Fred McCall was born on December 4th, 1896 in Vernon, BC. His family moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1906. In February 1916, he joined the 175th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and attained the rank of Sergeant. Tired of slogging about in the muck and mire of the trenches, in March of 1917, Fred transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and in December of that year he began flying bulky and slow R.E.7 and R.E.8 observation aircraft for Number XIII squadron, snooping on enemy activities.
Even though the R.E. 8 aircraft was not designed for combat, in January of 1918 Fred found himself in a battle for his life in the sky versus a German Albatros D.V. and scored his first victory. He shot down two more German aircraft in short order and earned the Military Cross for his actions. Only two weeks later he shot down another enemy aircraft and was awarded a bar on his Military Cross (equal to a second medal). Shortly thereafter, Fred was transferred to 41 Squadron and given the nimble S.E. 5a aircraft to fly. In May of 1918 he scored another four victories and earned the DFC and a promotion to the rank of Captain.
Between June 27-30, 1918 Fred shot down 11 enemy aircraft and was awarded the DSO for this impressive feat. On August 17th, he shot down an additional three aircraft in one of the most lopsided aerial battles of WWI.
McCall and his wingman William Claxton were out on patrol and suddenly found themselves attacked by a squadron of forty German aircraft. Plunging into the fray, whirling and diving, guns blasting at anything that crossed his sights, Fred was able to return to base not only unscathed but with three more notches in his belt. Claxton however was shot down and held as a prisoner until the end of the war.
Shortly after this battle Fred took ill and was sent back to Canada to recover. As he was preparing to return to the fight, news of the Armistice was announced and the fighting days of Cpt. Freddie McCall came to an end with 37 victories in only seven months, ranking him fifth among allied pilots.
Coming soon: McCall proves his mettle as a barnstormer and flying businessman.
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