Billy Bishop

For other people named William Bishop, see William Bishop (disambiguation).

William Avery Bishop
"Billy" Bishop c.1917
Born	(1894-02-08)8 February 1894 Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada
Died	11 September 1956(1956-09-11) (aged 62) Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Occupation(s)	Aviator Author
Spouse	Margaret Burden
Children	Arthur Bishop, Jackie Bishop
Parent(s)	William A. Bishop and Margaret Bishop

Air Marshal William Avery "Billy" Bishop VC, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC, ED (8 February 1894 – 11 September 1956) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories; the highest number for a British Empire pilot.

Childhood

Bishop was born on 8 February 1894, in Owen Sound, Ontario. He was the second of three children born to William A. and Margaret Bishop. His father, a lawyer and graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, was the Registrar of Grey County. In 1911, at the age of 17, Billy Bishop entered the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario. His parents chose RMC more because his poor marks prevented his attending the University of Toronto than because of any interest in a military career. Bishop failed his first year at RMC in marked contrast to his older brother Worth who had set academic records while he was at RMC.

First World War service

Bishop as a cadet, ca. 1914

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Bishop left the college and joined the Mississauga Horse (a cavalry regiment). He was commissioned as an officer but was ill with pneumonia when the regiment was sent overseas. After recovering, he was transferred to the 7th Canadian Mounted Rifles, a horse-mounted infantry unit, then stationed in London, Ontario. They left Canada for England on 9 June 1915 on board the requisitioned cattleship Caledonia.

In July 1915, frustrated with the mud of the trenches and the lack of action, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an observer. On 1 September, he reported to 21 (Training) Squadron at Netheravon for elementary air instruction. The first aircraft he flew in was the Avro 504. The squadron was soon ordered to France, and, on 1 January 1916, it arrived at Boisdinghem airfield, near St. Omer equipped with RE7 reconnaissance aircraft. During one flight, he badly injured his knee, his only injury of the war, and spent the summer recuperating in Britain, thereby missing the Battle of the Somme.

Following his recovery, he was accepted for training as a pilot. He reported to Brasenose College on 1 October 1916 for initial ground training. In November, he moved to the Central Flying School at Upavon on Salisbury Plain to begin flight training. He learned to fly in a Maurice Farman "Shorthorn".

War in the air

After receiving his wings, he was attached to No. 37 (Home Defence) Squadron at Sutton's Farm, Essex flying the BE.2c. He soon requested a transfer to France.

Bishop and a Nieuport 17 fighter

In March 1917, he was posted to 60 Squadron at Filescamp Farm near Arras, flying the Nieuport 17 fighter. At that time, the average lifespan of a new pilot in that sector was 11 days. Bishop claimed his first victory on 25 March, when his was one of four Nieuports that engaged three Albatros D.III Scouts near St Leger, shooting down and mortally wounding a Lieutenant Theiler. Bishop, in addition to the usual patrols with his squadron comrades, soon flew many unofficial "lone-wolf" missions deep into enemy territory, with the blessing of his CO, Major AJL Scott. As a result his total increased rapidly. On 8 April, he scored his fifth victory and became an ace. To celebrate, he had the cowling and struts of his fighter painted bright blue. This was probably inspired by the red spinners on the aircraft of fellow squadron member Captain Albert Ball, at that time the Empire's highest scoring ace. He claimed 12 aircraft in April alone, winning the Military Cross and a promotion to Captain for his participation at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. On 30 April, Bishop claimed to have survived an encounter with Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, although it is more likely that Bishop had actually been fighting other members of Richthofen's Jasta. In May, Bishop won the Distinguished Service Order for shooting down two aircraft while being attacked by four others.

Bishop was always "at the front of the pack," leading his pilots into battle over hostile territory. One fellow pilot account claims “normal formation is two at the front and three at the rear, except Billy was always at least ½ mile ahead, how he got that far I do not know”.

VC Action

On 2 June 1917, he flew a solo mission behind enemy lines to attack a German-held aerodrome, where he claimed that he shot down three aircraft that were taking off to attack him and destroyed several more on the ground. For this feat, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, although it has been suggested that he may have embellished his success. His VC was the only one ever awarded in violation of the warrant requiring witnesses, and since the German records have been lost and the archived papers of his VC were lost as well, there is no way of ever knowing if there were any witnesses or not. It was, however, common practice at this time among the RFC and RNAS squadrons to submit kills claimed without requiring confirmation or verification from other witnesses.

