George Leonard Trapp (July 1894 – November 12, 1917) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

flying ace during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was born in

New Westminster, British Columbia New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

, the son of Thomas John Trapp, was educated at

McGill College McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University ...

and joined the

Royal Navy Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS) in 1916, serving with No. 10 Naval Squadron. He claimed his first three victories flying

Sopwith Triplane The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It has the distinction of being the first military triplane to see operational service. The ...

s in August 1917 and two more victories in September while flying

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

s. Trapp was killed in action in November when he was shot down by Bruno Justinius of Bavarian Jasta 35. He had claimed one more victory that morning before being shot down in the afternoon. His two brothers Stanley Valentine Trapp and Donovan Trapp also died while serving with the RNAS: Donovan was killed in action and Stanley Valentine died during a test flight. Another brother Thomas saw action at the front and returned after being seriously wounded.

Raymond Collishaw Raymond Collishaw, (22 November 1893 – 28 September 1976) was a distinguished Canadian fighter pilot, squadron leader, and commanding officer who served in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and later the Royal Air Force. He was the highest ...

married Trapp's sister Neita.

References

External links

* 1894 births 1917 deaths Canadian World War I flying aces McGill University alumni Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Naval Air Service aviators British military personnel killed in World War I {{canada-mil-bio-stub