By: Rénald Fortier
Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation
A terrific trio active during the early days of aviation in Québec: Ernest Anctil, Gustave Pollien and Percival Hall Reid, part 1
The biplane fabricated by Ernest Anctil (on the left in the lower photograph) and Gustave Pollien, Cartierville, Québec. Anon., “The first Montreal-made biplane.” The Standard, 5 October 1912, 4.
Hello and welcome, my reading friend. I dare to hope that things are going well in your corner of the Milky Way galaxy.
Yours truly is pleased to inform you that we will concern ourselves with aviation this week. Yes, yes, aviation. A subject at the heart of the concerns of the stunning Canada Aviation and Space Museum, in Ottawa, Ontario.
Let us begin this issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee with a quote, namely the caption of a pair of photographs located in an October 1912 issue of a very interesting weekly illustrated newspaper, The Standard, published in Montréal, Québec.
The above views show the first successful biplane constructed in Montreal. The upper picture conveys an excellent idea of the chassis and landing gear of this machine, which so admirably fits it for use in this country where more or less rough landings are expected. The machine was constructed by Mr. E. Anctil (on left in lower picture) and Mr. Gustave Pollien (right), late foreman of the Caudron Shops in Paris. The machine is an exact reproduction of the Standard Caudron model biplane which has been so successful during this season in France. The lower picture affords an excellent view of the power plant, which consists of a 50 H.P. Viale motor, with a Chauviere tractor [propeller]. The workmanship of this machine reflects the very greatest credit upon its constructors, and is quite equal in this respect to the best European models.
And yes, yours truly must admit to having a weakness for the beginnings of aviation, more precisely for the period preceding the outbreak of the First World War, in July / August 1914.
So let us dive into the era in question. In moderation of course. Let us not forget, moderation is always in good taste, a way of thinking that seems so outdated these days. Anyway, let us move on. Indeed, let us move on to one of the heroes of our historical narrative for today.
Gustave Pollien was apparently born in 1880, in Assens, Switzerland. Like many young people of his generation, he was passionate about aviation. Indeed, he worked for a French aeroplane manufacturer, the Société des Avions Caudron, it seemed, a firm founded in 1909 under the name of Aéroplanes Caudron Frères, I think, by Alphonse Joseph Augustin “Gaston” Caudron and René Albert Joseph Caudron.
I will teach you nothing by saying (typing?) that the Caudron brothers completed an aeroplane, baptized Romiotte 1, the name of the farm where they were raised, during the summer of 1908. Exasperated by the delivery times of the 2 small engines of that machine, never delivered actually, they carried out a certain number of sustained and controlled gliding flights in the spring of 1909, thanks to the motive power provided by Luciole, the mare of the family farm. And yes, the glider sometimes landed a tad hard.
The Caudron brothers began the construction of a smaller single-engine aeroplane in July 1909, the Type A it seemed. One of them was at the controls for a first flight in September. He crashed the next day, during a turn. The young man was not injured but the accident required serious repairs.
The Caudron brothers flew many times in 1910. They then worked in concert with the Société anonyme française d’aviation, a small firm founded in their corner of the universe, in the far north of France, to manage the sale of their aeroplanes. The two men quickly parted with it, however, following certain disagreements of a commercial nature.
It went without saying that the Caudron brothers designed a series of aeroplanes from 1910 onward. Indeed, they inaugurated a flying school in 1911.
Allow me to note that René and “Gaston” Caudron obtained their pilot’s licenses in August 1910 and March 1911, which meant that they had flown for a while without any official documents – a quite common situation at the time.
The aforementioned Pollien was apparently among the personnel of the Société des Avions Caudron. He actually claimed to have been a foreman for 4 years. That long work experience was highly unlikely, however, given the chronology of events. In any event, Pollien later joined the staff of Aéroplanes Maurice Farman, an even better known French aeroplane manufacturer.
Pollien emigrated to Canada in 1911. More precisely, he emigrated to Montréal, the metropolis of Canada. Pollien seemed to had arrived in Québec after spending a (short?) time in the United States.
In any event, Pollien found employment, apparently mechanical in nature, with a small automobile repair firm / workshop owned by Alphonse Barreyre, a French bicycle / motorcycle racing pilot, and a certain Dachez / Daches – possibly Charles Daché, a French bicycling enthusiast. He claimed to have a pilot’s license, which did not appear to be the case.
