Billy Bishop (pilot)

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Bishop in World War I.

William Avery "Billy" Bishop (* 8. February 1894 in Owen Sound , Ontario ; † 11. September 1956 in Palm Beach , Florida , USA ) was a Canadian fighter pilot in the First World War . Officially, he scored 72 victories , making him the number one Canadian fighter pilots and the British Empire in the First World War made.

Early years

William Bishop was born in Owen Sound , Ontario , the second child of William A. and Margaret Bishop. His father, a lawyer and graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School , was a Gray County registrar . During his visit to the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute , Bishop gained the reputation of a fighter who defended himself and weaker classmates against bullies. He was rather averse to the team sports popular at the time, rather he preferred individual sports such as swimming, riding and shooting. Bishop was not a successful student. He avoided any subject that he could not immediately master without difficulty and often stayed away from classes.

Bishop had his first flying experience at 15. He built his first airplane out of cardboard boxes, string and wooden boards. In 1914, the twenty-year-old bishop began his studies at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston , Ontario, where his brother graduated in 1903. In the RMC, Bishop was known by the nicknames "Bish" and "Bill". In his first year at the RMC, Bishop failed because he was caught cheating.

Service in the First World War

When World War I broke out in 1914, Bishop left the RMC in September 1914 and joined the Mississauga Horse Cavalry Regiment . He was promoted to lieutenant in January 1915, but fell ill with pneumonia before his regiment was sent overseas.

Upon recovery, he was assigned to the 8th Canadian Mountain Rifles , a mounted infantry unit stationed in London , Ontario. Bishop was naturally gifted with guns, and excelled every one of his comrades in shooting range exercises. He was awarded almost "superhuman" eyesight, which enabled him to hit targets far away and which others could only see as a minimal point.

On June 6, 1915, his regiment left Canada on board the cattle transport ship Caledonia for England . On June 21, the convoy off the coast of Ireland was attacked by German submarines . Two ships sank and 300 Canadian soldiers were killed. Bishop's ship, however, was not hit and reached the port of Plymouth on June 23.

Bishop was quickly frustrated by the mud and perseverance in the trenches. In July 1915, after seeing an RFC plane returning from a mission, he is reported to have said: “... it's clean up there! I bet you don't get mud or horse manure there. And when you die, at least it's a clean death. "

He moved to the Royal Flying Corps and became an observer after there were no more places available for pilots at the flight school. The first aircraft he practiced with was an Avro 504 . Bishop was chosen to take aerial photographs and was soon qualified enough to train other scouts on the camera. In January 1916 his squadron was posted to France . Bishop's first combat mission there was an aerial reconnaissance flight for British artillery. In the period that followed, Bishop flew several bombing missions without having to fire his machine guns at an enemy aircraft. When his father suffered a stroke , Bishop was able to travel back to Canada briefly, which is why he also missed the start of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

Return to England

Bishop returned to England in September 1916 and was able to complete pilot training at the Central Flying School at Upavon on Salisbury Plain through relationships with a prominent friend Lady St. Helier . He had his first solo flight in a Maurice Farman "Shorthorn" . In the following months Bishop experienced heavy dogfights with German fighter pilots and only narrowly escaped being shot down by Manfred von Richthofen . He was promoted to captain in April 1917 , awarded the Military Cross in May 1917 and quickly became famous and feared on the German side for his successes. Ernst Udet called him the best pilot in England and was nicknamed "the devil's henchman".

In June 1917 Bishop returned to Canada as a national hero and was able to mobilize the war-weary Canadian public. He also married his long-time fiancée Margaret Burden. After the wedding, he was called to Washington, DC as part of an armaments contract with the British Air Force to help build the American air force. During this time he wrote his biography entitled Winged Warfare .

In April 1918, Bishop returned to London with the rank of major and commanded No. 85 Squadron , the so-called "Flying Foxes". From May 30 to June 1 shot Bishop six German fighters from, including the German flying ace Paul Billik , increasing its victories to a total of 59, making him the leading ace of the Allied pilots. The Canadian government was extremely concerned about the moral impact on the population, given Bishop's popularity, if their best pilot were killed in a dogfight. Bishop was then ordered back to England against his will in June 1918 to help organize and build the new Canadian Air Force .

