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| William Walker obituary | William Walker obituary |
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| Shot down by a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter in August 1940, the Spitfire pilot William Walker, who has died aged 99, took refuge on a sandbank in the Channel, with a bullet in his leg and was rescued by a passing fishing boat just before he succumbed to hypothermia. He was flying again within six months and, at the time of his death, was the oldest surviving Battle of Britain pilot. | Shot down by a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter in August 1940, the Spitfire pilot William Walker, who has died aged 99, took refuge on a sandbank in the Channel, with a bullet in his leg and was rescued by a passing fishing boat just before he succumbed to hypothermia. He was flying again within six months and, at the time of his death, was the oldest surviving Battle of Britain pilot. |
| Walker was the son of a brewer, born in Hampstead, north London, a year before the first world war began, and educated at Brighton college. At 18, he learned his father's trade, joining the Ind Coope brewery company two years later. He eventually rose to become chairman, as his father had been. Walker volunteered for the armed forces at the time of the Munich crisis in September 1938, joining the RAF Volunteer Reserve at Kidlington, Oxford. When war broke out a year later he was called up for full-time service. After completing his training, he was posted to 616 Squadron, Fighter Command, as a pilot and was commissioned in June 1940. | Walker was the son of a brewer, born in Hampstead, north London, a year before the first world war began, and educated at Brighton college. At 18, he learned his father's trade, joining the Ind Coope brewery company two years later. He eventually rose to become chairman, as his father had been. Walker volunteered for the armed forces at the time of the Munich crisis in September 1938, joining the RAF Volunteer Reserve at Kidlington, Oxford. When war broke out a year later he was called up for full-time service. After completing his training, he was posted to 616 Squadron, Fighter Command, as a pilot and was commissioned in June 1940. |
| Within weeks, the Battle of Britain began. RAF fighters took on swarms of Luftwaffe bombers and their fighter escorts in a life-or-death struggle for air supremacy over south-east England, prerequisite for a German invasion. Their initial strategy was to knock out the RAF, its airfields and radar chain. | Within weeks, the Battle of Britain began. RAF fighters took on swarms of Luftwaffe bombers and their fighter escorts in a life-or-death struggle for air supremacy over south-east England, prerequisite for a German invasion. Their initial strategy was to knock out the RAF, its airfields and radar chain. |
| On 26 August, at the peak of this phase of the struggle, Walker and his fellow pilots of 616 Squadron were scrambled as 40 German bombers approached Dover with heavy fighter cover. Unable to gain enough height to exploit the Spitfire's main advantage over the Messerschmitts, Walker was hit from behind even as he was attacking an enemy fighter. Wounded in the lower leg and with his controls shot away, Walker was forced to bale out over the Channel at 20,000ft. He managed to swim to the sandbank in the Goodwin Sands, from where he was rescued by the fishing boat. He was transferred to a RAF rescue launch for transport to Ramsgate. He was taken to hospital, where the bullet was removed. | On 26 August, at the peak of this phase of the struggle, Walker and his fellow pilots of 616 Squadron were scrambled as 40 German bombers approached Dover with heavy fighter cover. Unable to gain enough height to exploit the Spitfire's main advantage over the Messerschmitts, Walker was hit from behind even as he was attacking an enemy fighter. Wounded in the lower leg and with his controls shot away, Walker was forced to bale out over the Channel at 20,000ft. He managed to swim to the sandbank in the Goodwin Sands, from where he was rescued by the fishing boat. He was transferred to a RAF rescue launch for transport to Ramsgate. He was taken to hospital, where the bullet was removed. |
| Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, the Luftwaffe supremo, made his most fateful blunder in the first week of September 1940. Having declared 13 August Eagle Day, he had stepped up his campaign. But, angered by a token RAF bomber raid on Berlin two weeks later, he switched his focus from a sorely stretched RAF Fighter Command to civilian targets in London. | Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, the Luftwaffe supremo, made his most fateful blunder in the first week of September 1940. Having declared 13 August Eagle Day, he had stepped up his campaign. But, angered by a token RAF bomber raid on Berlin two weeks later, he switched his focus from a sorely stretched RAF Fighter Command to civilian targets in London. |
| The dogfights continued until the end of October, as Hurricanes went for the bombers while the faster Spitfires chased the fighters, by then operating at the limit of their range. After his recovery early in 1941, Walker had several postings ferrying new aircraft to squadrons, working with anti-aircraft units and on patrols to protect airfields. He left the RAF in September 1945 as a flight lieutenant, with the Air Efficiency Award. | The dogfights continued until the end of October, as Hurricanes went for the bombers while the faster Spitfires chased the fighters, by then operating at the limit of their range. After his recovery early in 1941, Walker had several postings ferrying new aircraft to squadrons, working with anti-aircraft units and on patrols to protect airfields. He left the RAF in September 1945 as a flight lieutenant, with the Air Efficiency Award. |
| He resumed his career with the brewery and devoted much time to working for the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. In later years, he attended the annual remembrance ceremony at the Capel-le-Ferne memorial in Kent, where he recited poems he wrote about the battle. One poem was carved in stone in 2010 and erected alongside the memorial bearing 2,937 names of the Few. Proceeds from a book of his verse published in 2011 are destined for the trust. | He resumed his career with the brewery and devoted much time to working for the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. In later years, he attended the annual remembrance ceremony at the Capel-le-Ferne memorial in Kent, where he recited poems he wrote about the battle. One poem was carved in stone in 2010 and erected alongside the memorial bearing 2,937 names of the Few. Proceeds from a book of his verse published in 2011 are destined for the trust. |
| Walker is survived by five of the seven children of his marriage to Claudine Mawby, who predeceased him. | Walker is survived by five of the seven children of his marriage to Claudine Mawby, who predeceased him. |
| • William Louis Buchanan Walker, wartime pilot, born 24 August 1913; died 21 October 2012 | • William Louis Buchanan Walker, wartime pilot, born 24 August 1913; died 21 October 2012 |
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