The Library of Congress > Linked Data Service > LC Name Authority File (LCNAF)

Dickins, Punch, 1899-1995


  • URI(s)

  • Fuller Name

    • Clennell Haggerston

  • Variants

    • Dickins, Clennell Haggerston, 1899-1995
    • Dickins, C. H. (Clennell Haggerston), 1899-1995

  • Identifies LC/NAF RWO

  • Identifies RWO

    • Birth Date

        1899-01-12

    • Death Date

        1995-08-03

    • Descriptor

        Distinguished Flying Cross

    • Descriptor

        Officer of the Order of Canada

    • Birth Place

        Portage la Prairie (Man.)

    • Field of Activity

      (lcsh) Northwest, Canadian--Discovery and exploration

      Air mail service


    • Occupation

      Bush pilots

    • Exact Matching Concepts from Other Schemes

    • Closely Matching Concepts from Other Schemes

    • Sources

      • found: Dickins, Constance. I married a bush pilot, ©1981:page ii (Punch Dickins)
      • found: Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame web site, viewed 7 June 2016:Clennell Haggerston Dickins (nickname: Punch, birth date: January 12, 1899, birth place: Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, death date: August 3, 1995, year inducted: 1974, awards: OC, OBE, DFC, The McKee Trophy, LL.D.(Hon); in 1907 moved to Edmonton, Alberta; attended the University of Alberta until enlisting in the Canadian Infantry in World War I; in 1917 transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, earned his pilot's wings and a commission and was posted to 211 Squadron serving until 1919, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; after the war, joined the Canadian Air Force and became one of the original officers of the Royal Canadian Air Force when it was formed in 1924, leaving in 1927; in 1927 joined newly formed Western Canada Airways Ltd., which was taken over by Canadian Airways Ltd. in 1930, with Dickins named Superintendent of the Mackenzie River district and in 1936 named General Superintendent; in 1941, became assistant to the president of Canadian Pacific Railways, and was operations manager of the wartime Atlantic Ferry Service which flew new aircraft to the United Kingdom; in 1942 appointed Vice-President and General Manager of Canadian Pacific Airlines, amalgamating several small airlines into a cohesive air transportation network, as well as managing six British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) schools; in 1947 joined de Havilland Aircraft as a Director and Vice-President; in 1936 made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and in 1968 appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada; died in Toronto, on August 3, 1995)
      • found: Canadian Encyclopedia online, viewed 7 June 2016: :Clennell Haggerston Dickins (Clennell Haggerston Dickins, "Punch," aviation pioneer; born at Portage la Prairie, Man, 12 Jan 1899; died 2 Aug 1995; grew up and educated in Edmonton; enlisted in the 196th Battalion of the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1921, and after being sent to England joined the 21st Reserve Battalion; in 1927, joined Western Canada Airways and dramatized the value of the bush plane, flying vast distances across northern Canada, including flying more than 6 000 kilometres in 37 hours over a 12 day period in northern Canada; piloted the first aircraft on the prairie airmail circuit and as part of his surveying and mapping expedition of 1928-29 flew the first prospectors into the Great Bear Lake area; in October 1928, made the first flight that established the Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary-Edmonton-Saskatoon-Winnipeg airmail route, and on 1 Jul 1929, became the first pilot to reach Aklavik on a postal flight and subsequently was made manager for the Mackenzie region for Canadian Airways; as operations manager of Ferry Command in the Second World War, he managed six British Commonwealth Air Training Plan schools; joined De Havilland Aircraft as director in 1947, and developed a successful worldwide sales organization; awarded the McKee Trophy in 1928, the Distinguished Flying Cross during the Second World War, named an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1936, and named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1968)
      • found: Edmonton journal, 5 August 1995:page A1 (C.H. "Punch" Dickins died Thursday evening [3 August] in a Toronto retirement home at the age of 96; survived by his wife Constance, and three children; his ashes will be scattered up the MacKenzie River; last of Canada's legendary bush pilots of the 1920s)
      • found: Find a grave web site, viewed 7 June 2016(Punch Dickins, 1899-1995; burial, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto)
      • found: Amicus database, 7 June 2016(heading: Dickins, Punch)

    • Instance Of

    • Scheme Membership(s)

    • Collection Membership(s)

    • Change Notes

      • 2016-06-13: new
      • 2016-06-14: revised

    • Alternate Formats