A brief digression if I may. From the looks of it, Barreyre had emigrated to Canada in 1907. More specifically, he had emigrated to Alberta where he squatted on a piece of land north-east of Edmonton, Alberta, near a lake which now bears his name. Barreyre seemingly had some reservations about Alberta: “Robbed, my friend, I am robbed, Canada is a country that is dishonestly advertised, a desolate country and one completely ruined by the downturn in the United States.” Appalled by the cold and poor soils, this resident of southern France quickly threw in the towel and moved to Montréal.
It was apparently not during his long working days that Pollien met a foreman and aviation enthusiast. Nay. His path had apparently crossed that of Quebecer Ernest Anctil while the latter was taking a piloting and / or aviation mechanics course at the Caudron brothers’ school. Another version of that meeting placed it at the aerodrome of Juvisy-sur-Orge, not far from Paris, while Pollien was working for Aéroplanes Maurice Farman. Can you untangle that web, my reading friend, because I am quite incapable of doing it? Anyway, let us move on.
Anctil was born in Montréal in 1888. Unfortunately, yours truly knows nothing of his life before 1910, except that he was a mechanic by profession.
In fact, it was in 1910 that the aeronautical phase of Anctil’s life began, a phase discussed, without him being mentioned, however, in a May 2020 issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee. Yes, yes, the issue dedicated to Montréal’s first aeroplane, the Blériot Type XI then owned by William Carruthers, a well-known Montréal grain farmer, horse racing enthusiast and patron of the automobile mentioned in March and May 2020 issues from that same online publication known throughout our galaxy.
You will remember that said Type XI was to participate in one of the most significant aeronautical events held in Canada before the First World War, and the very first air show / meeting held in Canada. Said event was the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de Montréal held between 25 June and 5 July 1910. And yes, my reading friend, that was a lot of helds.
Do you remember, however, that the pilot of Carruthers’ Type XI was a little-known French aviator and mechanic named Paul Miltgen, also spelled Miltzen, Miltjen, Miltjean and Mietgen, and sometimes referred to as Gustave Milgen?
Miltgen took to the air on 25 June but soon crashed. The crowd at the site held its breath, fearing the worst. Almost miraculously, Miltgen escaped almost without injury from that rather spectacular accident. The Type XI was quite seriously damaged, however (shattered propeller, fuselage broken in two and separated from the wings, etc.).
Miltgen being unable to carry out all the repair work alone, he hired an assistant. And you know of course who that was. Anctil, you ask? Bingo!
As he worked on the Type XI, Anctil gradually realised that he could make a similar aeroplane without too much difficulty, if he had the time.
Relatively soon after the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de Montréal, Anctil joined the staff of Comet Motor Car Company Limited of Montréal, a firm created around 1907 which may have assembled a few automobiles around that time, before becoming the representative / depository / dealer for a number of American automobile manufacturers, as well as for McLaughlin Motor Car Company of Oshawa, Ontario, a firm featured in November 2018 and March 2020 issues of our you know what.
Anctil met another Montréal mechanic by profession who was also passionate about aviation during the second half of 1910.
Born in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, in January 1891, Percival Hall “Percy” Reid moved to Montréal with his family in 1901. In 1910, he was superintendent of shops at Stockwell Motor Company of Montréal, a representative / depository / dealer of a certain number of American automobile manufacturers. Indeed, Reid had been in the automotive business since 1907-08.
Would you believe that Reid received a free pass allowing him to attend the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de Montréal? That gift suggested that the interest of that young man for aerial matters was rather well known at the time. Anyway, let us move on.
Reid and Anctil decide to join their altogether limited forces and resources in order to build two aeroplanes, a Reid aeroplane and an Anctil aeroplane. As that work could only be done outside working hours, progress was slow. At the beginning of 1911, Reid and Anctil decided to concentrate their efforts on the then most complete aeroplane, that of Reid.
Reid and Anctil could then count on the support of an aviation enthusiast from Montréal, Frenchman Georges Husson. The director of the Franco-American Automobile Company of Montréal helped them get their hands on 2 engines, as well as on the materials they needed. Indeed, a certain F.J. Murray gave an American engine to Reid, for example. And yes, Husson was mentioned in a May 2020 article of our you always know what.
