William Keir Carr

Lieutenant General William Keir "Bill" Carr, CMM, DFC, OStJ, CD (March 19, 1923 – October 14, 2020) was a Canadian Air Force officer. As the first commander of Air Command, he has been described as the father of the modern Canadian Air Force.

Early years Carr grew up in Newfoundland, one of six children, with four brothers and a sister. At age 18, he attended Mount Allison University and obtained his BA, during which time he sold typewriters to earn extra money for school. It was during university that he joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps.

Second World War service Recruited for service in 1941, when deployed overseas he was stationed first with No.9 OTU (operational training unit) with photo reconnaissance training on the Spitfire. Later he was deployed to No. 542 Squadron at RAF Benson flying the Spitfire PR Mk XI, one of which he flew to Malta when he was transferred to No. 683 Squadron. During one mission he suffered minor injury when his Spitfire lost control over Perugia, Italy. He then became the first Commander of Air Command in 1975 before retiring from active duty in 1978. After retirement from the Canadian Forces Carr joined Canadair where he became Vice-President of International Marketing, primarily in sales of the Canadair Challenger and later in the same role for Bombardier Aerospace.

Awards and honours Distinguished Flying Cross 1944 Venerable Order of Saint John Commander of the Order of Military Merit Legion of Merit Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame