Customer Reviews

William Barker, VC: The Life, Death and Legend of Canada's Most Decorated War Hero

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William George 'Billy' Barker was one of the greatest aces of World War I and Canada's most decorated war hero. Flying Sopwith Camels and Snipes, he downed 50 enemy aircraft in 1917/18. Barker was awarded the Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Bar, Military Cross and two Bars, the French Croix-de-Guerre and two Italian Silver Medals for Valour. Killed in a senseless peacetime flying accident in 1930, Barker became yesterday's hero, his legacy forgotten until others like author Wayne Ralph came forward to publicize this intrepid airman. Ralph's superbly researched and wonderfully written WILLIAM BARKER VC; THE LIFE, DEATH & LEGEND OF CANADA'S MOST DECORATED WAR HERO will stand as THE definitive account of Barker's life and times.

Growing up on a Manitoba farm, the young 'Will' Barker became an excellent shot, a talent that would be enormously helpful in the coming years! Barker caught the flying bug in 1910 when he saw early Canadian aviators flying Curtiss and Wright Flyers at various farm exhibitions. Enlisting soon after war's outbreak in 1914, he served in France as a machine gunner until early 1916 when he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Flying as an observer and then as a pilot in BE-2s, Barker claimed three kills. In August 1917 he joined 28 Squadron, flying Camels. Though not a gifted pilot, Barker was highly regarded for his aggressiveness and marksmanship. By the time the squadron moved to the Italian Front in November, Barker has four kills to his credit. Within the next year, Barker would claim 33 e/a and nine observation balloons downed individually or with other pilots. Returning to England in September 1918, he wangled a 10-day roving commission to fly on the Western Front. On 27 October 1918, flying alone in a Snipe, he took on an estimated 60(!) German fighters, downing four but being seriously wounded in return. He received the VC. Postwar he entered into business with Billy Bishop, a venture that failed. Rejoining the RCAF in 1922 he served until 1926. Becoming President of Fairchild Aircraft in Canada, he died while stunting a Fairchild biplane in 1930. Sadly, his last years were marred by alcoholism, brought on, in part, by the horrendous wounds he had suffered on 27 October 1918.

WILLIAM BARKER VC is a pleasure to read; Ralph is an exceptionally talented writer. The book itself is a reprint of Ralph's 1997 book BARKER VC and is an engagingly-written, insightful and sympathetic account not only of one hell of a combat pilot but also a complex human being with problems and failings like everyone else. Ralph makes no attempt to sugarcoat or minimize Barker's problems in his later years. By book's end, you not only know who Billy Barker was and what he did "in the Great War" but you also have an admiration for the man himself. Highly recommended.