William George Barker

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This article is about the First World War pilot. For the artist, see Bill Barker.
William George Barker
Official RCAF photograph of Lieutenant Colonel William George Barker
Born 3 November 1894
Dauphin, Manitoba
Died March 12, 1930 (aged 35)
Ottawa, Ontario
Occupation Aviator
Businessman
Spouse Jean Smith
Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross

Lieutenant-Colonel William George Barker, VC, DSO and Bar, MC and Two Bars (3 November 1894 – 12 March 1930) was a Canadian First World War fighter ace and Victoria Cross winner.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Born on a family farm in Dauphin, Manitoba, "Will" Barker grew up as a typical farm boy. He wasn't particularly interested in school work and spent most of his free time riding his horse and hunting birds with a shotgun. He had a great interest in shooting as a teenager and spent much of his allowance and earned money on ammunition.[1] He also became quite proficient with a rifle while shooting at a variety of ranges around Dauphin and Winnipeg. His family moved to Winnipeg shortly before the war started.

[edit] First World War

In December 1914, soon after the outbreak of the First World War and the subsequent call to arms in the Dominion of Canada, Barker enlisted as No 106074 Private William G. Barker in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. It seemed natural that he join the cavalry, given his skills in horsemanship. The regiment went to England in spring of 1915 and then to France on 22 September the same year. The regiment gave up their horses and fought in the trenches as infantry.

At that time, the Royal Flying Corps had a requirement for air crew and considered men like Barker who had an innate sense of balance from years of riding horses as a preferred candidate. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) as a gunner/observer with the rank of corporal in March 1916. He joined 9 Squadron which was a Corps Cooperation squadron operating on the Somme. On 2 April, he was commissioned as a second-lieutenant and was given five days leave in London to acquire an officer's uniform and equipment. On his return, he was assigned to 4 Squadron and later transferred to 15 Squadron. He officially qualified as an observer on 27 August and on 15 September he worked for the first time with Canadian troops including his old regiment. He was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in November 1916 in the concluding stages of the Battle of the Somme. In January 1917, after spending Christmas in London on leave, he commenced pilot training at Netheravon. He served a second tour on Corps Cooperation machines as a pilot, prior to becoming a fighter pilot on the Sopwith Camel. An attempt was made to make him an instructor but, by deliberately violating rules against stunt flying, he managed to get transferred back to France. He was given command of A flight of 28 Squadron.

On 26 October, No. 28 Squadron was transferred to Italy and most of the unit, including aircraft and with Barker temporarily in command, travelled by train to Milan. One of his most successful, and also most controversial raids, fictionalized by Ernest Hemingway in the short story, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, was on Christmas 1917 in Italy. Catching the Germans off guard, he and Harold Hudson, his wingman, badly damaged an airfield, setting fire to one hangar and damaging several German aircraft. It was noted that one of his favourite wingmen was the fighter ace Lieutenant Gerald Birks.

The Sopwith Camel was Barker's favourite aircraft
The Sopwith Camel was Barker's favourite aircraft

By this time, Barker's personal Sopwith Camel (serial no. B6313) had became the most successful fighter aircraft in the history of the RAF, using it to shoot down 46 aircraft and balloons from September 1917 to September 1918, for a total of 404 operational flying hours. It was dismantled in October 1918, Barker keeping the clock as a memento - although he was asked to return it the following day.

Having flown more than 900 combat hours in two and one half years, Barker was transferred back to the UK in September 1918. In London at RAF HQ, he was granted a ten-day roving commission in France, wherin he selected the Sopwith Snipe as his personal machine and attached himself to No. 201 Squadron RAF, whose squadron commander, Cyril Leman, was a pal from his days as an observer.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on day 10, Sunday, 27 October 1918. While delivering his Snipe to an aircraft depot, he crossed enemy lines at 21,000 feet above the Forêt de Mormal. He attacked an enemy two-seater which broke up, its crew escaping by parachute. By his own admission, he was careless and was bounced by a formation of Fokker D.VIIs. In a descending battle against 15 or more enemy machines, Barker was three times wounded in the legs, then his left elbow was blown away, yet he managed to control his Snipe and shoot down or drive down three more enemy aircraft. The dogfight took place immediately above the lines of the Canadian Corps; it is estimated that 100,000 watched the latter stage of his aerial battle from the ground. Severely wounded and bleeding profusely, his life was saved by the men of an RAF Kite Balloon Section, who transported him to a field dressing station.

At the hospital in Rouen, France, Barker clung to life until mid-January 1919, and then was transported back to England. He was not fit enough to walk the necessary few paces for the investiture at Buckingham Palace until 1 March 1919.

Although his victories may have amounted to greater numbers, his official wartime record was one aircraft captured, two (and seven shared) balloons destroyed, 33 aircraft (and two shared) destroyed, and five aircraft "out of control."

[edit] Postwar

Barker returned to Canada in May 1919 as the most decorated Canadian soldier of the war, with the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, the Military Cross and two Bars, the French Croix de guerre and two Italian Silver Medals for Valour. He was also mentioned in dispatches three times. No one in Canadian military history has matched his record of decorations awarded and hence he is the most decorated soldier in Canadian history.

Barker formed a business partnership, Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes Limited, with fellow-Victoria Cross recipient and Canadian ace Billy Bishop which lasted for about three years. Lieutenant Colonel Barker rejoined the fledgling Canadian Air Force in 1922, and was appointed acting director of the RCAF in early 1924. He graduated from RAF Staff College, Andover, in 1926. One of his achievements in the RCAF was the introduction of parachutes. After leaving the RCAF he became the first president of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club, and involved in tobacco growing farms in southwestern Ontario.

He suffered from the physical effects of his 1918 gunshot wounds, and struggled with alcoholism in the last few years of his life. He died in 1930 near Ottawa when he lost control of his Fairchild KR-21 biplane trainer during a demonstration flight for the RCAF. Barker, aged 35, was at the time the president and general manager of Fairchild Aircraft in Montreal.

[edit] Legacy

His funeral, the largest national state event in Toronto's history, was attended by an honour guard of 2,000 soldiers. The cortege stretched for more than a mile and a half, and included the Chief of the General Staff and his senior officers, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Mayor of Toronto, three federal government cabinet ministers, and six other Victoria Cross recipients. An honour guard was also provided by the United States Army. Some 50,000 spectators lined the streets of Toronto en route to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where Barker was interred in his wife's family crypt in the Mausoleum.

In his hometown, Dauphin, Manitoba, an elementary school and the Barker Airport (dedicated in 1998) is named in his honour. During the week of 8 January 1999, the Canadian Federal Government designated Barker a person of national historic significance, while the Discovery Channel, First of the Few television documentary broadcast in Canada on 27 April 1999 was a biography of William Barker.

[edit] References

  • Drew, George A. Canada's Fighting Airmen. Toronto: MacLean Publishing Co. Ltd., 1930.
  • Enman, Charles. "Billy Barker: 'The Deadliest Air Fighter that ever Lived'". Ottawa Citizen, 12 November 2005, page: E6.
  • Ralph, Wayne. Barker VC: The Classic Story of a Legendary First World War Hero. London: Grub Street, 1999. ISBN 1-902304-31-4.

[edit] External links

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