Lieutenant William John Gillespie was a

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 ...

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 ...

credited with five aerial victories. Gillespie was a student at

Daysland Daysland is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is on Highway 13, approximately east of Camrose. History The community was named for its founder and first mayor, Edgerton W. Day, who purchased of land from the CPR in 1904 to form the bas ...

, Alberta before joining the military. He was posted to 41 Squadron on 11 December 1917. He scored five victories between 25 March and 7 July 1918; all of them were of the "driven down out of control" type. On 18 August 1918, he was hospitalized with influenza and sat out the duration of the war. Gillespie returned to Canada and died in Edmonton in 1967.

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Sources

*''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. , 9780948817199. 1897 births 1967 deaths Canadian World War I flying aces People from Brock, Ontario {{Canada-mil-bio-stub