William George Barker

ARTICLE CONTENTS:  |  Suggested Reading  |  Links to Other Sites

Barker, William George
William George Barker, "Billy," fighter pilot (b at Dauphin, Man 3 Nov 1894; d at Ottawa, Ont 12 Mar 1930). He was credited with 53 aerial victories during WWI, but is mostly remembered for the epic, single-handed combat on 27 Oct 1918 against some 60 German aircraft that won him the Victoria Cross. After the war he joined W.A. BISHOP in an ill-conceived commercial aviation venture in Toronto, but in June 1922 he accepted a commission in the Canadian Air Force and was briefly the acting director of the RCAF. He was fatally injured when his Fairchild aircraft crashed at Rockcliffe air station, Ottawa.
Colonel William Barker, pilot
Colonel William Barker, pilot
Colonel Barker, VC, in one of the captured German airplanes against which he fought his last battle (courtesy British Library).

Author BRERETON GREENHOUS


Suggested Reading
Wayne Ralph, Barker VC: William Barker, Canada's Most Decorated War Hero (1997).


Links to Other Sites
Canadian Air Aces and Heroes
Features extensive biographies of Billy Bishop and other Canadian military heroes. Great illustrations and details of vintage aircraft.

Billy Barker Resolution
About a proposed resolution to honour Canadian war hero Lieutenant-Colonel William George (Billy) Barker. From the website for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

Legendary Fighter Pilot William "Billy" Barker
An illustrated biography of legendary First World War fighter pilot William "Billy" Barker. From the Virtual Museum of Canada.

0
0
Absolutely free, with over 40,000 articles in French and English, The Canadian Encyclopedia is the ultimate online resource for all things Canadian, from history, sports, arts, science, technology, and much, much more. Get started at www.TheCanadianEncyclopedia.com
Feature Articles
The Formation of the RCMP

The Dominion government's advertisement asked for volunteers "able to read and write either the English or French language" with "good antecedents" who were good horsemen...

INSIDE TCE

Gallery
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Interactive Resources
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
Canucklehead
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
Timeline
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
100 Greatest Events
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.