at Montreal and Toronto, where several Canadian aviation records were set. In October 1910, at an air exhibition near Belmont, New York, Grace Mackenzie, daughter of Sir William Mackenzie and her sisters became the first Canadian women to fly; Mackenzie soon married her pilot, Count Jacques de Lesseps. De Lesseps Field near Toronto was named for the French aviator. Aviation exhibitions were common in Canada until the outbreak of war. Generally American barnstormers participated in Canadian events such as fairs, where an exhibition of an aircraft was an attraction due to its novelty; movement of aircraft and performers across the border was virtually unregulated. First fatality The first aviation fatality in Canada, and the only one before the First World War was John Bryant who was killed in a crash in Victoria on 6 August 1913. Bryant was visiting British Columbia from the US with his wife Alys McKey Bryant, who was also a pilot, in their Curtiss biplane. Earlier in the trip Alys had become the first woman to pilot a plane in Canada. First World War More than 23,000 Canadians served in British air services (Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and (after April 1918) the Royal Air Force) during the First World War, with more than 1,500 killed. Notable Canadian pilots include Billy Bishop, William George Barker and Alan Arnett McLeod, who were awarded the Victoria Cross. More than 180 Canadian pilots achieved the designation "ace", with five or more credited victories. Canadian aircrew served in every operational theatre during the First World War, and in roles including air-to-air combat, bombing, air photography and artillery spotting. In 1915 the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company of New York set up a small plant in Toronto for manufacture of the JN-4 training aircraft, managed by McCurdy. The Curtiss factory built 20 aircraft with pontoon float landing gear, exported to Spain; this was the first export of Canadian-built aircraft. The company was soon purchased by the Canadian government and operated as Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd. The Curtis factory was also associated with an aviation school, which graduated 129 pilots. By the end of the First World War the factory had built 2900 aircraft, including an order of 1000 JN4s, completed in three months and shipped to the United States for pilot training on their entry into the war. Aircraft construction stopped at the end of the war. In spite of