Career
George Roberts Howsam"s parents were George and Ida Cutting Howsam. The younger George Howsam joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force right out of high school, on 23 March 1916. He gave his home address as Rural Route 4, Portuguese Perry, Ontario.
He is described as being a Methodist, five feet six inches tall, blue eyed, with fair complexion.
He served successively with the 116th (Ontario County) Battalion, CEF and the 182nd (Ontario County) Battalion, CEF. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in Spring 1917, while he was still in Canada. He trained at Deseronto and Camp Borden.
Howsam joined 70 Squadron in Autumn 1917 as a Sopwith Camel pilot. He repeated on 19 January 1918, sending the Albatros down out of control at Moorslede, Belgium.
Three days later, he flew three sorties, and scored every time.
He destroyed an Albatros Doctorate.V at 1245. His next sortie set an observation plane aflame at 1315. On his last sortie, he and Captain Frank Granger Quigley cooperated in flaming one Albatros Doctorate.V and putting another down out of control.
A victory apiece on the 24th and 25th, and Howsam ended January 1918 with eight wins.
Another followed on 27 February. Within a week, he downed three more planes.
On 24 March, he was wounded in action and withdrawn to Home Establishment. He would return to the front as a Flight Commander in 43 Squadron in October.
Flying a Sopwith Snipe, he set a Fokker Doctorate.VII afire on 30 October to cap his career as an ace.
His final total was eight German planes destroyed and five driven down out of control. Howsam did not return to Canada until May 1921. He attended the Royal Air Force Staff College in 1930.
During World World War II, he served as Director of Training for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He retired in 1945.