William Henry Isaac Atkinson DSC, CD (22 April 1923 – 18 July 2015) was the highest scoring

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and the last pilot from The Commonwealth to become an ace during the war. Atkinson claimed five aircraft destroyed and two shared. During the war he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. Remaining in the navy after the war he was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration and clasp. After the war he remained in the Royal Canadian Navy and was eventually promoted to Commander and given command of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

HMCS ''Haida'' and the officers training school HMCS ''Venture'' before retiring.

Career

William Henry Isaac Atkinson was born on 22 April 1923, and raised at Minnedosa in Manitoba, later moving to Winnipeg. In January 1943, during the Second World War, the 19-year-old Atkinson volunteered to be an aviator with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR). Atkinson was sent to the United Kingdom for his basic flying training at HMS ''St. Vincent'' at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

. He was sent back to Canada to undertake further flying training at RCAF Goderich and RCAF Station Aylmer. He was promoted to petty officer in March 1944 and qualified as a pilot and received his wings in April and was commissioned Acting

Sub-Lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

. Atkinson was then sent back to the United Kingdom, posted to 761 Naval Air Squadron at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Promoted sub-lieutenant on 1 October 1944, he was posted to for deck landing training with the

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurri ...

. Advanced flying training was carried out on the

Grumman Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

at RNAS ''Puttalam'' in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

HMS ''Indomitable''

Having completed his flying training, Atkinson was posted to the Grumman-Hellcat-equipped

1844 Naval Air Squadron 1844 Naval Air Squadron (1844 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land ...

aboard the

fleet carrier A fleet carrier is an aircraft carrier designed to operate with the main fleet of a nation's navy. The term was developed during World War II, to distinguish it from the escort carrier and other less capable types. In addition to many medium-siz ...

, part of the British Pacific Fleet in December 1944. In January 1945, Atkinson's ship was part of the force gathered for

Operation Meridian During World War II, Operation Meridian was part of Operation Outflank, a series of British air attacks directed at Japanese-held oil refineries on Sumatra. Meridian had two phases: ''Meridian One'' on 24 January 1945 and ''Meridian Two'' on 2 ...

, air strikes on the Japanese held oil installations at

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. Their objectives were at Songei Gerong, which had been the East Indies refinery for the

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

Company. The other was at Pladjoe, the former Royal Dutch Shell refinery. Together these plants produced 50 percent of Japan's oil and 75 percent of their aviation fuel. Atkinson took part in the operations on 24 and 29 January. In April 1945, Atkinson also took part in Operation Iceberg in support of the American assault on Okinawa. The British Pacific Fleet had objectives on the Sakishima Islands and

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

. During the first raid on Miyako airfield, Atkinson claimed his first victory over a Mitsubishi G4M ''Betty'' bomber, but he was only awarded a probable.Thomas (2007), p. 79. He was more successful on 6 April, shooting down a Yokosuka D4Y ''Judy'' dive-bomber. He followed this up with a confirmed Mitsubishi A6M ''Zero'' fighter and a probable

Kawasaki Ki-61 The Kawasaki Ki-61 ''Hien'' (飛燕, "flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft. Used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, it was designated the "Army Type 3 Fighter" (三式戦闘機). Allied intelligence initially b ...

''Tony'' fighter shot down on 12 April. His third confirmed victory was over another ''Betty'' bomber on 13 April and he shared in the destruction of a Nakajima C6N carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft on 15 April. His total for April was three confirmed, two probables and one shared. In a follow-up attack on the Sakishima Islands on 21 May, Atkinson's Hellcat was badly damaged by flak. In June ''Indomitable'' was withdrawn for a refit, and Atkinson and his squadron were transferred to another fleet carrier . On 25 July, while still aboard ''Formidable'', Atkinson and three other pilots were on a night patrol. Two of the aircraft were forced to return to ''Formidable'' with mechanical problems. Atkinson and the other pilot, Sub-Lieutenant Mckie, were directed towards a radar contact. The contact was a flight of

Aichi B7A The was a large and powerful carrier-borne torpedo-dive bomber produced by Aichi Kokuki for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during the Second World War. Built in only small numbers and deprived of the aircraft carriers it was intended ...

''Grace'' torpedo bombers. Atkinson shot down three of them while Mckie got the fourth. Atkinson's success led to his being

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and awarded a Distinguished Service Cross "For gallant services in the Pacific. For gallantry, skill and marked devotion to duty in the Far East."

Later career

After the Second World War Atkinson transferred from the RCNVR to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). He became a Squadron Leader with the RCN his squadron being equipped with the McDonnell F2H Banshee. In 1958 he became the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

on the

HMCS ''Nootka''. Promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

in 1962, he was given command of the destroyer HMCS ''Haida'' from July 1962 to September 1963. He then commanded the Officer Training School HMCS ''Venture'' before retiring from the navy on 1 September 1973. After the navy he moved to Peachland. Atkinson died in July 2015 at the age of 92.

References

;Footnotes ;Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, William Henry 1923 births 2015 deaths Royal Canadian Navy personnel of World War II Canadian World War II flying aces Fleet Air Arm aviators People from Minnedosa, Manitoba Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Canadian Navy officers Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II Canadian military personnel from Manitoba