Canada's Naval History

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First World War (1914-1918)
Canadians in the Royal Naval Air Service

Among the Canadians serving with the Royal Navy were those in its aviation branch, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). They included aces and future leaders of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The dangers they faced included the enemy, the elements, and their own unreliable aircraft.

Artifact Record

Wristwatch, Flight Lieutenant Henry Botterell

Royal Naval Air Service pilot Henry Botterell's church gave him this wristwatch in 1917.

The watch is typical of the kinds of gifts given by communities to recruits before they left for overseas service. Botterell, a bank clerk, began flying over the Western Front in 1917, but engine failure on his second flight caused a crash which required several months' recovery. After returning to the air in early 1918, he flew with 208 Squadron in his Sopwith Camel. Botterell resumed banking after the war, and commanded air cadets in Lachine, Quebec, during the Second World War. The world's last surviving fighter pilot from the First World War, he died in 2003, aged 106.

Wristwatch, Flight Lieutenant Henry Botterell
CWM 19780716-018

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