File:Victoria Cross Medal Ribbon & Bar.jpg

Victoria Cross

The citation for his VC, published in the London Gazette on 11 August 1917, read:

For most conspicuous bravery, determination, and skill. Captain Bishop, who had been sent out to work independently, flew first of all to an enemy aerodrome; finding no machines about, he flew on to another aerodrome about three miles southeast, which was at least 12 miles the other side of the line. Seven machines, some with their engines running, were on the ground. He attacked these from about fifty feet, and a mechanic, who was starting one of the engines, was seen to fall. One of the machines got off the ground, but at a height of 60 feet, Captain Bishop fired 15 rounds into it at very close range, and it crashed to the ground. A second machine got off the ground, into which he fired 30 rounds at 150 yards range, and it fell into a tree. Two more machines then rose from the aerodrome. One of these he engaged at a height of 1,000 feet, emptying the rest of his drum of ammunition. This machine crashed 300 yards from the aerodrome, after which Captain Bishop emptied a whole drum into the fourth hostile machine, and then flew back to his station. Four hostile scouts were about 1,250 feet above him for about a mile of his return journey, but they would not attack. His machine was very badly shot about by machine gun fire from the ground.

Leave to Canada

He returned home to Canada in 1917, where he was considered a hero and helped boost the morale of the Canadian public, who were growing tired of the war. On 17 October 1917, at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto, he married his longtime fiancée Margaret Burden, a granddaughter of Timothy Eaton. Her brother was the ace Henry Burden. After the wedding he was assigned to the British War Mission in Washington DC to help the Americans build an air force. While stationed there, he wrote an autobiography entitled Winged Warfare.

Return to Europe

Upon his return to France in April 1918, Bishop was promoted to Major and given command of No. 85 Squadron, the "Flying Foxes". This was a newly formed squadron and Bishop was given the freedom to choose many of the pilots. The squadron was equipped with SE5a scouts and left for Petit Synthe, France on 22 May 1918. Bishop scored his next victory on the 27th, followed by two more on the 28th.

The Canadian government was becoming increasingly worried about the effect on morale if Bishop were to be killed, so on 18 June, he was ordered to return to England to help organize the new Canadian Flying Corps. Bishop was not pleased with the order coming so soon after his return to France. He wrote to his wife: "I've never been so furious in my life. It makes me livid with rage to be pulled away just as things are getting started." The order specified that he was to leave France by noon on 19 June. On that morning, Bishop decided to fly one last solo patrol. In just 15 minutes of combat, he added another five victories to his total. He claimed to have downed two Pfalz D.IIIa scouts, caused another two to collide with each other and shot down a German reconnaissance aircraft.

On 5 August, Bishop was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and was given the post of "Officer Commanding-designate of the Canadian Air Force Section of the General Staff, Headquarters Overseas Military Forces of Canada." He was onboard a ship returning from a reporting visit to Canada when news of the armistice arrived. Bishop was discharged from the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 31 December and returned to Canada.

By the end of the war, he had claimed some 72 air victories, including two ballons, 52 and two shared "destroyed" with 16 "out of control". Thus he was recognized as the leading British Empire pilot, and the second-highest ranking Allied ace behind French Lt. René Fonck with 75 claims.

Postwar career

After the war, he established a short-lived passenger air service with fellow ace William Barker. In 1921, Bishop and his family moved to Britain, where he was quite successful. In 1928, he was the guest of honour at a gathering of German air aces in Berlin and was made an Honorary Member of the Association. Unfortunately, the family's wealth was wiped out in the crash of 1929 and they had to move back to Canada.

Second World War

In 1938, he was promoted to Honorary Air Marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force and placed in charge of recruitment. He was so successful in this role that they had to turn many applicants away. He created a system for training pilots across Canada and became instrumental in setting up and promoting the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which trained over 167,000 airmen in Canada during the Second World War. In 1942, he appeared as himself in the film Captains of the Clouds, a Hollywood tribute to the RCAF.

