William George Barker

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This article is about the First World War pilot. For William George Barker, Film producer and director, see Will Barker.
William George Barker
3 November 1894–12 March 1930

Official RCAF photograph of Lieutenant Colonel William George Barker
Place of birth Dauphin, Manitoba
Place of death Ottawa, Ontario
Allegiance Canada
Service/branch Royal Canadian Air Force
Rank Lieutenant Colonel (RFC/RAF)
Wing Commander (RCAF)
Unit 4 Squadron, 15 Squadron,
Commands held 139 Squadron
Battles/wars First World War
Awards Victoria Cross
Distinguished Service Order & Bar
Military Cross & Two Bars
Croix de Guerre (France)
Two Silver Medals for Valour (Italy).
Relations Jean Smith
Other work President Fairchild Aircraft,

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

Contents

[edit] Early life

Born on a family farm in Dauphin, Manitoba, "Will" Barker grew up on the frontier of the Great Plains, riding horses, shooting, and working as youngster on his father's farm and at his sawmill.[1][2][3] He was an exceptional shot, using a lever-action Winchester that he had modified with his own peep sight. He was particularly adept at shooting on the move, even while on horseback. One biographer has suggested that he could have been a trick shooter in a circus. He was physically poised, emotionally intense, with wide-ranging interests, and had an innate flair for the dramatic act. He was a very good student in school, but had frequent absences due to farm and sawmill life; he was the hunter providing food for the workers in the sawmill while still a young teenager, and missed classes because of this obligation.

Barker fell in love with aviation after watching pioneer flyers in Curtiss and Wright flyers at farm exhibitions between 1910 and 1914. He was a Boy Scout at Russell, Manitoba, and a member of the 32nd Light Horse, a Non-Permanent Active Militia unit based at Roblin, Manitoba. He was in Grade 11 at Dauphin Collegiate Institute in the fall of 1914, just before his enlistment.

[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 Trooper William G. Barker in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles.[4] The regiment went to England in June 1915 and then to France on September 22 of that year. Barker was a Colt machine gunner with the Machine Gun Section of the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles until late February or early March of 1916, when he transferred as a probationary observer to 9 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.

He was commissioned as a second-lieutenant in April 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 on leave in London, he commenced pilot training at Netheravon. He served a second tour on Corps Co-operation machines as a pilot with 15 Squadron. On 25 April 1917 during the Arras Offensive, Barker, flying an RE 8 with observer Lt. Goodfellow, spotted over 1,000 German troops sheltering in support trenches. The duo directed artillery fire into the positions, thereby avoiding a counter attack.

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

After being wounded by anti-aircraft fire in August 1917, Barker transferred to become a scout pilot on the Sopwith Camel, being given command of C Flight in the newly formed 28 Squadron.

The unit moved to France on 8 October 1917, although on 7 November, 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 25 December 1917. Catching the Germans off guard, he and Harold Hudson, his wingman, shot up the airfield of Fliegerabteilung (A) 204, setting fire to one hangar and damaging four German aircraft before dropping a placard wishing their opponents a "Happy Christmas."

Barker joined No. 66 Squadron in April 1918, where he claimed a further 16 kills by mid-July. He then became Squadron commander of 139 Squadron, flying the Bristol Fighter. Barker however took his Sopwith Camel with him and continued to fly fighter operations. By this time, Barker's personal Sopwith Camel (serial no. B6313) had became the most successful fighter aircraft in the history of the RAF, having used 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, wherein he selected the Sopwith Snipe as his personal machine and attached himself to No. 201 Squadron RAF, whose squadron commander, Major Cyril Leman, was a pal from his days as a Corps Co-operation airman.

Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross

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 wounded three times 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. 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.

He is officially credited with one captured, two (and seven shared) balloons destroyed, 33 (and two shared) aircraft destroyed, and five aircraft "out of control;" the highest "destroyed" ratio for any RAF, RFC or RNAS pilot during the conflict.[5] The Overseas Military Forces of Canada recognized Barker as "holding the record for fighting decorations" awarded in the First World War.[citation needed]

[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. The Canadian Daily Record, a publication of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada, wrote in December 1918 that William Barker of Dauphin, Manitoba was the Canadian holding the record for "most fighting decorations" in the war. No other Canadian soldier, sailor or airman has surpassed this record, and the Canadian War Museum exhibit, located in Ottawa, Ontario, states: "Lieutenant Colonel William G. Barker, one of the legendary aces of the war, remains the most decorated Canadian in military service."[citation needed]

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. In 1922 he rejoined the fledgling Canadian Air Force in the rank of wing commander. Barker was appointed acting director of the RCAF in early 1924 and he graduated from RAF Staff College, Andover, in 1926. While waiting to start RAF Staff College Course No 4, Barker spent two weeks in Iraq with the RAF to learn more about the uses of air power. He formally reported on his findings to the Minister of National Defence, and informally to Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, of the US Air Service. 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, at Air Station Rockcliffe, near Ottawa, Ontario. 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) are 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's Flightpath series, a television documentary, included an episode entitled First of the Few, a biography of William Barker, broadcast in Canada on 27 April 1999.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Constable - Barker.
  2. ^ Billy Bishop - Barker.
  3. ^ Site Scapers - Barker.
  4. ^ Aerodrome - Barker.
  5. ^ Shores, Franks and Guest 1990

[edit] Bibliography

  • 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, p. E6.
  • Ralph, Wayne. Barker VC: The Classic Story of a Legendary First World War Hero. London: Grub Street, 1999. ISBN 1-902304-31-4.
  • Ralph, Wayne. William Barker VC: The Life, Death & Legend of Canada's Most Decorated War Hero. Mississauga, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., 2007. ISBN 978-0-470-83967-6.
  • Shores, Christopher, Franks, Norman and Guest, Russell. Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915-20. London: Grub Street, 1991. ISBN 0-94881-719-4.

[edit] External links