Billy Fiske
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the British politician, see Bill Fiske.
| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Bobsleigh | |||
| Gold | 1928 St. Moritz | Five-man | |
| Gold | 1932 Lake Placid | Four-man | |
William Meade Lindsley "Billy" Fiske III (June 4, 1911 – August 17, 1940), was an American notable for his achievements in the 1928 Winter Olympics, as well as being the first American pilot casualty of World War II during the Battle of Britain.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a wealthy banking family. At the age of 16, Billy Fiske became the youngest American to win an Olympic gold medal while participating in the 1928 Winter Olympic Games. He was the driver of the U.S. Bobsled team, which was the first team to win a gold medal for the U.S. in that event. He repeated this success in the 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.
In 1928, he began a degree in Economics and History at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
In 1939 he decided to attempt to join Britain's Royal Air Force to help combat the Nazi advance across Europe. As the U.S. had not yet entered the war, Americans wishing to fight had to join the militaries of engaged countries. The RAF would only accept applications from British citizens, but Fiske was able to gain entry by filing false information claiming Canadian citizenship, and by working personal connections within the organization.
He became Acting Pilot Officer Fiske on April 12, 1940, and 3 months later on July 12 he was assigned to No 601 Auxiliary Air Force Squadron at Tangmere.
On August 11 he claimed the first probable kill, of a Bf 110 and on August 13 he claimed the probable kill of a Junkers Ju 88. On August 16, 1940 his squadron was scrambled to repel a German dive bomber attack against the Tangmere aerodrome. The mission succeeded and the German bombers were forced to retreat. However Fiske was severely burnt when his Hurricane P3358 crashed and caught fire while landing. Billy Fiske died a day later from shock at the Royal West Sussex Hospital in Chichester.
Fiske was laid to rest in the Boxgrove cemetery in Sussex, England.
In 1941, a tablet in his honour was unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
[edit] Documentaries and movie
In March 2005, The History Channel broadcast a documentary titled American Warrior: Billy Fiske.
According to the Internet Movie Database, Tom Cruise is to star in "The Few", a film about the life of Billy Fiske set for release in 2008. Michael Mann is slated to direct. "Tom Cruise stars in the true-life story of American pilot Billy Fiske, who ignored his country's neutrality rules in the early days of WWII and flew Hurricanes against the Germans."
Ben Clinch, a RAF armourer for Billy Fiske and his comrades during the summer of 1940, said, "I can't see how they can make a film of Fiske's life. It was quite short. He was unremarkable, in the context of the squadron. He was just another pilot as far as we were concerned."
Speaking to The Independent, Bill Bond of the Battle of Britain Historical Society ([1]) argued that whilst Fiske was a remarkable character, it was important to remember that he recorded no confirmed kills. "It is going to be a farce if we have the Yanks shooting down everything in sight, the battle was four weeks old when Billy was shot down. He made several sorties but he didn't shoot anything down, and his impact on the battle was negligible. We are concerned."
