Allegiance Canada Name William Carr Years of service 1941–1978 Battles and wars World War II | Commands held Air Command Rank Commander Battles/wars World War II | |
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Born March 19, 1923 (age 101)
Grand Bank, Newfoundland ( 1923-03-19 ) Service/branch Royal Canadian Air Force / Canadian Forces Awards Order of Military Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Order of Saint John, Canadian Forces Decoration | ||
Lieutenant General William Keir "Bill" Carr, CMM, DFC, OStJ, CD (born March 19, 1923) is a retired Canadian Air Force officer. As the first commander of Air Command, he has been described as the father of the modern Canadian Air Force.
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Early years
Carr grew up in Newfoundland, one of six children, with four brothers and a single sister. At age 18 he attended Mount Allison University and obtained his BA, during which time he sold typewriters to earn extra money for school. It was during university that he joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps.
Second World War service
Recruited for service in 1941, when deployed overseas he was stationed first with No.9 OTU (operational training unit) with photo reconnaissance training on the Spitfire. Later he was deployed to No. 542 Squadron at RAF Benson flying the Spitfire PR Mk XI, one of which he flew to Malta when he was transferred to No. 683 Squadron. During one mission he suffered minor injury when his Spitfire was his by flak over Perugia, Italy. He also had one of the first encounters with one of the first Me-262 during a mission near Munich. With 683 Squadron in 1944 he was nominated for and received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Postwar service
After the war, Carr made swift progress through the ranks. He became Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff in 1973 and the first Commander, Air Command in 1975 before retiring from active duty in 1978. After retirement from the Canadian Forces Carr joined Canadair where he became Vice-President of International Marketing, primarily in sales of the Canadair Challenger and later in the same role for Bombardier Aerospace.