879 (Earl MacLeod) Wing Royal Canadian Air Force Association

 879 Wing proudly takes it's name in tribute to Air Commodore Earl Leslie MacLeod. Air Commodore MacLeod joined the British military during WWI and transferred from the army to the fledgling Royal Naval Air Service where he earned distinction as a combat pilot. After the war he earned a reputation as a flying boat pilot during a time when Canada led the world in finding new ways for the use of aircraft. He was the first to use aircraft on customs patrols on the watch for illegal narcotics and rum shipments and occasionally working for the fisheries department transplanting fish eggs. 

    In 1921 MacLeod was based at Kamloops, British Columbia (BC) working with the Forest Service. He piloted the first aircraft to complete an aerial survey in BC. He then flew on the first Geodetic Survey which established triangulation stations across southern BC. In 1923 he flew the first plane to arrive at Prince Rupert where he flew policing of the salmon fishery. From the late 1920's until the mid 1930's MacLeod served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England, RCAF Station Beach (Vancouver); Kingston, and Winnipeg, In 1935 he was appointed Air Staff Officer at Esquimalt BC and in 1938 he commanded Jericho. During WWII he served in Ottawa, at RCAF Headquarters in London, England, and as Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group Western Air Command in Victoria BC  until his retirement in 1944.

     Inside the Chilliwack Airport is a memorial to Air Commodore Earl Leslie MacLeod (1894-1987

     View a 1941 portrait of Air Commodore MacLeod from the National Portrait Gallery, London UK