RCAF Aviation History: Flying Officer William 'Willy' McKnight, DFC and Bar, No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron RAF

F/O William 'Willy' McKnight, DFC and Bar, No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron RAF

(IWM Photo)

William Lidstone"Willie" McKnight joined the RAF in early 1939 and served in No. 242Squadron RAF during the final phase of the Battle of France, covering theAllied retreat from Brittany, and later the Battle of Britain. McKnight'saircraft wore a distinct cartoon of a jackboot kicking Hitler on the port sideof the engine cowling. His Hurricane also carried a human skeleton image whichheld a sickle in its hand under the cockpit, on both sides of the aircraft.^[1] McKnight scored 17 victories,as well as two shared and three unconfirmed kills. McKnight was shot down andkilled on 12 January 1941 during a fighter sweep over Calais.

William 'Willy' LidstoneMcKnight was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 18 Nov 1918 and moved withhis family to Calgary in 1919. He was educated at Crescent Heights High Schoolin Calgary and after graduating, enrolled in medical school at the Universityof Alberta in 1938. Deciding on a flying instead of a medical career, he lefthis native Canada for England in Jan 1939 to join the RAF on a short servicecommission. After completing his flying training, he joined the newly reformed No.242 (Fighter) Squadron at Church Fenton on 6 Nov 1939, a squadron composedalmost entirely of Canadian personnel.

With his flight commander andfellow Canadians Slim Grassick and StanTurner, McKnight went to France on 14 May 1940 onattachment to No. 607 Squadron. A few days later they were attached to No. 615 Squadronat Moorselle, Belgium and on 19 May, McKnight claimed his first victory, a MesserschmittBf 109 destroyed over Cambrai, becoming the second Canadian to down a Luftwaffeaircraft in the Second World War. Two days later, he returned to England.Flying over Dunkirk on 28 May, he claimed a Bf 109 destroyed but was himselfattacked by another Bf 109 which damaged his Hurricane's oil system.

(IWM Photo, CH 1342)

RCAF P/O William McKnight, Acting S/L Leader Douglas Bader, RAF, CO, and Acting F/L Eric Ball, RAF, No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron, RAF, standing outside the Officers' Mess at Duxford, Cambridgeshire in 1940.  By the date this photograph was taken these pilots had, between them, shot down over thirty enemy aircraft.  S/L Douglas Bader DSO,DFC. Bader was one of the RAF's top fighter aces until he was shot down in 1941. He spent the remainder of the war in a German POW camp.

No. 242 Squadron was badly mauled over France, losing 11 pilots. It was reassembled at Coltishall with anew commanding officer, Squadron Leader Douglas Bader. In 242, he saw a squadron that needed to be "whipped back into shape" and he proceeded to establish his brand, selecting new flight commanders, requisitioning new equipment and eventuallywinning the approval of every squadron member, especially "Willie" McKnight. Bader saw his top ace as a surrogate son and chose him as a wingman.^[5]

On 29 May, McKnight claimed one Bf 109 and a Dornier Do 17 destroyed with a further Bf 109 claimed as a probable and that evening, was awarded an immediate DFC, making him the firstCanadian fighter pilot to be decorated in the Second World War. On 31 May hedestroyed two Messerschmitt Bf 110s and on 1 June, claimed two Junkers Ju 87sdestroyed and two probables.

On 30 Aug he claimed three Bf 110sand one Heinkel He 111 destroyed and on 9 Sep, two Bf 110s. He destroyed a Do 17 on 18 Sep and shared in the destruction of a Junkers Ju 88. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC on 8 Oct.  On 5 Nov he claimed his final victory, a shared Bf 109 over the Thames Estuary. McKnight disabled a Bf 109, pulling up close to it and motioning for the enemy fighter pilot to lower his undercarriage in a sign of defeat. Instead, the pilot (Fw Scheidt of Jagdgeschwader 26) bailed out over the Thames.

On 2 Jan 1941, McKnight, in company with P/O M.K. Brown, was on an offensive cross-Channel operation. While strafing an E-boat in the English Channel, P/O M.K. Brown accompanying McKnight, broke off as the duo were under fire from anti-aircraft fire from the French coast just as a Bf 109 attacked.  Although Brown managed to get in a quick burst of fire at a Bf 109 going after his leader, both aircraft disappeared into cloud and McKnight was never seen again.  Brown made it back home, but McKnight was listed as 'missing'. Recent research suggests McKnight fell to Fw. Helmut Brügelmann of Jagdgeschwader 26 8./JG26 (three kills) who was himself KIFA 15Jan 1941 when he crashed his Bf 109E-4 (Wk. Nr 3728) off St. Valery, France.  Bader was distraught at the loss of McKnight and vowed revenge, but 242's "top gun" was never found.  Fellow Canadian ace Pilot Officer John B. Latta (seven kills and one shared) was also killed on this day.

At the time of his death, Willy McKnight was thehighest scoring Canadian pilot. His name is entered on the Air Forces memorialat Runnymede, and he is remembered on a commemorative plaque displayed atCalgary International Airport; a section of the main road which passes Calgaryairport also bears his name. (Halliday, Hugh. The Tumbling Sky. (Stittsville,Ontario: Canada's Wings, 1978)

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