Air Vice Marshall Raymond Collishaw, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, DSC, DFC, Czarist Order of St. Anne, 2nd Class with Swords, St. Stanislaus, 2nd Class with Swords and St. Vladimir. He was one of the all-time top air aces, with a score of 60 victories confirmed.
Raymond Collishaw was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia in 1893.He served in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in World War I flying Sopwith Triplane “Black Maria”.
Raymond Collishaw was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia in 1893.
In 1967 I was a 16-year old member of 18 (Lions) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets, and I corresponded with AVM Collishaw.
Here are the three letters that he was kind enough to write to me. The second one is especially interesting as he writes about his experiences in Southern Russia fighting the Bolsheviks (Communists who had just taken over Russia) during the Allied Intervention In Russia about 1919.
Sadly, he declined to send me his goggles which had been hit by a bullet during one of his WWI battles.
Letter from Raymond Colishaw to Colin MacGregor Stevens, April 6, 1967
Letter from Raymond Colishaw to Colin MacGregor Stevens, April 21, 1967 re: fighting in Southern Russia against the Bolshevics
Letter from Raymond Colishaw to Colin MacGregor Stevens, January 19, 1968
