Group Captain Gerald Ewart Nash (12 May 1896 - 10 April 1976) was a World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

who went on to high command during World War II.

World War I

Nash joined the

Royal Naval 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 ...

in April 1916. His original flying assignment was to 3 Wing to fly

Sopwith 1½ Strutter The Sopwith Strutter was a British single- or two-seat multi-role biplane aircraft of the First World War.Lake 2002, p. 40. It was the first British two-seat tractor fighter and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronised ...

s. During

Bloody April Bloody April was the (largely successful) British air support operation during the Battle of Arras in April 1917, during which particularly heavy casualties were suffered by the Royal Flying Corps at the hands of the German ''Luftstreitkräfte ...

1917, he was assigned to

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 ...

Black Flight Black flight is a term applied to the migration of African Americans from predominantly black or mixed inner-city areas in the United States to suburbs and newly constructed homes on the outer edges of cities. While more attention has been pai ...

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. On 21 May 1917, he opened his scorebook by destroying an

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service (''Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). T ...

over Ypres Staden. On 2 June, he cooperated with Collishaw,

Ellis Vair Reid Ellis Vair Reid DSC (31 October 1889 – 28 July 1917) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 19 victories. Reid spent his early years in Belleville, Ontario and moved to Toronto with his family at the turn of the ...

, and

William Melville Alexander Captain William Melville Alexander (8 November 1897 – 4 October 1988) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 22 aerial victories. World War I service Having turned 18 in late 1915 Alexander was keen to learn to f ...

in forcing down a German observation plane. On the 5th, Nash again joined Collishaw and Reid, as well

Desmond Fitzgibbon Flight Lieutenant Desmond Fitzgerald Fitzgibbon (born 1 November 1890; date of death unknown) was a British flying ace who served in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I, and was credited with eight aerial victories. He returned to se ...

and another pilot, in another victory; this time, they set an Albatros reconnaissance plane aflame. The next day, Nash destroyed another Albatros recon plane, and sent down two Albatros D.III's out of control. On 25 June 1917, Nash was shot down behind enemy lines in Belgium by

Karl Allmenröder ''Leutnant'' Karl Allmenröder (3 May 1896 – 27 June 1917) was a German World War I flying ace credited with 30 aerial victories. The medical student son of a preacher father was seasoned in the trenches as an 18-year-old artilleryman in ...

and became a prisoner of war. He was repatriated after war's end, and returned to Canada in 1919.

World War II

Nash served as a

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

during World War II. He retired in 1945.

Sources of information

References

''Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920.'' Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. , . 1896 births 1976 deaths Canadian World War I flying aces Canadian World War II pilots Shot-down aviators Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II {{canada-mil-bio-stub