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.

Letter to Flight Lieutenant Harry Wambolt's Parents

Jean Thuillier, who had witnessed Harry Wambolt's death in 1917, wrote this letter to Wambolt's parents in 1928.

Earlier in the year, Thuillier had sent the Wambolts some fragments of wreckage from their son's aircraft, and he was now writing to provide them with more details of their son's death. As a 12-year-old boy living in Inchy-en-Artois, France, Thuillier had seen Wambolt's 4 March 1917 combat with German aircraft, his deadly crash, and his subsequent burial by the German military.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19720147-003_p1fr