Collishaw: His 'nearly falling out of the cockpit'

[Nieuport28]

In the thread of several weeks ago by 'Romani'~ "Tell me about Raymond Collishaw"~ there had been a response by Drew querying if Collishaw had not nearly met his death from an inadvertent fall from his cockpit~ Graeme, understandably, suggested the incident would have pertained, not to Collishaw, but rather Louis Strange. While the experience involving Strange is better known there was also a most similar incident involving RC.

Evidence that Drew's recall had not failed him can be found in~ and a reference to RC's mishap can be read~ in a narration of the most astonishing adventures's of Collishaw as they are powerfully narrated in a bit of material which accompanies an auction of some RC related memorabilia on 'e-Bay' (U.S.A.)

As cited elsewhere in this Forum~ by 'FlieferJG1'~ the auction can be found by using the 'Item number' of 330092786978.

All of those with an interest in RC will find the seller's annotation to be extensive and highly informative~ The information would no doubt be originally derived from Collishaw's autobiography~ but it is, in every regard, a well presented synopsis of RC's career~

Of all the more notable WWI flying luminaries~ RC's career might be said to be unparalleled in it's length, diversity and committment to the service of his country~

A sad commentary upon an unprincipled Canadian bureaucrat's actions involving RC's estate was in the news several years ago and, I recall, was mentioned here on the Forum. As the story was told, at the point in recent time when Canadian's were disposessed of most of their personal weapons, RC's widow was misled enough to have turned in a beautifully engraved and gold embossed 'Presentation Luger'~ The pistol had been a gift to RC from his 'White Russian' comrades as a token of their appreciation for his stalwart support of their cause during that immediate post-WWI period when RC fought with them against the 'Bolshies'~

This most valuable pistol was soon thereafter consigned~ it was said~ to a private auction with proceeds going directly to the shameless Government agent who had confiscated it from RC's widow~

I've noted some ten or twelve 'typo's' of various sorts in that lengthy response I contributed on my prior posting on RC in response to the query re Collishaw as asked by 'Romani'~ My apologies and~ hopefully~ I can remedy some of the problems of that nature by making this response, mercifully, a bit briefer!!
Lee

Would this incident involve the wire of the engine access panel of R.C.'s Triplane being shot away by " Archie " and said panel lodgeing between his wings, forceing him to stall and spin ?

Jim

[Nieuport28]

Jim~
Yes, RC was in his Triplane ~ When the loose panel caused it's 'gyratations' his seat belt failed and he found the a/c in a inverted position and himself hanging frantically from the cabanes. He was able to drop back into the cockpit and level out a bit just before hitting the ground~ The ship was smashed but RC was unhurt in the crash~ and was on flying duty the next day~ Tough guys weren't they?

The professional 'consignor' type who has offered the material has certainly 'gone above and beyond' in his comprehensive narration of the 'life and times' of Collishaw~ Rather an unusually admirable effort to be seen accompanying a simple auction activity~
Lee

[crankcase]

Tough guys indeed! And if you included that scene into a movie, most people would dismiss it as Hollywood phantasy!
crankcase

[MilesC]

The seller's annotation is actually a copy of my biography on Collishaw from www.constable.ca. Nice to know someone read it.

Interesting material, thanks for the heads up.

[Lufbery]

Originally Posted by Nieuport28

In the thread of several weeks ago by 'Romani'~ "Tell me about Raymond Collishaw"~ there had been a response by Drew querying if Collishaw had not nearly met his death from an inadvertent fall from his cockpit~ Graeme, understandably, suggested the incident would have pertained, not to Collishaw, but rather Louis Strange. While the experience involving Strange is better known there was also a most similar incident involving RC.

Evidence that Drew's recall had not failed him can be found in~ and a reference to RC's mishap can be read~ in a narration of the most astonishing adventures's of Collishaw as they are powerfully narrated in a bit of material which accompanies an auction of some RC related memorabilia on 'e-Bay' (U.S.A.)

Nieuport 28,

Thanks for finding the reference to the incident I thought I recalled.

It's good to know that I'm not completely off my rocker.

Regards,

[Lufbery]

Originally Posted by MilesC

The seller's annotation is actually a copy of my biography on Collishaw from www.constable.ca. Nice to know someone read it.

Interesting material, thanks for the heads up.

Yup! And, here's the situation I was thinking of from Miles' site:

In July, he was again shot down. This time, a powerful burst of bullets from a German aircraft broke the wires keeping the two sides of the metal cowling on the aircraft. One side piece flipped off and jammed into his wing struts causing an immediate and rapid, spin. His Triplane began tumbling end-over-end, with the added stress his seat belt snapped and he flew out into space. Frantically, Collishaw grabbed a centre-section strut and hung on for dear life. His arms were being slowly pulled out of their sockets and his hands were losing their grip as he was flung about by the wildly gyrating aircraft. In one of its swoops he was thrown part ways into the cockpit. With strength borne of despiration he hooked a boot around the control column and pushed it forward enough that he could get further into the cockpit By now he could pick out individual trees. With an immense effort he levered himself into the cockpit with his foot and pulled back on the stick. The airplane levelled out somewhat before slamming into the ground and was destroyed, but he walked away unhurt.

Miles,

What are your sources for the biography you posted? I'd like to read more about Collishaw.

Regards,

[Nieuport28]

That admirable quality of that 'auction site' synopsis of RC's career certainly had me a bit puzzled! It appeared to be the work of someone with an excellent awareness of RC and a penchant for writing well about those times of air combat in France~

One does not usually encounter such extensive and well-conceived documentation from a consignor at an auction site!

So, it is with a great deal of satisfaction that I offer Miles a 'well done!'~ His highest order professional writing talents are thoroughly evident in the text under discussion~

It seems, doesn't it, that it would have been most courteous for the consignor to have acknowledged his debt to Miles in this matter!

"All's Well That Ends Well?"~ etc?

Lee

[MilesC]

Hi Drew et al,

Most of this material was drawn from Collishaw and Dodds. Air Command. Now, recent researchers have disproven a variety of incidents that Collishaw reported in this auto-biography, such as shooting down Almenroeder, so the paragraph after that one is largely inaccurate. Almenroeder was dead by the time Collishaw got into the air.

As no one saw Collishaw hanging upside down it is simply his word that it happened.

I will have to do a bit of "clean up" on some of my bios shortly.

Thanks for the cudos. I didn't even win the auction, the price went way above my limit.