Second World War, with thousands more Métis, Inuit, and non-Status Indian soldiers serving without official recognition of their Indigenous identity.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/807e5d85-0d60-4180-8400-b1badabf3486.jpg Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War
  • Article

    James Francis “Stocky” Edwards

    James Francis “Stocky” Edwards, CM, fighter and fighter-bomber pilot, ace (born 5 June 1921 in Nokomis, SK; died 14 May 2022 in Comox, BC). Edwards was credited with shooting down 19 enemy aircraft and another 7 “probables” during the Second World War. He also destroyed 12 aircraft and about 200 vehicles on the ground. His actual total was likely higher, as Edwards was unconcerned with claiming victories. He fought in the North African, Italian and North-West Europe campaigns — a rare record for an Allied pilot. Until his death, Edwards was likely the top surviving fighter pilot in the Commonwealth.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/StockyEdwards/StockyEdwardsJunoBeachCentre.jpg James Francis “Stocky” Edwards
  • Article

    Janusz Zurakowski

    Janusz Zurakowski, aviator (born 12 September 1914 in Ryzawka, Russia ; died 9 February 2004 in Barry's Bay, ON ). Raised in Poland, he joined the Polish Air Force in 1937, escaped to England and took part in the Battle of Britain.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/f6a77dfe-35ee-4c01-933b-848cfe09fe10.jpg Janusz Zurakowski
  • Article

    Jean Flatt Davey

    Jean Flatt Davey, OC, OBE, physician, air force officer (born 16 March 1909 in Hamilton, ON; died 13 March 1980). Davey was the first woman medical doctor to become a commissioned officer in the Canadian armed forces. From 1950 to 1965, she was chief physician in the department of medicine at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Ontario.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/JeanFlattDavey/InstructionStaff-Toronto-1941.jpg Jean Flatt Davey
  • Article

    John Emilius Fauquier

    John Emilius Fauquier, air force officer (b at Ottawa 19 Mar 1909; d at Toronto 3 Apr 1981). Educated at Ashbury College, Fauquier, a commercial pilot, joined the RCAF in 1939, eventually commanding 405 (Pathfinder) Squadron, RCAF, and from December 1944, 617 (Dambuster) Squadron, RAF.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 John Emilius Fauquier