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The amazing aerial feats of ace Raymond Collishaw

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An item from the Legion Magazine.

Squadron Commander Raymond Collishaw in a Sopwith Camel, July 1918. [CWM/19930012-308]

The amazing aerial feats of ace Raymond Collishaw

STORY BY SHARON ADAMS

Brave, wily and lucky. Canadian pilot Raymond Collishaw served brilliantly in both the First and Second World wars.

As a first officer in the Canadian Fisheries Protection Service with years of sea experience, Collishaw of Nanaimo, B.C., expected to be welcomed into ranks of the Royal Canadian Navy during the First World War.

But that service didn’t snap him up, so he joined the Royal Naval Air Service instead. He went on to become a Great War Canadian air ace, then served in WW II, as well.

Canada didn’t have its own air force during WW I, so Collishaw was among some 35,000 Canadians who served as pilots, observers and aircrew with the British flying services. He began his training in Canada but went to Britain in January 1916 to complete his qualifications.

British military expert and archeologist Stephen Fisher. [Stephen Fisher]

The Canadians at Sword Beach: Part 2

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

In the heat of battle, mistakes are made.

The annals of history brim with instances where chaos has bred even greater chaos, where the fog of war can cloud the judgement of those on the ground. Nor are such fateful miscalculations the only consequence of combat-induced confusion. As arrows or bullets pour into ranks, as careful orders are drowned out by a cacophony, and as soldiers fight by instincts that consume headspace, post-engagement recollections falter or differ significantly between witnesses.

Memories fragment like shrapnel. It is thus the role of historians to pick up the pieces, to interpret these echoes in time, and when the evidence permits, to draw their own conclusions on what exactly happened—and when.

🚚 💨 It’s time to bundle up! 🎁

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2026 Wall Calendar—Sacred Canadian sites of the world wars

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Where Canada remembers: The National War Memorial hosts its 85th annual ceremony in tribute to military sacrifice

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An item from the Legion Magazine that may be of interest to members.

An RCMP Black Hawk helicopter flies over the National War Memorial as the formal 2025 National Remembrance Day Ceremony concludes. [Aaron Kylie/LM]

Where Canada remembers: The National War Memorial hosts its 85th annual ceremony in tribute to military sacrifice

STORY BY AARON KYLIE

Beyond the grounds of Parliament Hill, there may be no other location as synonymous with Canadians gathering en masse as the National War Memorial. Since 1940, thousands have flocked annually to the country’s cenotaph, known as “The Response,” to pay their respects to those who have served, and continue to serve, Canada in uniform.

Coincidentally, design proposals for the monument, with a budget set at $100,000, were first sought 100 years ago in February 1925. The tribute was to evoke “the spirit of heroism, the spirit of self-sacrifice, the spirit of all that is noble and great that was exemplified in the lives of those sacrificed in the Great War, and the services rendered by the men and women who went overseas.”

The 29th (Canadian) Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla conducts an exercise in May 1944. Weeks later, it would participate with the British during the invasion at Sword Beach on D-Day [LAC/3204508]

The Canadians at Sword Beach: Part 1

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

We all know the story, or at least a version of it.

The success of D-Day on June 6, 1944, was the result of a combined arms operation spearheaded by U.S., British and Canadian forces. These three Allied nations, the oft-cited tale goes, were assigned five heavily defended sectors between them.

The British were tasked with landing at the beaches codenamed Sword and Gold; the Americans took on the mantle of assaulting Utah and Omaha beaches; and the Canadians squared off against German resistance on Juno Beach.