Alfred Edwin “Eddie” McKay

liverpool annie · Jun 16, 2009

Alfred Edwin “Eddie” McKay -

On 28 October 1916, he and Arthur Knight were on patrol over the Somme when they were attacked by Oswald Boelcke. (Von Richthofen’s mentor - and Germany’s highest ace at that time, 40 victories) In the ensuing battle, Boelcke was killed when his Albatros collided with that of Erwin Bohme. McKay was killed the following year when his SPAD was shot down by a German two-seater. He had 10 victories.

Students rekindle flying ace's memory

He was such a gifted athlete, a local hockey trophy was named after him. And he was such an accomplished fighter pilot, his daring exploits in the skies above Europe were regularly reported by London's two local newspapers.

He was, according to one historian, "something of a local celebrity."

But today, nearly 90 years after his dramatic death, hardly anyone remembers Eddie McKay.

Tomorrow, that should change.

At 2 p.m., a group of history students from King's University College plan to unveil a plaque dedicated to McKay on the hill in front of UWO's University College.

The memorial is the conclusion to an eight-month project by about 20 history students at King's who spent hundreds of hours digging up details about this remarkable Londoner.

"He was a really fascinating guy . . . who just passed from living memory," says Graham Broad, the King's history professor whose students conducted the research. "In some ways, I think it was a lesson in mortality for the students -- that a person can live a life of significance and yet, after a generation or two, be gone from history."

Last fall, Broad gave the fourth-year students in his Canada In The World Wars history class a challenging assignment: Find out everything you can about Alfred Edwin (Eddie) McKay.

Broad knew McKay had been a UWO athlete who later joined the U.K.'s Royal Flying Corps and, between July 1916 and December 1917, earned the esteemed ace designation (awarded after a pilot had five confirmed "kills"). He was ultimately credited with downing 10 enemy aircraft -- six of them while flying the famed SPAD biplane.

But apart from some bare-boned details, little was known about McKay.

"He fell through several cracks," says Broad.

Because he served with the Royal Flying Corps and was not a member of the Canadian military, Broad says, McKay often was overlooked by Canadian officials. McKay's name is not, for instance, included on a marker at Huron College with the names of other Western students who died in the First World War.

His birthplace is debatable. Broad says McKay was most likely born in either Brussels or Harrington, near Stratford.

"We're not sure, because the census-takers at the time were so incompetent," says Broad.

Other gaps in the story exist because about half of all Royal Flying Corps records -- including McKay's -- were lost in a fire during the Second World War.

During a period of about eight months, however, Broad and his students pored through reams of documents and microfilm at various sites, including UWO and the London Room at the downtown public library.

At one point, they found a card with his name on it in the basement of Central secondary school, leading them to believe he attended high school there.

"I remember one Saturday in particular when four or five of us were in the London Room going through microfilm and every now and then someone would yell, 'I found him!" and we'd all huddle around," he says. "I don't exaggerate when I say that some of the students wept upon finding certain things."

The students found more than 30 references to McKay in the London newspapers of the day, The Free Press and the Advertiser.

Earlier this year, a notice in The Free Press about the project prompted a call from local historian Stuart Taylor, who graciously forwarded his research on McKay.

In the end, Broad and his students assembled a portrait of a skilled yet unassuming flyer.

For example, despite initially being credited with downing German ace Oswald Boelcke, McKay later confirmed Boelcke collided with another German plane during a dogfight with his squadron.

"He was unusually modest for a fighter pilot," says Broad. "He always talked (in his letters) about the other pilots and always asked how sports were going back home."

The students are convinced McKay was killed Dec. 28, 1917 -- the day after his 25th birthday -- after being shot by the tail-gunner in a German two-seater aircraft behind enemy lines.

"Even though he lived in a very different world from ours, I think we all feel a sense of kinship to him," says Broad. "He was someone like us."
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http://lfpress.com/newsstand/News/Columnists/Gillespie_Ian/2007/11/07/4636862.html

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Alfred Edwin “Eddie” McKay

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