Captain Ernest James Salter was a Canadian World War I flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 credited with nine aerial victories. He would return to service during World War II.

Early life

Ernest James Salter was born in Greenbank, Ontario, Canada on 9 November 1897. He was the son of Mary Helen Coultis and Theophilus L. Salter. The younger Salter was living in Mimico

Mimico

The historic Town of Mimico is a neighbourhood in the south-western part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-east corner of the former Township of Etobicoke, and was an independent municipality from 1911 to 1967....

 when he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 on 3 June 1917.

World War I

Salter trained as a pilot and was awarded Royal Aero Club

Royal Aero Club

The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...

 Pilot's Certificate No. 7211 on 27 August 1917. He was commissioned as a probationary temporary second lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

 on 13 October 1917. He then sailed from Canada on 29 October 1917. He was appointed a Flying Officer

Flying Officer

Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...

 on 26 February 1918, and was forwarded to France on 15 March 1918. He joined 54 Squadron from 19 March to 12 April 1918, when he was hospitalized. He rejoined the squadron on 19 May 1918. He was promoted to captain on 9 August 1918; such promotions were given to those appointed as Flight Commander. On 2 September 1918, Salter was wounded in action

Wounded in action

Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....

. He was invalided back to England on 7 September 1918. Although he won no British awards, Salter was honoured by the French with the Legion d'Honneur on 30 November 1918 as well as the Croix de guerre avec Palme.

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	9 June 1918 @ 0715 hours	Sopwith Camel Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...  serial number B7171	German reconnnaissance plane	Driven down out of control	East of Zandvoorde Zandvoorde Zandvoorde may refer to:* Zandvoorde , a Belgian village, part of the city of Oostende* Zandvoorde , a Belgian village, part of the municipality of Zonnebeke...
2	4 July 1918 @ 1430 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D1948	Hannover reconnaissance plane	Driven down out of control	Herleville Herleville Herleville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Herleville is situated on the D143 road, some east of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*...
3	5 July 1918 @ 1050 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D1948	Albatros D.V Albatros D.V |-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....	Driven down out of control	Northeast of Lamotte Lamotte - Places :In France:* Lamotte-du-Rhône, a commune of the Vaucluse département in southern FranceIn the United States:* Lamotte Township, Crawford County, Illinois* Lamotte Township, MichiganIn Canada:* La Motte, Quebec...
4	21 July 1918 @ 1555 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D1946	Halberstadt Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke or Halberstadt was a German aircraft manufacturer. It was formed in April 1912 as a British-German joint venture under the name German Bristol works Flugzeuggesellschaft mbH in Halberstadt. Initially the plant produced Bristol Boxkites and Bristol Prier monoplanes, but...  reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	East of Dravegny Dravegny Dravegny is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France....
5	21 July 1918 @ 1600 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D1946	Halberstadt reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Half a mile east of Chery
6	21 July 1918 @ 1915 hours	Sopwith Camel D9497	Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...	Set afire; destroyed	Fère en Tardenois
7	22 August 1918 @ 1745 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D1946	Albatros reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	200 yards west of Grévillers Grévillers Grévillers is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming village situated south of Arras, at the junction of the D10 and three small roads.-Population:-Places of interest:...	Victory shared with three other pilots
8	25 August 1918 @ 1045 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D1946	Fokker D.VII	Driven down out of control	Combles Combles Combles is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Combles is situated on the D20 road, some northeast of Amiens.-History:...
9	30 August 1918 @ 0645 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n E5168	Fokker D.VII	Driven down out of control	Southeast of Riencourt Riencourt Riencourt is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Riencourt is situated northwest of Amiens, on the D121 and D69 crossroads.-Population:-External links:*...

Post World War I

Salter was repatriated on 29 March 1919. He purportedly flew as a bush pilot for three years afterwards. He returned to duty for World War II, serving as a bombing instructor.

Ernest James Salter died in Oakville, Ontario, Canada on 26 March 1959.

Reference

• 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 0948817194, 9780948817199.

Endnotes

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