William Barker
Source: Wikipedia: William Barker (prospector)
Military • Historical Archive • 🇨🇦 Canada • 0 views

William Barker 🇨🇦

Lieutenant Colonel William George Barker (Known as "Will Barker")
Victoria Cross Aviator, First President of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Born Nov 03, 1894 🇨🇦 Dauphin (Manitoba), Canada
Passed Away Mar 12, 1930 Rockcliffe (Ottawa), Canada
Lifespan 35 years old
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Notice / Correction
"Valor in the air is measured not by numbers, but by the will to endure to the end."

Archival Overview

Most decorated war hero in the history of Canada and the British Empire, credited with fifty air victories and awarded the Victoria Cross for an epic solo dogfight against sixty enemy aircraft.

Biographical Record

Hailing from Manitoba, Barker joined the Canadian Mounted Rifles before becoming an observer and fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. Flying Sopwith Camels on the Italian and Western Fronts, his extraordinary marksmanship brought down fifty Austrian and German aircraft.

On October 27, 1918, flying alone over the Forêt de Mormal, Barker was surrounded by sixty German fighters. Despite being shot in both legs and an elbow, he downed four enemy scouts and crash-landed behind Allied lines, earning the Victoria Cross. In civilian life, he co-founded Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes and was inaugural president of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Toronto, Canada
GPS: 43.6967, -79.3886
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