When William Barker died in an air crash in March 1930, his state funeral was the largest in the history of Toronto. The cortege was two miles long, with 2000 uniformed men as escort and 50,000 spectators looking on. He was, after all, a magnificent airman, a great war hero and holder of the Victoria Cross, the DSO and Bar, the MC and two Italian Silver Medals for Valour and three Mentions-in-Despatches. Moreover, he had 50 Great War victories in the air to his credit. But his life and achievements have, to all intents and purposes, been forgotten or at best overlooked when compared to that other great Canadian war hero, Billy Bishop. Why?