www.militarysupport.ca 27 Most of the pilots were British but they also came from all parts of the Commonwealth – Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Rhodesia. While exact numbers vary depending on the source, more than 100 Canadians flew in RAF squadrons or in the RCAF’s 401 Squadron, our first and only operational squadron in the Battle. There were also pilots from the occupied nations of Europe. Poles, French, Czechs, and Belgians all flew with the RAF. And, while the US was neutral at the time, nine Americans risked the loss of their citizenship and lives to fly with RAF. Historians now define the intense air activity between 10 July and 31 October 1940 as the Battle of Britain. The RAF pilots flew multiple sorties each day and were almost always outnumbered as they engaged the huge German formations. It was not uncommon for a handful of RAF fighters to attack dozens of German bombers and their fighter escorts. Flying Officer William Lidstone McKnight, DFC and Bar, of Calgary was Canada’s ace of aces in the Battle. McKnight was credited with 18 victories as a member of 242 Squadron. He survived Battle of France and Britain but was shot down over the English Channel in January of 1941. He was the fourth highest scoring Canadian fighter pilot of the Second World War. The surviving pilots of No. 1 Squadron RCAF and their Hurricanes at the end of the Battle. No. 1 was the only RCAF squadron to participate in the Battle, though many more Canadians served in RAF squadrons.
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