Captain Jeffery Batters Home-Hay MC, DFC (2 February 1887 – 14 June 1953) was a Scottish-born Canadian who became a flying ace during World War I.
[2] He was orphaned in his youth, and emigrated with his widowed mother and his five siblings from Scotland to Canada prior to World War I,[4] in 1908.
On his enlistment attestation paper, he gave his residence as Kamsack, his occupation as steam fitter, and claimed prior military experience.
[3] Towards the end of this duty, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders effective 23 November 1915, with pay and allowances to begin 6 January 1916.
He moved with it to France in early 1917 to fly artillery cooperation duty,[4] for which he won a Military Cross.
[9] On 1 July 1917, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in his home regiment, the Argylls, but remained seconded to the RFC.
His award citation noted: Unmentioned in this citation is an instance of gallantry that had been noted in the letter of recommendation for the award: Home-Hay's pilot's log was lost during his confinement by the Germans, but he later estimated that by war's end he had over 1,500 hours flight time in two-seater aircraft.
Types flown included not just DH.9s, but Maurice Farmans, Avros, Royal Aircraft Factory RE.8s, and Airco DH.4s; he had also logged some time on Bristol Scout and Sopwith Snipe fighters.
99 Squadron RAF lost seven out of nine planes on 31 July 1918 while bombing Saarbrücken, Germany, Home-Hay helped lead a successful follow-up attack.
[3] Meanwhile, he was farming in Canada when asked to take part in the first Canadian transcontinental flight from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver[4] in late August 1920.
[3][4] He returned to military service with the Royal Canadian Air Force; from 4 January through 19 March 1932 he took a navigational course as a Flight Lieutenant.