William Philip Paris

Born in Toronto, Ontario, on July 23, 1919, to parents William and Caroline, William Philip “Bill” Paris attended Weston High and Vocational School. After graduation, he worked as a bank teller and in 1940, following the outbreak of the Second World War, Bill signed up with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in the military reserve and attained the rank of sergeant. In 1941 he transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force and took pilot training at No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School at Hamilton, Ontario, where he took his first flight on August 21, 1941, in a Fleet Finch biplane. This was followed by further training at No. 1 Service Flying Training School at Camp Borden, Ontario, where trainees flew Harvard and Yale aircraft. Bill earned his wings and graduated as a sergeant pilot in January, 1942.

Bill’s next assignment was a posting to a Flight Training School in England. After arriving at Bournemouth, he joined No. 17 Advanced Flying Unit at Watton in Norfolk. On May 23, 1942, he reported to No. 53 Operational Training Unit in Llandow, Wales, where he made his first flight in a Spitfire. Upon completion of Spitfire training on July 18 that year, his assessment recognized him as an “above average pilot".

In July 1942, Bill reported to 122 Squadron of the Royal Air Force at Hornchurch, Kent, and on July 26, he flew his first operational flight as a fighter pilot. Transferred on September 5 to 242 RAF Squadron in Digby, Bill flew the Spitfire type VC, which had a huge air filter built to withstand large concentrations of sand in the air, mounted beneath the belly of the aircraft. On September 25, he was transferred to 152 Hyderabad Squadron A in South Wales, and on October 23, 1942, he was one of 30 squadron pilots who set sail for a destination not known to them, in a convoy of 20 merchant ships with armed escorts of sloops, destroyers, cruisers and an aircraft carrier.

In November, the ship landed in Gibraltar as part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, and Bill began flying Spitfires equipped with long range fuel tanks, which added 600 pounds to the aircraft and changed its flight characteristics. Combat action followed for 152 Squadron on November 25 over Tunis in North Africa at 15,000 feet against enemy bombers and fighters. Two of the squadron’s Spitfires were destroyed and Bill scored his first success in damaging a Messerschmitt Me109. Heavy aerial fighting followed in the ensuing days. On one occasion Bill scored his first victory, shooting down an enemy Stuka dive bomber. The next day one of his guns jammed while attacking an Me109 and he successfully outflew a pursuing Me109 in a chase that reached close to 400 miles per hour just above ground level.

A few days later, Bill’s Spitfire was seriously damaged by enemy fire, causing control problems; the aircraft would maintain level flight only by flying at 160 miles per hour, at which speed Bill successfully managed to land. Regular combat flights continued for 152 Squadron and in mid-January 1943 it was re-equipped with new aircraft. Air-to-air and air-to-ground operations continued along with escorting bomber runs in Algeria and Tunisia in the North African Campaign. Bill was flying up to four operational flights per day. In March 1943, he was promoted to pilot officer and 152 Squadron was converted to a Spitfire bomber squadron, with the aircraft modified to carry two 250-pound bombs.

Bill flew operational missions with the converted Spitfire and on May 3 reported to 144 Maintenance Unit Headquarters at Maison Blanche airport to test fly rebuilt fighter aircraft for return to service in North Africa. In October he was promoted to flying officer and posted to Sicily. In April 1944, Flying Officer Paris returned to Canada as a seasoned combat pilot and was posted to No. 13 Elementary Flying Training School at St. Eugene, Ontario, to train navy pilots. Of the 30 pilots from 152 Squadron who had sailed from England, only Bill and two others successfully survived the war. The other 27 had been shot down, killed in action or taken prisoner. On April 1945, Bill was discharged from the air force with the rank of flight lieutenant.

A second phase in Bill’s aviation career began in 1946. From then until 1952, while working with his father in the contracting business, Bill was a part-time instructor with the Toronto Flying Club, training civil and military reserve pilots. From 1952-1955 he served as general manager for the London Flying Club in London, Ontario.

Prior to the Second World War, clubs of the Canadian Flying Clubs Association (CFCA) were instrumental in training pilots. During the war, the clubs of the CFCA were involved in pilot training for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and in 1945 the CFCA became the Royal Canadian Flying Clubs Association (RCFCA) and civilian pilot training resumed after not being permitted during the war years.

From 1955-1984 Bill Paris gave 30 years of service to the RCFCA, starting as secretary general manager, then executive director and ultimately as president. His responsibilities included promotion of all aspects of flight training, including upgrading of Canadian training standards and pilot licensing policies. A special undertaking with which he was involved for several months was as Head Technical Advisor for the Great London to Victoria Air Race in 1971. The race saw 78 single and twin-engine aircraft fly across the Atlantic, 5,851 miles from London, England, to Victoria, British Columbia, in the centennial celebrations of British Columbia’s entry into Confederation.

Bill Paris became a founding director of the National Air Museum Society (NAMS) when it was established in 1978, joining the society while he was with the RCFCA. Bill served as president of NAMS for five years and remained on the board until his 90th birthday, when he was made an Honorary Director for Life. NAMS ultimately led to the establishment of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

Robert Bradford, former curator of the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa (now known as the Canada Aviation and Space Museum), who was inducted as a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 1996, remembers Bill Paris well and has stated, “I quickly learned of the aviation achievements of this humble and quiet man, who spoke with authority on all matters of aviation in Canada”.

In 1996 Bill Paris wrote and published a memoir, Of Sun-Split Clouds and a Hundred Things! for family members. In the last paragraph of the memoir, he stated,

“If I were to be asked to identify a single factor that, by itself, shaped my adult life, I would have to answer, 'the onset of World War 2.' It is my conviction that the knowledge and experience gained by accepting an active role in that dreadful upheaval qualified me for my successful post-war civil aviation career that occupied many contented years.”

In 1989 William Paris was installed as a Member of the Order of Canada. His contribution to aviation was stated in his citation:

“His life has been dedicated to supporting the cause of aviation in Canada, particularly as President of the Royal Canadian Flying Clubs Association and he influenced countless airline, bush, military, general aviation and recreational pilots who have helped to identify Canada as one of the foremost providers of skilled, professional aircrew in the world.”

In June 1944, Bill married Jacqueline Cole in Toronto and the couple had one child, Barbara, born in 1951. After Jacqueline died of cancer in 1970, Bill married Joan Weedon-Reed in 1971, who died in 2012 and was predeceased by Bill, who died in Ottawa on June 17, 2010. For 70 years, William Philip Paris served aviation as a wartime fighter pilot, flying instructor, flying club builder, organization manager, director and museum builder, leaving a lasting imprint in Canadian aviation heritage.