Wing Commander Ronald Francis Redpath (7 July 1888 – 11 January 1970) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

fighter pilot who served in 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 (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

(RNAS), later commanding the Canadian Air Force.

Early life

Ronald Francis Redpath was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada on 7 July 1888, to a merchant home.Redpath, Ronald Francis
''airforce.ca'' Retrieved: 19 March 2013.

First World War

After receiving his flying education at the Toronto flying school, Redpath joined the Royal Naval Air Service as Probationary Flight Sub‑Lieutenant, 22 November 1915 in Ottawa. He was among the original Canadians (along with Raymond Collishaw) to be trained. He was posted on 1 May 1916 to No.3 (Naval) Wing, Manstone. From there he was eventually posted to France. He is credited with ensuring that an early bombing raid did not mistakenly land in Switzerland. Redpath was awarded the French Croix de GuerreLondon Gazette editions November 1915-December 1917
''naval-history.net'' Retrieved: 19 March 2013. along with (amongst others) Raymond Collishaw.

Post-war

After the war, Redpath served as the second director of the Canadian Air Force. He succeeded Air Commodore Arthur Kellam Tylee, taking up post on 22 March 1921. However, his time of head of the Canadian Air Force was short-lived and he relinquished his post on 12 July that same year. Redpath died on 11 January 1970 at the age of 81.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Gunn, Roger. ''Raymond Collishaw and the Black Flight''. Dundurn, 2013. .

External links

Air Force

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Redpath, Ronald Francis 1888 births 1970 deaths Royal Naval Air Service aviators Canadian Air Force personnel Canadian recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Royal Navy officers of World War I Canadian military personnel of World War I Military personnel from Montreal