64 Facts About Raymond Collishaw

Raymond Collishaw was the highest scoring RNAS flying ace and the second highest scoring Canadian pilot of the First World War.

Raymond Collishaw was noted as a great leader in the air, leading many of his own formations into battle.

Raymond Collishaw was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, on 22 November 1893.

Raymond Collishaw's father was John Edward Collishaw from Wrexham, Wales, and his mother Sarah "Sadie" Jones from Newport, Wales, but raised in Pantygog, Garw Valley.

Raymond Collishaw was brought up in Nanaimo, though some of his schooling took place in Victoria, British Columbia and Oakland, California, due to his father's occasional pursuit of gold mining.

In 1908, at the age of 15, thanks to his father's connection, Collishaw joined the Canadian Fisheries Protection Services as a cabin boy.

Raymond Collishaw was a lower class sailor on board the Alcedo.

Toward the end of 1915, Raymond Collishaw heard that the Royal Naval Air Service was hiring, and so he applied to them instead, and attended flight training at the Curtiss Aviation School in Toronto.

On 2 August 1916 Raymond Collishaw was deployed to his first operational posting, joining the RNAS's 3rd Wing.

Raymond Collishaw found these new aircraft "a revelation" to fly.

Raymond Collishaw dived and fired, having Hanstein in his sights, but Hanstein then quickly evaded with a climbing maneuver.

Raymond Collishaw noted that while a significant event, the Oberndorf raid was of questionable success given the limited known target damage and allied aircraft losses, without any aircraft losses from the German side.

Raymond Collishaw pulled up suddenly but he had left it too late and he went in, smashing into a tree.

Raymond Collishaw went down for a landing but again, whether he made it safely, I don't know.

Raymond Collishaw then attempted to return to allied lines, but had become disoriented.

Raymond Collishaw couldn't make out his compass, but based on the position of the sun, he flew in what he presumed was the correct direction, gaining altitude and flying for what seemed to him to be a long time.

Raymond Collishaw again flew for a long time, making sure to cross the trenches this time, and finally landed at a French aerodrome, 70 miles northwest of his intended destination.

Raymond Collishaw received medical treatment for his eyes and returned to his unit.

In February 1917, Raymond Collishaw was posted to No 3 Naval Squadron, which had just been established at the beginning of the month and was operating in direct support of the army and RFC at Vert Galand near Somme plain, and equipped with the then-somewhat-dated Sopwith Pups.

One thing Raymond Collishaw noticed was that the pace of missions had steeply increased: instead of flying raids every week or two, as had been done at 3 Wing, at Naval 3, pilots could expect one or more patrols every day, and rarely without some sort of enemy encounter.

Once again, Raymond Collishaw discovered that the squadron was mainly Canadian by composition.

Naval 10 was slowly being equipped with the new, fast-climbing and maneuverable Sopwith Triplane, and Raymond Collishaw found the aircraft "delightful", though still wished for a second forward-firing Vickers machine gun.

Ellis Vair Reid, of Toronto, flew Black Roger; John Edward Sharman, of Winnipeg, flew Black Death; Gerald "Gerry" Ewart Nash, of Stoney Creek, flew Black Sheep; Marcus Alexander, of Toronto, flew Black Prince; and Raymond Collishaw chose Black Maria.

Raymond Collishaw later claimed that this was because officials in the regular Royal Flying Corps were loath to give credit to naval pilots.

Raymond Collishaw maintained that the squadron as a whole should be given credit in terms of whatever legend exists of the "Black Flight".

Later Raymond Collishaw dived below another two-seater, firing a long burst that sent the plane into a long spin, FitzGibbon connecting a burst as it fell away.

Raymond Collishaw then fired a quick close-range burst at a German fighter, which resulted in it taking a nearly vertical nose-dive.

Two subsequent large patrols that day, led by Raymond Collishaw, encountered no further German aircraft.

Raymond Collishaw got on the tail of a German fighter, who upon noticing his position, went into a wild series of tight turns, which Collishaw's Triplane could slightly out-perform.

Raymond Collishaw's controls were effectively disabled, and his plane drifted off to the side and began a series of turning swoops and dives.

