William M.L. Fiske

William M.L. "Billy" Fiske from Brooklyn, New York, was an American socialite who dabbled in banking and movie production, producing White Heat (1934). However, he was more famous for the two gold medals he won at consecutive Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1932, as the leader of the bobsled team. When World War Two began, he was living in England, married to a British society beauty. Thanks to his contacts he was able to pull strings to join the Royal Air Force, in defiance of the US Neutrality Act, by posing as a Canadian. He flew Hurricane fighters with the auxiliary 601 Squadron in the Battle of Britain, before being shot down on 16 August 1940. He was burned and died from shock two days later. Fiske is commemorated with a plaque in the crypt of St.Paul's Cathedral, London. His life will be the subject of a forthcoming film, The Few (2006) and American Warrior: Billy Fiske (2005).