William George Barker

William George Barker was born on November 3rd 1894 in Dauphin, Manitoba Canada. In 1914 at the age of 20, Barker joined the Mounted Rifles when war broke out in Europe but Trench warfare proved to be to harsh an experience for him so he transferred to the Royal Flying Corpes in April 1916 to get off the ground and into the air. Barker became an air observer then a qualified pilot and served in Italy in 1917. By July 1918 Will Barker had won the DSO (Distinguished Service Order), the MC (Military Cross), the French Croix De Guerre and a total of 50 kills, then finally in October 1918 he had won the Victoria Cross after surviving the most brutal dogfight in the western front. During peacetime Barker rejoined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1922 and became a flying instructor, in which he hated the most. After resigning from the RCAF he struggled with alcoholism and was still torn by the effects of war. in 1930 Barker took a test flight of a Fairchild RK-21 but the aircraft stalled and crashed then Barker was killed. His funeral became the largest national event in Toronto's history, was attended by an Honor guard of 2,000 soldiers. The cortège stretched for more than a mile and a half, and included the Chief of the General Staff and his senior officers, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Mayor of Toronto, three federal government cabinet ministers, and six other Victoria Cross recipients. An Honor guard was also provided by the United States Army. Some 50,000 spectators lined the streets to pay homage to the fallen airman.