George Beurling

George Frederick "Buzz" Beurling DSO, DFC, DFM & Bar, RAF & RCAF (6 December 1921 – 20 May 1948), was the most successful Canadian fighter pilot of the Second World War.

Beurling was recognised as "Canada's most famous hero of Second World War", as "The Falcon of Malta" and the "Knight of Malta", having been credited with shooting down 27 Axis aircraft in just 14 days over the besieged Mediterranean island. Before the war ended his official total climbed to either 31 or 31¹⁄₃. Beurling's wartime service was terminated prior to war's end. In an attempt to continue combat flying in the postwar era, Beurling lost his life in a crash while attempting to deliver an aircraft to Israel.

Early life

Born in Verdun (now part of Montreal), Quebec, Beurling first took the controls of an aircraft in 1933 and was flying solo by 1938. He left school to work for an air freight company in Gravenhurst, Ontario, and soon gained a commercial license. George Beurling joined the Royal Air Force in September 1940.

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