You think that Murray might be Frank J. Murray, owner of the Grand Union Hotel in Montréal? That is possible but neither you nor I could prove it.
The Reid monoplane, Cartierville, Québec. Anon., “Reed [sic] pratique avec son monoplan à Cartierville.” La Presse, 9 June 1911, 1.
Reid and Anctil completed an aeroplane in the spring of 1911. That Reid monoplane looked a tad like a Type XI. This being said (typed?), the fuselage of the Anctil monoplane seemed to be complete by June 1911 at the latest. The young man was awaiting delivery of the French engine he had ordered, however.
On 7 June 1911, in front of a few rare guests / witnesses, including Husson, Reid performed ground tests on the grounds of the defunct Montreal Polo Club, in Cartierville, Québec. Said land, or part of said land may, I repeat may, have belonged at the time to a farmer by the name of Gervais Cousineau. Reid made a short hop before rain put an end to the day’s activities. And yes, the Reid monoplane may very well be the first Montréal / Québec-designed aeroplane to have successfully left the ground. Reid resumed his ground tests the next day.
Gradually realising that the engine of his aeroplane was not powerful enough, Reid replaced it with another. Thus modified, the machine performed much better. At the end of September, for example, Reid carried out a few debugging flights in view of the major aviation meeting to be held in Montréal, from 6 to 11 (?) October, on a site known more or less officially under the name of de Lorimier / Delorimier Park. These were undoubtedly the first sustained and controlled flights of an aeroplane of Montréal / Québec design.
For some reason, Reid did not fly during that event organized by the Automobile and Aero Club of Canada Incorporated of Montréal, an organisation mentioned in March and May 2020 issues of our blog / bulletin / thingee. This being said (typed?), his monoplane may, I repeat may, have been on site.
Indeed, said aviation meeting was interrupted on 7 October, following an accident to the French aviator Romain Gressier. The activities of the meeting were then postponed to 14 and 15 October. During the latter day, Gressier had another accident and broke his shoulder. At the beginning of the 20th century, aviation was certainly not a sport without danger.
Yours truly does not know what Reid was up to during the following weeks but the fact was that, at the end of December 1911, on Christmas day perhaps, Reid left the ground 4 times, in Cartierville. Numbed by the cold and bothered by fog, Reid crashed during his fourth flight. He was not seriously injured but his machine suffered serious damage.
As implied above, at the end of 1911, or the beginning of 1912, Anctil went to France, to the aerodrome of Juvisy-sur-Orge, and / or perhaps elsewhere, to the school of the Caudron brothers for example, in order to undergo piloting and / or aviation mechanic training. He returned to Montréal in May 1912 – after a stay of 3 to 6 months. Would you believe that it was that young Quebecer who encouraged the aforementioned Pollien to emigrate to Canada, a promising country for aviation and aviators?
If I may be permitted a brief comment, Anctil’s contribution may not have been fully appreciated by the good people who have written texts on the early days of aviation in Montréal, Québec and Canada, but I digress.
Reid took to the air again in June 1912, still on the grounds of the defunct Montreal Polo Club. He went around it twice at low altitude. Intrigued by what was happening a stone’s throw from his home, the aforementioned Cousineau allowed Reid to use a shed to protect his machine from the elements – and onlookers.
Reid seemingly completed a second aeroplane around August 1912. The propeller of that highly successful monoplane may have been carved by Pollien. While the young aviator usually flew from Cartierville aerodrome, he did however fly at least once from Longue-Pointe, a district on the east of the island of Montréal. And yes, Reid used his automobile to tow his partially disassembled aeroplane. Such a stroll through the streets and on country roads would not have gone unnoticed.
Before I forget, Reid flew off on at least one occasion from Frank Stephen Meighen’s estate, located not far from his usual base of operation. Meighen was a wealthy Montréal businessman passionate about opera.
Percival Hall Reid at the controls of the Deperdussin Type A of the Sloane School of Aviation, Hempstead Plains / Mineola, New York. Anon., “A Youthful Canadian Bird-Man.” The Standard, 26 October 1912, 4.
