Priceless. My father, S/L Jock (A E deM) Jarvis DFC, CdeG, flew SE5As in Salonika in WW1. He had 9 kills. He was earlier badly wounded at Vimy Ridge as an infantry Platoon Commander in the 38th Bn, 4 Div, (Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa). He continued military flying until 1923 thus serving in 4 air forces,-RFC, RAF, CAF, RCAF. After farming foxes in Scotland and planting rubber in Singapore He returned to Canada in 1929. He then flew with Western Canada Airways, the Department of Lands and Forests and his own flying operation named Birdways with a Curtis Robin and a Waco (the Beaver of its time). My mother was Rhoda Bird MA, hence Birdways, who endured multiple bush pilot moves ending up in Sault Ste Marie until 1939 when He promply sold his aircraft and rejoined the RCAF aged 45. He spent his second war developing the Link Trainer as the primary tool of aircrew selection out of No 1 ITS. (Dat Goddam Bird De Link). His post war years were full of adventure and accomplishment. His son Stephen flew F86 Sabres in 434 Sqn RCAF and Lightnings in the RAF. I trained on Chipmunks and the L19 Birddog on the way to the Hiller helecopter intended to be an augmentation to the Recce Squadron of my Regiment, The Royal Canadian Dragoons. My father was a gentleman of the old school. He was a perfectionist from crafting yew bows and feathering arrows to building a retirement home on family property near King Ontario. Everything he ever undertook he finished in a manner twice as good as it had ever been done before. I should have mentioned earlier that my grandfather Canon Arthur Jarvis saw three sons serve in WW1- my father plus Hal, Royal Artillery, and George, Royal Signals. The Canon also had V dot dot dash painted on the roof of his house and took in the four English Cavanaugh children evacuated with their impossible Nanny to Canada. My maternal grandfather was Captain Eustice Bird of the Royal Marines. I hope that tolerant readers will forgive my going on and on. I thought I was just going to mention that my father flew SE5As.
William Avery Bishop ( Billy Bishop) was impressed with this aircraft. He was already an ace but with the SE5a increased his score to 72 planes and he also shot down three gas bags, balloons. He understood the SE5a as a very stable gun platform and very fast. It would be safe to refer to the SE5a as the air superiority fighter of its day. Thank you Paul Shakespeare for your talks which bring this aircraft to life for so many of us. Such a fascinating subject as you bring these heroic days of early aviation to our attention.
Thankyou so much for keeping history alive, (and correctly revising it) in the form of an actual veteran which saw active service. I looked at the ww1 aviators in an entirely different light After reading Victor Yeates book ‘Winged Victory’ which I would highly recommend.
Imagine the nerves; "here's the last of a genuine WW1 type, don't misjudge a landing ever". Probably wouldn't hurt to train pilots on one of the best replicas.
What a great and professional talk. How does one get to fly one of these. I am a private pilot. Sadly couldn’t finish my commercial license training caused by disruptions because of the pandemic. Would love to get in the cockpit in one of ww1 aircrafts if there is a pathway for a private pilot
Streamers were used by squadron leaders so other pilots know who to follow in case the ID was not visible enough. They were used on the struts or/and on the rudder, in different colours depending on the plane type and the squadron.
