JG 3 Vs. William Barker

I just finished reading an amazing account of an an aerial encounter towards the end of WWI that pitted the Canadian Ace William Barker against an entire Jagdeschwader (of Fokker D.VII's no less). Barker had both his legs nearly severed from his body from gunshot wounds and had one of his arms incapacitated from a shoulder hit, somehow recovered his aircraft from two otherwise fatal spins, crash landed his plane and lived to tell about it...and, by the way, managed to shoot down 4 of the attacking D.VII's in the process. Is there any other verification that this encounter actually happened? If it is true, then Barker has to be considered to be either one of the most skilled or certainly the most lucky flyers to strap himself to a Sopwith Camel. You don't hear his name mentioned too often here in the Forum or read much of his exploits elsewhere. I'd like to find out more about this courageous flyer.

Marco,

While some of the accounts (and some of your description, like "both legs nearly severed...") may contain a bit of hyperbole, Barker did find himself in a singlehanded fight against several DVII's (estimates vary from 15 to 60), was seriously wounded, possibly downed up to 4 of his attackers, and somehow survived. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for this fight.

While this exploit (as well as much of what is discussed here) may not be known to most people, Barker IS discussed here, and admired by many Forumites - he just may not have been mentioned recently. Check out the Forum Archives.

If you'd really like to learn more about William Barker, I suggest you read "Barker VC" by Wayne Ralph. It is available in paperback from Amazon.com, and I believe it is reviewed on this site. Aside from this legendary fight, Barker was one of the best fliers and leaders in the war, and one of Canada's greatest heroes.

Rich

Marco,

I don't wish to be pedantic, but Barker was flying a Sopwith Snipe in this famous encounter.

VBR

Andrew

[Ron_F]

I will CC with the buying of Barker VC by Ralph. Lots of info and bibliography went into that book.

The deed that day was witnessed by troops in the trenches,so it did indeed happen.
Barker was a superb camel jockey i understand, and got most of his victories in Italy.

It was a Snipe, the most famous one, E8102, with 5 white stripes on aft fuse area.

vbr,
Ron

"Is there any other verification that this encounter actually happened?"

hmmm is a Canadian General and several thousand troops good enough? teehee

After the combat there was a cheer heard all around the front. Imagine being cheered after such a dogfight?

IMO Barker was the best 1 VS 1 dogfighter and this opinion was shared by Bishop. Of course it's really impossible to say for sure of course...he never met Voss etc.

The Snipe where he took on JG3 is currently at the Canadian Air museum...holes and all.

His home town would like ot erect a statue of him and would you believe the Canadian government WILL NOT pony up the money for it? They have no problems spending millions on useless art...but have a problem honoring our most decorated war hero???? Makes me sick.

Marco, here's a great (short) bio of Barker:

http://www.accessweb.com/users/mconstab/barker.htm

Wayne Ralph's book on Barker is excellent. What jumps out at you when reading this book is that the people who knew Barker had no doubt he was the best. To me the best part of the book is the epilogue where Ralph recounts the incredible loyalty and admiration felt for Barker by his old camrades. Interestingly his old mates lived to a ripe old age - Williams died at age 87, Gerry Birks at 96. Tommy Lawrence passed away a year after Birks and Ken Guthrie a few months after Lawrence. Ralph states that Barker "was remembered in their hearts long after he had been forgotten by his country". Ralph also tells of a visit with Ken Guthrie. He states:

"As I turned to leave I asked him if, beyond respecting his courageous achievements, he had actually liked Barker. Guthrie growled: 'Like Barker? I liked him. Jesus, more than liked him, I practically adored him."

Barker in combat had a very definite killer instinct. As someone said earlier in this thread Bishop was of the opinion that one on one he was unbeatable. What I find compelling about Barker is he seemed to be able to combine this instinct with a capacity to look after his men - he never lost a wingman. Very unique person. To my mind the best WW1 ace on either side.