Billy Barker VC

Ralph cites the fact that McN saw Barker as a fellow Canadian, and from the Prairies. However, there's nothing to suppose that McN was doing anything more than giving credit to a countryman who deserved it. He may have lacked the practiced eye of an air force officer, and not fully understood everything he saw. But he was a Gunner, usually the brainest class of soldier at the front (flame away)and what he reported was a descending fight. I think the numbers are high; other than that, it's as close as we can get to the truth.

Gentlemen; The 3 Flamers are in the report but are unconfirmed independently. If the combat had occured as I've suggested or a variation there of, General McNaughton would still have witnessed an aerial combat spectacle. Had William Barker not flown that day and for the rest of the war, he still would have deserved the VC. The reason I started this discussion was to show how even Top Aces forget "Unwritten Fighter Pilot Rule #1". "No matter how good you think you are, No matter how good you REALLY are, there is always someone out there who is HOTTER." Words to live by, especially for fighter pilots.

"No matter how good you think you are, No matter how good you REALLY are, there is always someone out there who is HOTTER."

Or even if you ARE the hottest, there is surely 2,3....7 guys who can team up to pen your name in the dead book.

Took mostly luck for Barker to survive, there is no doubt about that. He really should have bought it and he knew it, that's why he didn't like to talk about it.

"No matter how good you think you are, No matter how good you REALLY are, there is always someone out there who is HOTTER." Words to live by, especially for fighter pilots.

I believe it was Mannock who was distraught for a day when a flight he led was NEARLY taken by surprise.
See also the telefilm "Son Of the Morning Star", which shows, at the end, the stunned look on Custer's face when he's wounded for the first time in his life.

[Barrett]

The late Bob Stephens had a great cartoon: A gangly, gap-toothed kid in a P-47 bags a 109, whose pilot bails out. On the ground the German, with Knight's Cross, announces, "I am Oberst von Whatisname, and I have shot down 50 airplanes. I demand to know: how many have YOU shot down?"
The kid holds up a bony finger: "One, sir."

It's like the proverbial gunfighter legend: "On a given day anybody can beat anybody else." If you talk to combat fighter pilots, inevitably they say that The Score was a poor indicator of a flier's rep within the unit. A theater intro said: The quickest way to become a flight leader is to be the best wingman in the squadron."