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William George Barker

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This article is about the WWI pilot. For the artist, see Bill Barker.
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Lieutenant-Colonel William George Barker VC DSO and Bar MC and Two Bars (November 3, 1894 – March 12, 1930) was a Canadian World War I fighter ace and Victoria Cross winner.

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[edit] World War I

Born on a family farm in Dauphin, Manitoba he enlisted as No 106074 Private William G. Barker in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles in December 1914 soon after the outbreak of WWI. The regiment went to England in spring of 1915 and then to France on September 22 the same year. The regiment gave up their horses and fought in the trenches as infantry.

He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps 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 April 2 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 August 27 and on September 15 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, 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 October 26, 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 day 1917 in Italy. Catching the Germans off guard he and his wingman, Harold Hudson, badly damaged an airfield, setting fire to one hangar and damaging several German aircraft. It is said that one of his favourite wingmen was the fighter ace Lieutenant Gerald Birks.

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

Having flown more than 900 combat hours in two and one half years, Barker's wing commander in Italy transferred him home to the UK in September 1918. In London at RAF HQ he was granted a 10-day roving commission in France, selected the Sopwith Snipe as his personal machine, and attached himself to 201 Squadron, 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, October 27 1918. While delivering his Snipe to an aircraft depot, he crossed enemy lines at 21,000 feet above the Foret 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 then 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 and it is estimated 100,000 watched the latter stage of his aerial battle from the ground. Severely wounded and bleeding to death, his life was saved by the men of an RAF Kite Balloon Section, who got him to a field dressing station.

He clung to life until mid-January 1919 in the hospital at Rouen, France, 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 March 1 1919.

His official wartime record was 1 aircraft captured, 2 (and 7 shared) balloons destroyed, 33 aircraft (and 2 shared) destroyed, 5 aircraft 'out of control'.

[edit] Post War

Barker returned to Canada in May of that year 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.

He also 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 infant 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 to 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.

An elementary school in Dauphin, Manitoba is named in his honour.

[edit] References

  • Drew, George A. (1930). Canada's Fighting Airmen. MacLean.
  • Ralph, Wayne (1999). BARKER VC: The Classic Story of a Legendary First World War Hero. Grub Street, London. ISBN 1-902304-31-4.
  • Enman, Charles. "Billy Barker: 'The deadliest air fighter that ever lived'", Ottawa Citizen, November 12 2005, pp. E6.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/William_George_Barker"
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