1. William Meade Lindsley Fiske III was an American combat fighter pilot and Olympic bobsledder.
24 Facts About Billy Fiske
2.
At the 1928 and 1932 Winter Olympics, Billy Fiske won gold as driver for the US bobsledding team, acting as the American Olympic flagbearer in 1932.
3.
When World War II broke out in 1939, Billy Fiske traveled to the UK and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, claiming to be Canadian in order to be permitted to enlist.
4.
Billy Fiske would participate in the Battle of Britain, before being killed in action on 17 August 1940.
5.
Billy Fiske's plaque was unveiled in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London.
6.
Between his Olympic career and his military service, Billy Fiske was instrumental in the early development of the Aspen ski resort.
7.
Billy Fiske was born in Chicago in 1911, the son of Beulah and William Billy Fiske, a New England banking magnate.
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Billy Fiske attended school in Chicago, and then went to school in France in 1924, where he discovered the sport of bobsled at the age of 16.
9.
Billy Fiske attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1928 where he studied Economics and History.
10.
Billy Fiske bought an option on one, and he and Ryan had blueprints drawn up for a ski lodge.
11.
In 1928, as driver of the first five-man US Bobsled team to win the Olympics, Billy Fiske became the youngest gold medalist in any winter sport, aged just 16 years at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St Moritz, Switzerland.
12.
Billy Fiske competed again at the 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, USA, where he carried the United States' flag at the opening ceremony.
13.
Billy Fiske was invited, but declined to lead the bobsled team in the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany.
14.
Billy Fiske was a Cresta Champion, and was well known for jumps from the Badrutt's Palace Hotel's bar chandelier in St Moritz.
15.
Billy Fiske was one of seven US aircrew personnel who fought in the Battle of Britain, although due to the neutrality of the United States, Billy Fiske pretended to be a Canadian.
16.
Billy Fiske joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and was promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer on 23 March 1940.
17.
Billy Fiske undertook his flying training at No 10 Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire, before moving to RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, for advanced flying training.
18.
On 12 July 1940, Billy Fiske joined No 601 Squadron RAF, a Hawker Hurricane unit, at RAF Tangmere, West Sussex, the so-called "Millionaires' Squadron", carrying out his first sorties with the squadron on 20 July, when he flew two patrols.
19.
Billy Fiske's coffin, covered in the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes, was borne on a bier to Boxgrove Priory Church and buried.
20.
Unquestionably Billy Fiske was the best pilot I've ever known.
21.
Billy Fiske was terribly nice and extraordinarily modest, and fitted into the squadron very well.
22.
Billy Fiske is buried in St Mary and St Blaise churchyard in Boxgrove, Sussex.
23.
Billy Fiske is listed on the Battle of Britain Monument in London and the Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne.
24.
On June 4,2024 the Billy Fiske Foundation unveiled and dedicated the Billy Fiske statue at the US Embassy in London, UK.