On August 5, 1918, Bishop was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and received the post of "Officer Commanding-designate of the Canadian Air Force Section of the General Staff, Headquarters Overseas Military Forces of Canada". When the news of the armistice reached him, he was on a ship en route to Canada. He was released from the Canadian Expeditionary Force on December 31st and returned to his homeland for good.

After the end of the war he claimed to have achieved 72 aerial victories. However, some historians estimate this number to be significantly lower.

Late years

In 1938, Bishop was made an honorary Air Marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force and was responsible for recruiting new pilots. In this role he was so popular that not all of them could be considered due to the surprising number of applicants.

He developed a training system for new pilots across Canada and established the Commonwealth Air Training Plan , which trained 167,000 airmen in Canada during World War II. In 1942, Bishop played himself in the film Captains of the Clouds , which was shot in recognition of the RCAF .

The hardships and hardships of the war did not leave Bishop's health unscathed, and so he resigned from the RCAF to move to the private sector in Montreal before retiring in 1952. He died in his sleep on September 11, 1956 during his winter stay in Palm Beach , Florida . His grave is in Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound, Ontario.

Works

Awards

Honors

The Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto bears his name.

reception

theatre

Since it was first staged in 1978, Billy Bishop Goes to War has become one of the most popular and widely produced plays in Canadian theater history. The award-winning musical attracted particular attention with songs that were sometimes rough, sometimes gloomy, but always permeated with the reality of war. Directed by Max Reimer, the musical by John Gray in collaboration with Eric Peterson was staged from October 10th to 28th, 2012 in the “Globe Theater”. The total duration is one hour, 54 minutes with a 15 minute break. The musical, which also ran successfully on Broadway and in England, is a satirical as well as viciously melancholy exposure of the myth of the "decent" war.

Movie

As a television film by CBC Television , the work was first shown on November 10, 2010 in Canada. Directed by Barbara Willis Sweete , the elderly Billy Bishop, dressed only in pajamas, wanders up and down his relic-filled attic and remembers his war years. Accompanied by John Gray, Eric Peterson plays Billy Bishop as a throwback to his life.

The Canadian Original Version also became a success in the USA, England and Germany. Hans Magnus Enzensberger added a framework story to the German version : Here the Canadian William Avery Bishop rises above the mud of the French trenches and becomes the opponent of Freiherr von Richthofen .

radio play

On May 25, 2014, SWR2 broadcast the radio play Billy Bishop Rises for the first time as a production by Südwestrundfunk with the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as part of its series The First World War . Known as Ein Heldenlied from the First World War and originally written for an actor and a pianist , the radio version, directed by Leonhard Koppelmann , uses several actors ( Ilja Richter as Billy Bishop, Ursula Grossenbacher and Henning Nöhren ) and the music ( Peter Kaizar , Wolfgang Tockner and Anton Burger ) a small combo. The focus here is also on the authentic figure of William Avery Bishop, who rose from the Canadian “hillbilly” to the celebrated war hero and air marshal of the British Air Force. The translation is by Hans Magnus Enzensberger.

literature

  • David Baker: William Avery "Billy" Bishop. The Man and the Aircraft He Flew. The Outline Press, London 1990, ISBN 1-871547-07-5 .
  • Ralph Barker: The Royal Flying Corps in World War I. Constable and Robinson, London 2002, ISBN 1-84119-470-0 .
  • David Bashow: The Incomparable Billy Bishop. The Man and the Myths. In: Canadian Military Journal. Volume 3, No. 4, Fall 2002, pp. 55–60 ( PDF , accessed on September 1, 2008).
  • Nora Buzzell: The Register of the Victoria Cross . This England, Cheltenham 1997, ISBN 0-906324-27-0 .
  • Brereton Greenhous: Billy Bishop - Brave Flyer, Bold Liar. In: Canadian Military Journal. Volume 3, No. 3, autumn 2002, pp. 61–64 ( PDF; 135 kB , accessed on November 15, 2009).
  • Brereton Greenhous: The Making of Billy Bishop. The First World War Exploits of Billy Bishop, VC. Dundurn Press Ltd., Toronto 2002, ISBN 978-1-55002-390-9 ( Google Books ).
  • Dan McCaffrey: Billy Bishop. Canadian Hero. James Lorimer & Company Publishers, Toronto 1988, ISBN 1-55028-095-3 ( Google Books ).
  • Norman Shores, LR Franks, Russell Guest: Above the Trenches. A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and the Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Grub Street, London 1991, ISBN 0-948817-19-4 .

