Grave of Pilot Officer William "Billy" Fiske St Mary and St Blaise Church Boxgrove Nr Chichester West Sussex UK
In September 1939, more than two years before America entered the War, Billy Fiske, an American citizen born in Chicago, joined the Royal Air force, pledging his life and loyalty to the King, George VI. At Tangmere, nearly a year later during the Battle of Britain, aged 29, he redeemed that pledge. In those 29 years, Fiske, the first American serviceman in the RAF to lose his life in action, had always lived life to the full. He died a hero's death, surely the way he would have wanted to die, fighting the enemy in the form of a patrol of Junkers 87s about 12,000 feet above the Sussex countryside, at the controls of a Hurricane P3358. At the age of 16 he led the American Bobsleigh team to gold at the St Moritz Winter Olympics and became the youngest holder of a Gold Medal.
Size: 2592px × 3888px
Location: Boxgrove Village Nr Chichester West Sussex UK
Photo credit: © Seapix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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