Billy Fiske
From Freepedia
- This article is about Billy Fiske, US sportsman and fighter pilot. There is an article on the British politician Bill Fiske.
Billy Fiske (William Meade Lindsley Fiske III; June 4, 1911 – August 17, 1940) was an American notable for his achievements in the 1928 Winter Olympics, as well as being the first American pilot casualty of World War II during the Battle of Britain.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a wealthy banking family.
At the age of 16, Billy Fiske became the youngest American to win an Olympic gold medal while participating in the 1928 Winter Olympic Games. He was the driver of the U.S. Bobsled team, which was the first team to win a gold medal for the U.S. in that event. He repeated this success in the 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.
In 1928, he began a degree in Economic and History at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
In 1939 he decided to attempt to join Britain's Royal Air Force to help combat the Nazi advance across Europe. As the U.S. had not yet entered the war, citizens of the U.S. wishing to fight had to join the militaries of engaged countries. Although the RAF would only accept applicants of British citizenship, Fiske was able to gain entry by filing false information claiming Canadian citizenship, and by working personal connections within the organization.
He became Acting Pilot Officer Fiske on April 12, 1940, and 3 months later on July 12 he was assigned to No 601 Auxiliary Air Force Squadron at Tangmere.
On August 11 he claimed the first probable kill, of Bf 110. On August 13 he claimed probable kill of Junkers Ju 88. On August 16, 1940 his squadron was launched to repel a German dive bomber attack against the Tangmere aerodrome. The mission succeeded and the German bombers were forced to retreat. However Fiske was severely burned when his Hurricane P3358 crashed and caught fire while landing. Billy Fiske died a day later from shock at the Royal West Sussex Hospital in Chichester.
Fiske was laid to rest in the Boxgrove cemetery in Sussex, England.
In 1941, a tablet in his honour was unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Documentaries and Movie
In March 2005, The History Channel broadcast a documentary titled American Warrior: Billy Fiske.
The 2005 movie The Few is apparently based on Fiske's life. Ben Clinch, a weapons loader for Billy Fiske and his comrades during the summer of 1940, said "I can't see how they can make a film of Fiske's life. It was quite short. He was unremarkable, in the context of the squadron. He was just another pilot as far as we were concerned." However in the greater context, Fiske went to great lengths to procure the opportunity to fight to protect the liberty of countrymen that were not his own.