Web links

Commons : Billy Bishop  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 2.
  2. ↑ Mc Caffery 1988, p. 3
  3. ↑ Greenhous 2002, p. 29.
  4. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 4
  5. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 4th
  6. ↑ Greenhous 2002, p. 31.
  7. ↑ Canada Gazette. 1867-1946 (Dominion of Canada). Volume 48, No. 19, November 7, 1914, p. 18 ( online , English).
  8. ↑ McCaffery 1988, pp. 10-11.
  9. ↑ Canada Gazette. 1867-1946 (Dominion of Canada). Volume 48, No. 35, February 27, 1915, p. 12 ( online , English).
  10. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 14.
  11. ↑ Greenhous 2002, p. 34.
  12. ↑ McCaffery 1988, pp. 17-18
  13. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 18.
  14. ↑ McCaffery 1988, pp. 20-21.
  15. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 22.
  16. ↑ McCaffery 1988, pp. 24-25.
  17. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 26
  18. ↑ Greenhous p. 38
  19. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 29.
  20. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 36.
  21. ↑ Greenhous 2002, p. 45.
  22. ↑ Greenhous 2002, p. 46.
  23. ↑ McCaffery 1988, pp. 42-45.
  24. ↑ McCaffery 1988, pp. 104-106.
  25. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 96.
  26. ↑ McCaffery 1988, p. 102.
  27. ^ McCaffery 1960, p. 155.
  28. ↑ McDonnell, Capt. Then "The Flying Career of William Avery Bishop." gwpda.org, April 23, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  29. ^ McCaffery 1960, p. 167.
  30. ^ McCaffery 1960, p. 186.
  31. ^ McCaffery 1960, p. 192.
  32. ↑ McDonnell, Capt. Then "The Flying Career of William Avery Bishop." gwpda.org, April 23, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  33. ↑ a b McDonnell, Capt. Then "The Flying Career of William Avery Bishop." gwpda.org, April 23, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  34. ↑ Shores et al. 1991, pp. 77-78.
  35. ^ Halliday, Hugh Valor Reconsidered: Inquiries Into The Victoria Cross , 145
  36. ↑ "Who's Who: William Bishop." firstworldwar.com. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
  37. ↑ McDonnell, Capt. Then "The Flying Career of William Avery Bishop." gwpda.org, April 23, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  38. ↑ "William Avery Bishop." Forces Canada . Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  39. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30228, HMSO, London, August 10, 1917, p. 8211 ( PDF , English).
  40. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30135, HMSO, London, June 15, 1917, p. 5980 ( PDF , English).
  41. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30308, HMSO, London, September 25, 1917, p. 9967 ( PDF , English).
  42. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30466, HMSO, London, January 8, 1918, p. 557 ( PDF , English).
  43. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30095, HMSO, London, May 25, 1917, p. 5186 ( PDF , English).
  44. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30775, HMSO, London, June 28, 1918, p. 7746 ( PDF , English).
  45. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30989, HMSO, London, November 1, 1918, p. 12977 ( PDF , English).
  46. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30989, HMSO, London, November 1, 1918, p. 12978 ( PDF , English).
  47. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36545, HMSO, London, June 2, 1944, p. 2653 ( PDF , English).
  48. ^ Billy Bishop Goes to War. on GLOBE THEATER. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  49. ↑ a b Billy Bishop rises. on SWR2. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  50. ^ Billy Bishop Goes to War (2010). on www.IMDb.com. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  51. ↑ TELEVISION Monday, March 30 (1987). 11 p.m. ARD. Billy Bishop rises. on DER SPIEGEL 14/1987. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Bishop, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bishop, William Avery (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Owen Sound , Ontario
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 1956
Place of death Palm Beach , Florida, USA