Out on patrol, Raymond Collishaw's flight spotted a formation of three Albatrosses below him, while being aware of another flight of German fighters watching from above.

Raymond Collishaw reasoned he could attack them quickly and climb away, so led his flight down in pursuit and from long range let off several bursts.

The next day, Raymond Collishaw was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Raymond Collishaw visited his home and became engaged to his future wife.

Raymond Collishaw was leading the entire squadron, providing high-altitude protection for an observation machine at 20,000 feet.

Raymond Collishaw later learned that all the squadron's guns were jammed and, years after the war, he met with the German flight leader from that day, who explained that they had experienced the exact same thing.

Raymond Collishaw received a promotion to that effect several days later.

On 23 January 1918, Raymond Collishaw returned to the embattled area of the Western Front to command No 3 Naval Squadron, one of his previous units.

Raymond Collishaw remained in command with the new rank of major.

In London, Raymond Collishaw learned he was to be posted back to Canada, and was in the midst of a tour of the latest pilot training procedures in Britain when the Armistice was signed.

Raymond Collishaw took an extended leave in Canada before returning to England in the early Spring of 1919, being promoted to lieutenant colonel.

The British government decided that in addition to the current Military Mission that acted in support of General Anton Denikin's White Russian forces, a squadron would be sent to operate under him, and Raymond Collishaw was chosen to be in command.

Raymond Collishaw arrived at Novorossiysk on 8 June 1919, and took command of No 47 Squadron RAF on 13 June, though it wasn't until 11 July before he could travel in-person to meet them at their operational base at Krasnodar.

Raymond Collishaw was reduced to a comatose state for more than a week, but slowly regained his strength.

Bolshevik advances steadily became more rapid and numerous, and Raymond Collishaw's forces were increasingly often required to cover retreats.

The Red Army followed-up a few days later by sending an unmanned run-away locomotive down the line, that succeeded in smashing into the back of into Raymond Collishaw's train, destroying at least eight cars, and requiring a reconfiguration of the train before they could proceed.

Finally, on 4 January 1920, the train reached Crimea, and the "nightmare" as Raymond Collishaw called it, was over.

Raymond Collishaw attended RAF Staff College in May 1924, and then shifted to command the re-formed No 23 Squadron, still in England.

On 18 April 1939 Raymond Collishaw was promoted to air commodore, and took over as Air Officer Commanding "Egypt Group" at Cairo.

At the commencement of the Second World War in 1939, Raymond Collishaw concentrated on strategy and tactics to neutralize the Italian air force and to gain aerial superiority in North Africa.

Raymond Collishaw then turned their efforts to bombing harbours, ships and troops to hold up the reinforcement of North Africa.

Raymond Collishaw had only a single modern Hawker Hurricane fighter to use at the front dubbed "Colly's Battleship".

Raymond Collishaw made the best of it by constantly moving it from base to base and letting the Italians see it.

Raymond Collishaw came up with the idea of making many, single plane attacks on Italian formations to fool the Italians into thinking he had many Hurricanes.

Raymond Collishaw implemented a policy of continual harassment that forced the Italians into having standing patrols over their positions.

Raymond Collishaw still didn't have the numbers, but it was a better situation than before, and this time he had the technological edge.

Raymond Collishaw's efforts were specifically recognized by the commanders of the operation.

Raymond Collishaw spent the rest of the war as a Civil Defence Regional Air Liaison Officer, returning to Canada at war's end.

Raymond Collishaw's memoirs were titled Air Command, A Fighter Pilot's Story and were published in 1973.

Raymond Collishaw died on 28 September 1976 in West Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 82.

Raymond Collishaw emphasized camaraderie amongst his men, socializing, and humour.

Raymond Collishaw was often seen smiling, and had a dutifully cheerful demeanour.

Raymond Collishaw must keep to himself his hopes and his fears and must instill in others confidence and an implacable will to victory.

Royal Canadian Air Cadets 205 Raymond Collishaw squadron, named after him, is in his home town of Nanaimo, and 204 Black Maria squadron, named after his aircraft, is located in Kamloops.