Henry John Lawrence Botterell (November 7, 1896 – January 3, 2003) was a Canadian fighter pilot who served in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and then in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War I. When he died at the age of 106, the Canadian Department of Veterans' Affairs, among others, believed he was the last surviving pilot in the world to have seen action in the Great War.
Pre-war life and career
Henry Botterell was born in Ottawa to Henry and Annie Botterell. His father, a civil servant, died of pneumonia when Botterell was still a young boy. He attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute before beginning a career in banking. Prior to his war service, Botterell worked as a clerk at the Bank of North America (now the Bank of Montreal). In 60 days between June and August 1918, he flew 91 sorties.
Botterell's sole air victory was a German observation balloon, which was well-defended by anti-aircraft guns, on August 29, 1918, near Arras. He was returning from dropping four bombs on the railway station at Vitry when he saw the balloon. Putting his Sopwith Camel into a dive, he fired 400 machine-gun rounds at the balloon, setting it aflame. The German observer parachuted to safety.
During his service, Botterell flew a variety of planes, including several Sopwith types (Pup, Camel and Snipe), the RE8, the SE5, the Claude Grahame-White and the Maurice Farman. He logged 251 combat hours.
At the end of the war, Botterell was a flight lieutenant with the Royal Air Force (the Royal Flying Corps and RNAS had been combined on April 1, 1918, to form the RAF).
After his return to Canada, Botterell never flew again except on commercial flights.
Post-war life and honours
Botterell returned to work at the Bank of Montreal as Assistant Chief Accountant, initially in rural Quebec and then in Montreal, eventually retiring in 1970.
In 1929, he married Maud Goater (died 1983).
See also
- List of last surviving World War I veterans by country