Aviator.
Born at Great Ouseburn, Yorkshire, England on 26 April 1899, during the First World War he served with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. He came to Canada in 1919 and was an instructor at the Brandon Flying Club and Fort William Flying Club, and worked at the Pigeon Lumber Company and Arrow Airways. In 1930, he was an instructor at the Manitoba Aero Association Limited. He was hired by Canadian Airways Limited in 1934 to take charge of its base at Lac du Bonnet.
From 27 November to 20 December 1939, he flew a Junkers aircraft from Winnipeg to Repulse Bay (Nunavut) and back to rescue a missionary with severe frostbite. It was a crucial medical mission covering a vast northern expanse and set a record as Canada's longest ambulance flight. He was transferred to Winnipeg in 1941 as Superintendent of Canadian Airways' mid-west office.
He and wife Mary Elizabeth Hammond (1906-1987) had four sons and three daughters. He was a member of the Masons (Pine Falls Lodge). He died at the Health Sciences Centre on 27 March 1974. Catton Lake in northern Manitoba is named for him and his cremains were distributed there.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 29 March 1974, page 29.
Obituary [Mary Elizabeth Catton], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 October 1987, page 41.
William Edward Catton, FamilySearch.
Image No. 3784, Aviation - Personalities, James A. Richardson Collection, Western Canada Pictorial Index.
We thank Darlene Ans for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 18 January 2026
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