David Bashow

Lieutenant-Colonel[1] (retired)[2] David L. Bashow (born 1946)[3] is a Canadian author. Bashow served 36 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Career

Bashow was born in Calgary, Alberta. He moved to Fredericton with his family in 1958, and attended high school and then the University of New Brunswick (UNB).[4] He joined the Canadian Air Force after graduating from UNB, serving as a fighter pilot; he has written books on air-force related topics, and has taught both in the United States and in Canada.[5]

Bashow, who lives in Canada with his wife Heather, is an associate professor of history at the Royal Military College of Canada,[6] and editor of Canadian Military Journal, a bilingual, peer-reviewed academic journal.[7]

Bashow's book Knights of the Air, about Canadian fighter pilots in the First World War, revisited an aspect of history covered as heroic and chivalrous by earlier writers, including Norman Harris in Knights of the Air (1958), and Arch Whitehouse's The Years of the Sky Kings (1959).[8] Bashow sees the air war as "a dirty piece of business," in which the flying aces "were a rather ruthless bunch, who often travelled alone, looked for the weak or wounded, snuck up behind them and shot them in the back."[8] He weighs in on longstanding disputes, arguing that Billy Bishop did carry out a solo attack on a German aerodrome at dawn and that Roy Brown was not the pilot who shot down the "Red Baron," Manfred von Richthofen.[8]

Bashow's book All the Fine Young Eagles, about the Canadian fighter pilots in the Second World War.[9][4] Bashow had a Starfighter poster on his wall as a teenager, and flew them as a peacetime Air force pilot.[4]

Controversies
  • Regarding whether a Canadian or an Australian fired the fatal bullet that killed German Air Force pilot The Red Baron during World War I in France, Bashow, editor of Canada Military Journal (and a former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot) came down on the Australian side: "(Brown’s) flight-path geometry just does not work."[6] The New York Times's first report, 2 days after it happened, April 23, 1918[10] didn't take sides then, and used the word "presumably" in 1971 for the Canadian side.[11]
    • Interest had renewed on the 100th anniversary, and Britannica's Last Updated: Oct 15, 2018 wording credited Australia but acknowledged the Canadian claim as "according to another account."[12]
    • CNN summarized PBS's survey[13] of various writings over the past century as "The question .. has never been conclusively settled."[14]
  • Regarding his taking sides about reviews of a book that advocates for "families battling ... the way the Canadian Forces treats its soldiers and families." Bashow wrote "We have a bit of a situation here" to describe the outcome of his decision to publish what a Canadian newspaper called "a mildly positive review."[15] Bashow's situation was said to be "in a predicament" when faced with having to publish a rebuttal "twice the length" of the original review, which had described "how the military and government poorly treats injured soldiers and their families."[15]

Works
  • Starfighter: A Loving Retrospective of the CF-104 Era in Canadian Fighter Aviation, 1961–1986. Fortress Publications Inc., 1990.
  • All the Fine Young Eagles (Stoddart Publishing, 1996).[16] An updated and expanded second edition was published in 2016.[4]
  • Knights of the Air: Canadian Fighter Pilots in the World War. L. Bashow (McArthur & Company Publishing; 2000)[8][5][9]
  • None But The Brave (Canadian Defense Academy Press)
  • No Prouder Place: Canadians and the Bomber Command Experience 1939–1945 (Vanwell Publishing, 2005)[17][18][19]

References
  1. "david bashow - knights air". Bashow,Lieutenant-Colonel David L.
  2. Michael MacDonald (April 19, 2018). "Did a Canadian shoot down the Red Baron? A century later, the debate hasn't quit". retired Lieutenant-Colonel who served 36 years with the RCAF
  3. "David L. Bashow". Douglas-McIntyre.com.
  4. Gallagher, Lori (17 September 2016). "Former Frederictonian had his wildest dreams come true". The Daily Gleaner. ProQuest 1820259094.
  5. Allinson, Sidney (6 May 2001). "Military history: New books reflect resurgence of interest in Canada's past (book review)". Times Colonist. ProQuest 345805497.
  6. Michael MacDonald (April 19, 2018). "A century later, debate hasn't quit on whether a Canadian shot down the Red Baron". The Toronto Star.
  7. "Canadian Military Journal". Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  8. Bean, Bill (13 January 2001). "Knights' sky; The story of Canada's First World War fighter pilots, through not-so-rose-coloured aviator glasses". The Record. ProQuest 266949923.
  9. Rossiter, Sean (13 January 2001). "Flight corrections: An illustrated volume about Canada's First World War fighter pilots is no mere coffeetable book -- it breaks new ground (book review)". Vancouver Sun. ProQuest 242594407.
  10. "Death of "The Red Baron"". The New York Times. April 23, 1918. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  11. "Von Richthofen and Brown opens". The New York Times.
  12. "Manfred, baron von Richthofen". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  13. "How Did the Red Baron Die?".
  14. Todd Leopold (October 19, 2015). "Who really killed the Red Baron? Account offers new wrinkle". CNN.com.
  15. David Pugliese (April 23, 2014). "Activist Ottawa lawyer targeted by military over positive review of his book". The Ottawa Citizen.
  16. Diehl, James (Spring 1988). "All the Young Eagles (book review)". Air & Space Power Journal. 12 (1): 110. ProQuest 217777072.
  17. Elliott, Ian (14 December 2005). "Bomber command's defender: RMC author explores the bonds between fighting men (book review)". Kingston Whig-Standard. ProQuest 352681065.
  18. Carr, Bill (29 September 2006). "Moralistic Position (book review)". Ottawa Citizen. ProQuest 240978657.
  19. McNulty (4 March 2006). "No Prouder Place: Canadians and the Bomber Command Experience 1939–1945 (book review)". The Hamilton Spectator. ProQuest 270232038.
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