Ronald McNeill Keirstead

Name:

Country:

Canada

Rank:

Captain

Service:

Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Air Force

Units:

4N (RNAS)
204 (RAF)

Victories:

Born:

20 June 1895

Place of Birth:

Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Died:

23 October 1970

Place of Death:

Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Cemetery:

Ronald McNeill Keirstead learned to fly at the Curtiss School in Toronto in 1916. He joined the Royal Naval Air Service and was posted to 4 Naval Squadron in June 1917. Flying the Sopwith Camel, he score 13 victories.

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

Flt.-Sub-Lieut. Ronald McNeill Keirstead, R.N.A.S.
In recognition of conspicuous gallantry in aerial combats.
On the 24th September, 1917, he engaged single-handed four enemy aeroplanes, of which two were destroyed by him. On the 21st October, 1917, during an engagement between a British and a German formation, he attacked one of the enemy scouts and shot its port wings away from the rest of the machine. He then dived on to some enemy scouts which were attacking another of our machines and brought one of them down in a spinning nose dive.

Supplement to the London Gazette, 22 February 1918 (30536/2305)

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	10 Jul 1917	1950	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6362)	Albatros D.V (DESF) ¹	SE of Nieuport
2	25 Jul 1917	1930	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6370)	Seaplane (DES) ²	30 mi NNE of Ostend
3	18 Aug 1917	0910	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6370)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	E of Dixmude
4	24 Sep 1917	1809	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6370)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	SE of St. Pierre Capelle
5	24 Sep 1917	1810	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6370)	Albatros D.V (DESF)	St. Pierre Capelle
6	21 Oct 1917	1025	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6370)	Albatros D.V (DES)	Ghistelles
7	21 Oct 1917	1030	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6370)	Fokker D.V (OOC)	S of Ghistelles
8	06 Dec 1917	1330	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6389)	DFW C (OOC)	N of La Panne
9	26 Mar 1918	1700	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6389)	Pfalz D.III (DES)	W of Dixmude
10	26 Mar 1918	1700	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6389)	Pfalz D.III (OOC)	Pervyse-Dixmude
11	26 Mar 1918	1700	4N	Sopwith Camel (N6389)	Pfalz D.III (DES) ³	Dixmude
12	21 Apr 1918	1200	204	Sopwith Camel (N6389)	Rumpler C (CAP) ⁴	Wulpen
13	12 Jun 1918	1530	204	Sopwith Camel (N6389)	Pfalz D.III (OOC)	N of Middelkerke

1	Shared with FCdr Arnold Chadwick
2	Shared with FCdr Arnold Chadwick, FSL Albert Enstone
3	Shared with Belgian SPAD
4	Shared with FSL C R R Hickey (B6350)

Books

Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1: Norman Franks / Softcover / Osprey Publishing (March 25, 2003)