# Frederick Alan Aikman > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Frederick_Alan_Aikman > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Frederick_Alan_Aikman.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Alan_Aikman > Source revision: 1351846357 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Frederick Alan Aikman Aikman, 1943 Nickname Butch Born (1919-03-05)5 March 1919 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Died 21 March 1991(1991-03-21) (aged 72) St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada Allegiance British Empire Branch Royal Canadian Air Force Service years 1940–1945 Unit No. 134 Squadron No. 154 Squadron Conflicts Second World War Circus offensive Awards Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar **Frederick Alan "Butch" Aikman** [DFC](/source/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_Kingdom)) and [Bar](/source/Medal_bar) (5 March 1919 – 21 March 1991) was a [Canadian](/source/Canadians) [fighter pilot](/source/Fighter_pilot) and [flying ace](/source/Flying_ace) with the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). He was credited with the destruction of at least nine aircraft. ## Biography Born on 5 March 1919 in Toronto, Canada, Aikman was a clerk and ledger keeper and served as a sergeant in [The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada](/source/The_Queen's_Own_Rifles_of_Canada) before enlisting in the [Royal Canadian Air Force](/source/Royal_Canadian_Air_Force) on 6 November 1940. After graduation from flight training school on 13 September 1941, Aikman was posted overseas to serve with the Royal Air Force. After a brief period of service with No. 134 Squadron, Aikman joined [No. 154 Squadron](/source/No._154_Squadron_RAF) in early 1942.[1] On 15 July, Aikman was flying as wing man to [Wing Commander](/source/Wing_Commander) [Paddy Finucane](/source/Paddy_Finucane) on a sortie to German-occupied France, when the latter was killed as a result of ditching in the [English Channel](/source/English_Channel).[2] No. 154 Squadron moved to North Africa in January 1943, where Aikman achieved the majority of his victories. In February he was awarded the [Distinguished Flying Cross](/source/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_Kingdom)) (DFC).[3] He was hospitalized for malaria on 27 July and repatriated to Canada. He was subsequently awarded a Bar to his DFC, for which the published citation read: Flight Lieutenant Aikman is a keen and tenacious fighter. He has destroyed at least 8 enemy aircraft. He has shown a rare zest for battle — *London Gazette*, No. 36215, 19 October 1943[4] After recuperation in Canada, Aikman was retrained to fly [Dakotas](/source/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain) and reposted overseas on 27 September 1944. Flying with [No. 436 Squadron RCAF](/source/No._436_Squadron_RCAF) from 14 November 1944 to 23 September 1945, Aikman was returned to Canada on 23 November 1945, and released from service the following month.[5] Aikman died in [St. Catharines](/source/St._Catharines), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), on 21 March 1991 at the age of 72.[6] ## Victories Date # Type Location Aircraft flown Unit assigned Notes 12 November 1942 one Ju.88 destroyed 13 November 1942 one Ju.88 destroyed 16 November 1942 two Savoia half-share in each 22 November 1942 one Ju.88 probably destroyed 28 November 1942 two Do.217 1 destroyed 1 damaged 13 January 1943 one FW.190 destroyed 5 April 1943 one Ju.87 destroyed 5 April 1943 one Bf.109G damaged 10 April 1943 one Bf.109G destroyed 13 April 1943 one Bf.109G damaged 25 April 1943 one Bf.109G destroyed 17 July 1943 one Macchi destroyed (fighter) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEShoresWilliams199492–93_1-0)** [Shores & Williams 1994](#CITEREFShoresWilliams1994), pp. 92–93. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESampsonFranks200239_2-0)** [Sampson & Franks 2002](#CITEREFSampsonFranks2002), p. 39. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["No. 35919"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35919/supplement/976). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 26 February 1943. p. 976. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["No. 36215"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36215/supplement/4618). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 19 October 1943. p. 4618. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [http://acesofww2.com/can/aces/aikman/](http://acesofww2.com/can/aces/aikman/) Frederick Alan "Butch" Aikman 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [http://airforce.ca/awards.php?search=1&keyword=&page=3&mem=&type=rcaf](http://airforce.ca/awards.php?search=1&keyword=&page=3&mem=&type=rcaf)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] Air Force Association ## References - Sampson, Sammy; Franks, Norman (2002). *Spitfire Offensive*. London: Bounty Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7537-1558-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7537-1558-1). - Shores, Christopher; Williams, Clive (1994). *Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII*. London: Grub Street. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-8-9869-7000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-8-9869-7000). v t e Canadian World War II flying aces with 10+ aerial victories 25+ George Beurling (31 & 1 shared) 20–24 Henry McLeod (21) 15–19 Vernon Woodward (18 & 4 shared) Willie McKnight (17 & 2 shared) Buck McNair (16 & 1 shared) Mark Brown (15 & 4 shared) James Edwards (15 & 3 shared) Edward Charles (15 & 1 shared) Don C. Laubman (15) 10–14 William Klersy (14 & 1 shared) Robert Fumerton (14) Stan Turner (14) Roderick Smith (13 & 1 shared) John Kent (13) John McElroy (13) John Turnbull (13) Eric Woods (13) Robert Barton (12 & 5 shared) George Keefer (12) Albert Houle (11 & 2 shared) Richard Audet (11) Donald Gordon (11) David Ness (11) George Hill (10 & 8 shared) Irving Kennedy (10 & 5 shared) Robert Kipp (10 & 1 shared) John Mitchner (10 & 1 shared) Hamilton Upton (10 & 1 shared) Frederick Aikman (10) Leslie Gosling (10) James Walker (10) List of World War II aces from Canada Lists of World War II flying aces This biographical article related to aviation is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Aviation-bio-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AAviation-bio-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Aviation-bio-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Frederick Alan Aikman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Alan_Aikman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Alan_Aikman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.