Hazel Wallace

Who was Hazel Wallace?

Captain Hazel LeRoy Wallace DFC was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 14 victories. His record shows him to have been a notable team player in squadron tactics.

Wallace originally served with 9 Squadron RNAS in 1917 as a Sopwith Camel pilot. He won his first dogfights there, sharing victories on 6 and 16 September 1917 with Joseph Stewart Temple Fall and several other pilots. He then transferred to 1 Squadron RNAS in early 1918. On 11 March 1918, he scored a solo victory, driving an Albatros D.V down out of control. Five days later, he shared a win with Maxwell Findlay. Wallace would not score again until 2 May, when he, Reginald Brading, Samuel Kinkead, and several other British pilots sent a hapless German observation plane down out of control; Wallace thus became an ace.

His next triumph on the morning of 15 May was more of the same, as Wallace, Findlay, Kinkead, Brading, Charles Dawson Booker, Robert McLaughlin, and three other British pilots pounced upon and destroyed an Albatros D.V. A solo "out of control" win on the afternoon patrol for the 15th, and another the next day put Wallace's tally at eight.