William Meade Lindsley "Billy" Fiske III was the 1928 & 1932 Olympic champion bobsled driver and, following Jimmy Davis, one of the first regular serving US pilots killed in action in World War II.^[1]

Olympic career

As driver of the first U.S. Bobsled team to win the Olympics, Fiske became the youngest gold medalist in the sport (16 years).^[2] He was also a Cresta Champion and was well known for jumps from the chandelier at the bar at the Palace Hotel in St.Moritz.

World War II

Fiske was one of seven US pilots in the Battle of Britain. On 16 August 1940 after a 15 minute fight in the Battle of Britain that destroyed eight Stuka dive bombers, Fiske's hands and ankles were burnt after a German gunner put a bullet through Fiske?s fuel tank.^[3] Although Fiske landed the plane safely (one source identifies a crash at [[Bognor Regis])], his fuel tank exploded on the ground^[3] and he died 48 hours later from shock.^[2]

In addition to a 2005 documentary (American Warrior: Billy Fiske), a controversial film about Billy Fiske, The Few, is slated for release in 2008.^[3] Bill Bond, founder of the Battle of Britain Historical Society, argued that Fiske "... made several sorties but he didn't shoot anything down, and his impact on the battle was negligible."^[4] Ben Clinch, an RAF armourer for Billy Fiske and his comrades during the summer of 1940, said, "He was unremarkable, in the context of the squadron. He was just another pilot as far as we were concerned." Conversely, Fiske's Flight Commander, Sir Archibald Hope, Bt, claimed "Unquestionably Billy Fiske was the best pilot I've ever known. It was unbelievable how good he was. He picked up so fast it wasn't true. He'd flown a bit before, but he was a natural as a fighter pilot. He was also terribly nice and extraordinarily modest, and fitted into the squadron very well."^[5]

References and Notes

1. ↑
2. ↑ ^{a b}
3. ↑ ^{a b c}
4. ↑
5. ↑