Somewhat later in 1912, in September it seemed, Reid traveled to Hempstead Plains / Mineola, New York, to take a piloting course at the Sloane School of Aviation. The training in question was certainly not cheap. Reid indeed had to pay the modest sum of US $ 300, or nearly $ 12 300 in 2022 Canadian currency. In any event, he obtained his pilot’s license in October. Reid appeared to be the 4th Canadian to obtain such a document.
A brief digression if I may. The American flying school Reid attended was seemingly associated in some way with Sloane Aeroplane Company. These two firms could indeed have owed their existence to John Eyre Sloane, a businessman and inventor from a good family.
Another brief digression. Yours truly wonders if the Type A aboard which Reid was in the photograph above was the aeroplane cited in a writ of seizure requested in September 1912 by George Miller Dyott. That British electrical engineer and pilot, previously associated with the Sloane School of Aviation, claimed to be both the owner of the aeroplane and the representative / depositary / dealer on American soil of the French firm which manufactured said aeroplane, the Société de production des aéroplanes Deperdussin (SPAD).
Sloane obviously denied these assertions, proclaiming to anyone who would listen that he was the sole owner of the aeroplane and the sole representative / depositary / dealer of SPAD on American soil.
History did not say what happened to the Type A, but the fact was that Sloane Aeroplane could not convince the United States Army Signal Corps to order so much as one example of that machine.
And yes, you were absolutely right. The acronym SPAD identified the French firm which designed some of the best fighter planes used during the First World War, the SPAD S.VII C1 and S.XIII C.1. The acronym SPAD then meant Société pour l’aviation et ses dérivés, however.
Why such a corporate name change, you ask? A good juicily digressionary question. You see, the founder of SPAD, Armand Jean Auguste Deperdussin, traveling salesman then singer then silk magnate before embarking on aeronautics, was arrested in August 1913 for embezzlement. The amount embezzled may have been colossal: 30 000 000 francs, or nearly $ 133 000 000 in 2022 Canadian currency.
Deperdussin’s financial empire, including SPAD, the Société de production des aéroplanes Deperdussin of course, collapsed. The Établissements Blériot Aéronautique, a sister / brother firm of the Société anonyme des Établissements L. Blériot, a well-known French manufacturer of headlamps for horse-drawn carriages and horseless carriages / automobiles, picked up SPAD for a pittance. Aware of its fame and of the fame of the acronym SPAD, the new management decided to preserve said acronym by changing the name of the firm, from Société de production des aéroplanes Deperdussin to Société pour l’aviation et ses dérivés. Tadaa. Sorry. But back to Reid.
Yours truly does not know what that young aviator fiddled with after returning home. In August 1913, however, he completed a third aeroplane, very possibly also equipped with a propeller carved by Pollien. That greatly improved machine was destroyed by a windstorm in October. Said storm also destroyed a shed erected in 1912 by or for Reid, in Cartierville. That small building was in all likelihood the very first aeroplane hangar erected in Canada.
In late 1913, early 1914, an influential member of Montréal’s influential Morgan family, owner of a well-known Montréal department store, Henry Morgan & Company Limited, agreed to support Reid financially and more generally. Armed with the support offered by Harold Matthew Morgan, Reid designed and built a flying boat.
Need I point out that Henry Morgan & Company was mentioned in November 2021 and September 2022 issues of… Alright, alright, I will not insist.
Reid’s flying machine, the first flying boat designed and manufactured in Québec and Canada, was born at Graystanes, the luxurious country residence of the Morgan family, in Senneville, Québec, at the far west of the island of Montréal, on the shores of the Lac des Deux Montagnes. Reid was at the controls for the first flight, which took place in late October, early November 1914.
That historic aeroplane was seemingly quickly put into storage. Reid restored it to flying condition in 1919 and took to the air aboard it at least once. Indeed, the Reid flying boat may had flown in 1919 and 1920. Unfortunately, it was subsequently scrapped. Pity.
Before I forget, the Établissements Blériot Aéronautique and the Société anonyme des Établissements L. Blériot were mentioned in a May 2020 issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee, but back to the other main characters in our story of today, namely Anctil and Pollien.
Hmmm, having kept you in suspense for quite some time, I see no problem in having you cool your heels until next week. Bwa ha ha. Sorry.
Rénald Fortier
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