Both of Bishop's children became aviators. He presented his son, Arthur, with his wings during the Second World War; Arthur would go on to become a Supermarine Spitfire pilot and participated in the Battle of Britain. He also presented his daughter, Jackie, with a Wireless Sparks Badge as a radio operator in 1944.

By 1944, the stress of the war had taken a serious toll on Bishop's health, and he resigned his post in the RCAF to return to private enterprise in Montreal. His son later commented that he looked 70 years old on his 50th birthday in 1944. He remained active in the aviation realm however, predicting a phenomenal growth of commercial aviation in the postwar world. His efforts to bring some organization to the nascent field led to the formation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal. He wrote a second book at this time, Winged Peace advocating international control of global airpower.

File:VCWilliamAveryBishopGrave.jpg

Bishop's gravesite in Owen Sound, Ontario

With the outbreak of the Korean War, Bishop again offered to return to his recruitment role, but he was in poor health and was politely refused by the RCAF. He died in his sleep on 11 September 1956, while wintering in Palm Beach, Florida. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound, Ontario.

Legacy

His life was depicted in the famous Canadian play, Billy Bishop Goes to War. The play was so successful that it led to Bishop once again becoming a national hero.

It also led indirectly to a CBC Television documentary called The Kid Who Couldn't Miss, produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The show, based around "mock interviews" with Bishop and others, suggested that Bishop faked his famous attack on the German aerodrome. In one particularly contentious scene, his mechanic claims that the damage to his fighter was confined to a small circle in a non-critical area, implying that Bishop had landed his aircraft off-field, shot the holes in it, and then flown home with claims of combat damage. In reality, his mechanic was his biggest supporter in this issue and the scene was entirely fictitious. The mechanic insisted that Bishop had not fabricated the damage.

After years of controversy over Bishop's record, mainly due to the fact very few of his claimed victories were witnessed by anyone else or could be confirmed from surviving German records, the show led to an inquiry by the Canadian government in 1985. The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology discredited the documentary, saying it was an unfair and inaccurate portrayal of Bishop.

A Hero to Me: The Billy Bishop Story - WW1 Canadian flying Ace , a documentary depicting the story of "Billy" Bishop from the perspective of his granddaughter, Diana, was also produced for Global Television and TVO in 2003.

His decorations include the Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order & Bar, Military Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, légion d'honneur and the Croix de Guerre with palm. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the King's Birthday Honours List of 1 June 1944.

References

Bibliography

• Baker, David. William Avery "Billy" Bishop: The Man and the Aircraft He Flew. London: The Outline Press, 1990. ISBN 1-871547-07-5.
• Barker, Ralph. The Royal Flying Corps in World War I. London: Constable and Robinson, 2002. ISBN 1-84119-470-0.
• Bishop, William Avery. Winged Warfare London: Crécy Publishing, 2007 (originally published in 1918). ISBN 0-947554-90-4.
• Buzzell, Nora. The Register of the Victoria Cross Third Edition. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: This England, 1997. ISBN 0-906324-27-0.
• Harvey, David. Monuments to Courage. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press Ltd., 1999. ISBN 1-84342-356-1.
• McCaffrey, Dan. Billy Bishop: Canadian Hero. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Publishers, 1988. ISBN 1-555028-095-3.
• Shores, Norman, Franks, L.R. and Guest Russell. A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915-1920. London: Grub Street, 1991.
• Urwin, Gregory J.W. "The Man Without Fear: The Combat story of Lieutenant Colonel William Avery Bishop." Air Classics, Vol. 15, No. 9, September 1979.

External links

• William Avery "Billy" Bishop
• Air Ace William "Billy" Bishop
• William Bishop
• Air Marshal William Avery Bishop (biography & controversy discussion)
• Billy Bishop Heritage Museum (Birthplace & Childhood Home)
• Legion Magazine Article on Billy Bishop written by his son Arthur Bishop
• Find-A-Grave profile for Billy Bishop
• Ontario Historic Plaque
• Bishop's Medals At The Canadian War Museum
• William "Billy" Bishop: World War I Canadian Ace Fighter Pilot: article by Rich Thistle