During the First World War over 20,000 Canadians volunteered to serve with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service, producing such aces as William Barker, W.A. "Billy" Bishop, Naval Pilot Raymond Collishaw, Roy Brown, Donald MacLaren, Frederick McCall, and Wilfrid "Wop" May [REF].
There had been some thought that these two European squadrons would be the nucleus of a new Canadian air force [REF].