Clifford Mackay McEwen

Clifford Mackay McEwen (born on July 2 1876 in Canada) is a Canadian fighter pilot and a valuable member of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Clifford McEwen was born at Griswold, Manitoba on July 2 1896, and raised in Moose Jaw. After receiving his education at the University of Saskatchewan, he enlisted in the 196th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916. Becoming a Lieutenant shortly after arriving in England, McEwen was assigned to Britain’s Royal Flying Corps, where he learned to fly. He soon proved himself to be a superb pilot, and a natural leader when he joined 28 Squadron in Italy. He flew on his first offensive sortie on the 29th of November, shared in the destruction of an Austrian Balloon the next day, and made his first confirmed kill a month later, on December 30 1917, a German Albatross. During nine months of active combat he was credited with shooting down 27 enemy aircraft. For his wartime service, McEwen was awarded the Military Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Bar and the Italian Bronze Medal for Valour. Recalled to England at the end of 1918, he worked with Billy Bishop, Raymond Collishaw and others in organizing the first Canadian Air Force

When the Royal Canadian Air Force came into being in 1925 he was one of the "originals," being commissioned as a flight lieutenant. He served as an instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force ever since and in 1932 he was appointed Commander of air training operations at the RCAF Station Camp Borden (Ontario).