WWI flying ace honoured 81 years after death

[alp227]

Source: CBC News

Some 81 years after his death, Canada's most decorated war hero will be honoured with the unveiling of a monument in a Toronto cemetery.

First World War flying ace William Barker, originally a farmer from Manitoba, downed 50 enemy aircraft and received the Victoria Cross after being shot three times when he found himself alone in a dogfight against 15 German planes.

But few Canadians are likely familiar with his exploits, which were largely overshadowed by those of legendary flying ace Billy Bishop.

On Thursday afternoon, Barker will get some long-awaited recognition as two vintage First World War planes — including the Sopwith Snipe, a type of plane Barker flew — will conduct a flypast when the monument is unveiled at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/09/22/toronto-william-barker-monument.html

[COLGATE4]

1. Never too late to recognize a real hero. Rest in Peace Mr. Barker.

[Dogtown]

2. Very brave man.

The air combat in WWI must have been especialy terrifying.

[Posteritatis]

4. Their average life expectancy was usually a few weeks

During some of the nastier campaigns that would drop to days, or occasionally hours in extreme circumstances.

[Dogtown]

5. The manner of death was quite extreme, also.

Those planes were wood and doped fabric for the most part, loaded with gasoline and explosive ammunition. Not always, but often enough they ignited from the tracer rounds cutting through them.

Fanned by oxygen as they fell, they were tumbling crematories.

Horrifying.

[Posteritatis]

6. While being sprayed in the face with oil the whole time no less

Ever see a modern video of a Sopwith doing, well, anything other than sitting there? Voluntarily getting into one of the things in peacetime is intimidating enough, never mind while being shot at.

[Dogtown]

7. And while freezing your ass off.

No heaters in those crates.
I don't think they had even thought of venting the heat from the cooling system into car interiors yet (I could be wrong about that) but I know those planes had no cockpit heat.

They had to fly swaddled in sheepskin coveralls.


The High Command thought that providing parachutes would encourage cowardice & cost them too many planes, so the only recourse if the kite was burning was to choose the less painful death of suicide by jump.


I see you're very familiar with the subject matter and are in as much awe of those heroes as I am.

I also note that we are disagreeing, politely, in another thread. Thanks for the rational discourse!


:hi:

[Posteritatis]

9. That early on "car interiors" was still kind of a newfangled concept, never mind in aircraft

Here's a video showing the kind of conditions I mentioned from the thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6PnKUEFX8g

They start it up shortly into the video and even on the ground you can tell the engine isn't terribly happy to be there, never mind at five thousand feet with a round through it. Gah.


Also, (insert horrible snarky personal attack here)

And thus the DU balance is restored. ;)

[The Magistrate]

3. A Stout Fellow,Mr.Barker, Sir

Thank you for the notice here.

[sofa king]

8. Interesting.

Somehow I'd never read of this fellow, or forgotten him. His 15-1 combat against the Germans appears to be an analogue of one of the most famous air combats of all time, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Voss">Werner Voss' final encounter with the "all-ace" No. 56 Squadron. In his curious walrus-faced Fokker dridecker prototype (with a French engine, which Voss preferred), Voss managed to put at least one bullet through each of the six planes that jumped him before he died.

[Major Hogwash]

10. Well, when they get around to honoring Snoopy, let me know.

He's more famous in my day for fighting the Red Baron than Barker is.