Gerald Ewart Nash

Group Captain Gerald Ewart Nash (12 May 1896 - 10 April 1976) was a World War I flying ace who went on to high command during World War II.

Gerald Ewart Nash
Born	(1896-05-12)12 May 1896 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died	10 April 1976(1976-04-10) (aged 79) Welland, Ontario, Canada
Allegiance	Canada United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Naval Air Service Canadian Air Force
Rank	Flight lieutenant
Unit	No. 3 Wing RNAS No. 10 Squadron RNAS
Other work	Became Group Captain during World War II

World War I

Nash joined the Royal Naval Air Service in April 1916. His original flying assignment was to 3 Wing to fly Sopwith 1½ Strutters. During Bloody April 1917, he was assigned to Raymond Collishaw's Black Flight of Sopwith Triplanes. On 21 May 1917, he opened his scorebook by destroying an Albatros D.III over Ypres Staden. On 2 June, he cooperated with Collishaw, Ellis Vair Reid, and William Melville Alexander in forcing down a German observation plane. On the 5th, Nash again joined Collishaw and Reid, as well Desmond Fitzgibbon and another pilot, in another victory; this time, they set an Albatros reconnaissance plane aflame. The next day, Nash destroyed another Albatros recon plane, and sent down two Albatros D.III's out of control. On 25 June 1917, Nash was shot down behind enemy lines in Belgium by Karl Allmenröder and became a prisoner of war. He was repatriated after war's end, and returned to Canada in 1919.

World War II

Nash served as a Group Captain in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He retired in 1945.

References

Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0-948817-19-4, ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.