Raymond Collishaw, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, DSC, DFC (22 November 1893 – 28 September 1976) was a distinguished Canadian fighter pilot, squadron leader, and commanding officer who served in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and later the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was the highest scoring RNAS flying ace and the second highest scoring Canadian pilot of the First World War. He was noted as a great leader in the air, leading many of his own formations into battle. After the Great War, he became a permanent commissioned officer in the RAF, seeing action against the Bolsheviks in 1919–20, and subsequently commanding various Air Service detachments. During the Second World War, he commanded No. 204 Group (which later became the Desert Air Force) in North Africa, achieving great success against the numerically and technologically superior Italian Air Force. He was retired in 1943.

Raymond Collishaw was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, on 22 November 1893. His father was John Edward Collishaw from Wrexham, Wales, and his mother Sarah "Sadie" Jones from Newport, Wales, but raised in Pantygog, Garw Valley. He was brought up in Nanaimo, though some of his schooling took place in Victoria, British Columbia and Oakland, California, due to his father's occasional pursuit of gold mining.

In 1908, at the age of 15, thanks to his father's connection, Collishaw joined the Canadian Fisheries Protection Services as a cabin boy. He was a lower class sailor on board the Alcedo. He would continue working on ships and the coast for the next seven years – working his way up to First Officer, and in 1914, transferring to the Fispa. He was aboard when it sailed into the Arctic Circle in search of the Stefansson expedition – too late to rescue the Karluk.

When war broke out in 1914, Collishaw's first idea was to join the Royal Navy, but did not hear from them for some time. Toward the end of 1915, Collishaw heard that the Royal Naval Air Service was hiring, and so he applied to them instead, and attended flight training (ground school and dual instruction) at the Curtiss Aviation School in Toronto (at his own expense). He qualified as a probationary pilot in January 1916 and crossed the Atlantic on the Adriatic. His first posting was to the naval air station at Redcar, where he completed his pilot training, flying the Caudron G.3; his first solo taking place 16 June 1916. After attending the Gunnery School at Eastchurch, he was confirmed as a full flight sub-lieutenant.

On 2 August 1916 Collishaw was deployed to his first operational posting, joining the RNAS's 3rd Wing. The wing was operating out of Luxeuil, France and supporting the French 4th bombardment group, flying the British Sopwith 1½ Strutter. Some of the Sopwiths were equipped as bombers, while others were configured as two-seat fighters. Collishaw found these new aircraft "a revelation" to fly (compared to his trainer aircraft). His initial sorties were with the "fighter" Strutter configuration – which he noted, "doubtless influenced significantly my subsequent air force career."

Collishaw's first encounter with a German aircraft was while flying escort duty on 3 Wing's first large-scale raid into Germany, against the Mauser Rifle Factory at Oberndorf, on 12 October 1916. The raid consisted of 27 aircraft from both British and French squadrons, and had multiple flights at different altitudes. Collishaw's was nearly at their target when they were attacked by three German Fokker D.IIIs. One of the Fokkers, flown by a Sgt. Hanstien, carried out effective attacks against two Collishaw's wing-mates on either side of him. Collishaw dived and fired, having Hanstein in his sights, but Hanstein then quickly evaded with a climbing maneuver. Collishaw's engine revved too high in the dive, shearing a wire and becoming under-powered, requiring him to return to base. Collishaw noted that while a significant event, the Oberndorf raid was of questionable success given the limited known target damage and allied aircraft losses, without any aircraft losses from the German side. The German pilots on-scene that day were quite experienced, and included the then-NCO Ernst Udet.

Collishaw's first confirmed victories occurred on 2 October, while he was ferrying a new Strutter from Wing Headquarters (at Luxeuil) to his squadron's new forward base (at Ochey, France) alone (without an observer). Six German scouts spotted him and dived across the lines. As Collishaw recounted:

The affair opened with a stream of bullets that went right into my goggles, sending powdered glass into my eyes. I was hardly able to see at all and could do little more than fling my 1½ Strutter about, hoping that it would hang together in one piece. How I wished that I had [my observer, gunlayer] Portsmouth with me, to protect my tail! My attackers got to the westward of me and although I did not realize it at the moment the seven of us gradually drifted farther and farther to the east as I turned away from their attacks. I also lost altitude, for I went into a series of dives, trying to escape their fire. After some time I was able to see a little better although my eyes hurt dreadfully, and I realized that I was down almost to ground level. One of the German pilots came down in a steep dive, firing all the while, and he must have been so intent on trying to line me up in his sights that he forgot all about his altitude. He pulled up suddenly but he had left it too late and he went in, smashing into a tree. Whether he was killed, badly injured, or merely walked away cursing I never knew and I certainly didn't have time to worry about it then. I managed to get one of the Germans in line and sent several bursts which seemed to go right into the area of the engine and the cockpit. He went down for a landing but again, whether he made it safely, I don't know. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, there was no more gunfire and I realized that the remaining scouts had left, possibly because they were running low on fuel...