See also: Barker

The lieutenant-colonel William George Barker VC, DSO, MC (November 3rd 1894 – March 12th 1930) was a ace of Canadian aviation during the First World War.

Born in the family farm with Dolphin in the Manitoba, " Will" Barker grows as a farm hand. It was not particularly interested by the school and spent most clearly its time to ride a horse and to drive out. Its interest for the shooting was reinforced whereas it was adolescent and of this fact it spent the major part of its pocket money in ammunition. It became a gunner of talent, being involved on multiple distances to the neighborhoods of Dolphin or Winnipeg. Its family moved in Winnipeg little time before the First World War does not start.

First World War

In December 1914, shortly after the beginning of the war and the mobilization issued with the Canada, Barker engages in the first regiment of Mounted Rifles (riding armed with rifles). It seemed natural that it engages in the cavalry, using for this purpose its last experiment. Its regiment left for the England during spring 1915 and then in France the September 22nd the same year. Finally, the horses were forsaken and the regiment is converted into infantry, combatant in the trenches.

At this time, the Royal Flying Corps was in the search of pilots and threw his reserved on men such as Barker because those had an acquired direction of the balance, inherited their experiments of riders. Barker was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in March 1916 as an observer/machine gunner, with the rank of Caporal. It joined the 9th flotilla, which was being a body of co-operation in the area of the Somme. The April 2nd, it accepted the rank of second lieutenant and was seen granting five days of permission to London in order to get a uniform of officer. With its return, it was transferred to the 4th flotilla and later to the 15th flotilla. It officially began like observer the August 27th and the September 15th was useful for the first time at the sides of its compatriots of which those of its old regiment. It accepted the Military Cross for its actions at the time of the final stage of the Bataille of the Sum in November 1916. In January 1917, after having celebrated Christmas in London, it started as pilot, being involved on the basis of Netheravon. It was used second once as pilot within the body as co-operation, before becoming fighter pilot on a Sopwith Camel. There was an attempt to make an instructor of it but, Barker violating the rules of aerial combat deliberately, was arranged to be again transferred in France. It then accepted the command of a group within the 28e flotilla.

The October 26th, the 28e flotilla was transferred in Italy and majority of the unit, so much the personnel which the planes, travelled by train until Milan. One of its raids most famous, but also one of the most discussed, fictionalized by Ernest Hemingway in its work snows of Kilimandjaro , occurred the December 25th 1917 in Italy. Taking German by surprise, Barker and its team-member, Harold Hudson, damaged an aerodrome seriously, concentrating their fire on a hangar and destroying several planes. It is known as that one of its preferred fellow-members was the ace Gerald Birks.

At this time, the apparatus of Barker became the most prolific plane of the history of RAF, cutting down forty six planes and balloons of September 1917 at September 1918, on a 404 hours total of vol. It was withdrawn from the service in October 1918, Barker keeping the watch like remembering, even if it were asked to him to give it the next day!

After having flown more than nine hundred hours on mission of combat over one period of two years and half, the commander de Barker transferred it to the the United Kingdom in September 1918. At the general headquarters of the RAF in London, he lives himself to grant ten days an itinerant mandate. Barker chooses a Sopwith Snipe and joined of its own boss the 201e flotilla, which was ordered then by Cyril Leman, one of his/her companions when it was observant.

It accepted the Croix of Victoria for her merit during the day of the October 27th 1918. Whereas it took along its apparatus towards the deposit, it crosses the enemy lines with a six thousand five hundred meters height above the Forêt of Mormal. It attacked an enemy two-seater aircraft, it breaking into two, the crew of this last escaping in parachute. Of its own consent, it showed imprudence and was taken in hunting by a group of Fokker D.VII S. In an aerial combat downward and intense against about fifteen apparatuses, Barker was wounded by three times at the legs, had its broken left shoulder, but managed to keep the control of its plane and descended three additional enemy planes. This air fight moved somewhat to continue above the Canadian lines, with the result that the last moments of the combat were followed by some a hundred and thousand combatants. Seriously wounded and bleeding abundantly, Barker managed to land in catastrophe and was saved by men of the section of the observation balloons of the RAF which took it along in a hospital of countryside.

It remained between the life and death until mid-January 1919 in a hospital of Rouen, then was transferred in England. It had to wait until March 1st in order to be sufficiently valid to take the few steps towards the Buckingham Palace for the handing-over of its decoration.

Its official table of hunting during the war is of a captured plane, new destroyed balloons (including seven divided), thirty-five shot down planes (including two divided), and five planes out of combat.

Post-war period

Barker returned to Canada in May 1919 as a Canadian soldier more decorated with the war, with the Victoria Cross , the Distinguished Service Order with a bar, the Military Cross with two bars, the French Military Cross and two Italian money medals for its value. It was also quoted three times at the order of the army. There to date remains the Canadian soldier more decorated with the history of this country.

Thereafter, it assembled a business, Bishop-Barker Airplanes Limited, with another Canadian ace member elect of the cross of Victoria, Billy Bishop, which lasted three years. The Barker lieutenant-colonel joined the Canadian air force incipient in 1922, and accepted the command of RCAF in 1924. He was graduate school of framing of the RAF with Andover in 1926. One of its contributions to the RCAF was the introduction of the parachute. After having left the RCAF, he became the first president of the club of hockey of the Maple Leafs of Toronto, and took interests in the culture of the tobacco in the area of the south-west of the Ontario.

Unfortunately, he always suffered from the consequences of his wounds of 1918 and fell into the Alcoolisme in the last years from his life. He died in 1930 close to Ottawa when he lost the control of his apparatus, a biplane Fairchild KR-21, during a flight of demonstration of the RCAF. Barker, old of thirty-five years, was then the president and general manager of the company Fairchild Aircraft to Montreal.

Heritage

Its funeral, more the great event in the history of Toronto, was accompanied by two thousand soldiers. The procession made more than three kilometers length and included/understood in its rows the chief of staff like his general officers, the lieutenant governor of the Ontario, the mayor of Toronto, three federal ministers and six member elects of the cross of Victoria. An American guard of honor was also present. Some fifty thousand inhabitants attended the passage of the procession in the streets of Toronto towards the cemetery of Mount Pleasant, where Barker was buried in the crypt of its in-laws.

In its birthplace, in Dauphin in Manitoba, an elementary school and the airport (baptized in 1998) were named in its honor. During the week of the January 8th 1999, the Canadian federal government indicated Barker like personality of the Canadian history. The Discovery Channel television channel devoted to him documentary biographical April 27th 1999 off, entitled First the few .

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