By 1918, Canadian pilot William George Barker had survived 3 years in combat while flying with the Royal Flying Corps, logging more than 379 hours of flight time and shooting down 46 enemy aircrafts.
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On the morning of October 27, while flying solo, Barker observed an enemy two-seater over the Foret de Mormal. He attacked this aircraft and shot it down. Minutes later, scores of German aircrafts were coming down on him. The enemy fighters opened up and and he was wounded in the right thigh, completely shattering his leg. Despite his injury, he managed to chase down the enemy aircraft and shoot him down. As more fighters attacked him from all directions, he took another bullet in the left thigh. Regardless, he managed to shoot down two more.
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He lost consciousness after that, and his plane fell out of control. On recovery, he took on more fighters. During this fight, he was shot in the left elbow and he again fainted. Upon regaining consciousness, he found himself still being attacked. He banzai-dived on the nearest aircraft and shot it down in flames.
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Being greatly exhausted, he dived out of the fight and began making his way to friendly lines but was met by another formation. He attacked more enemy fighters and succeeded in breaking up this formation and reached friendly lines where he crashed on landing.
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By some miracle, he was still alive.
For his actions, Major William G. Barker was awarded the Victoria Cross, on top of other medals for valor.
He is the most decorated serviceman in the History of Canada. He died at the age of 35 when he lost control of his Fairchild KR-21 biplane trainer during a demonstration flight for the RCAF.
His funeral, the largest national state event in Toronto's history, was attended by an honor guard of 2,000 soldiers. The cortege stretched for more than a mile and a half, and included the Chief of the General Staff and cabinet ministers. An honor guard was also provided by the United States Army. Some 50,000 spectators lined the streets en route to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where he was buried. #canadaknows #imapilot #stayzero #zerofoxtrot