William Bishop

Bishop had an idol; Albert Ball and he tried to copy his tactics and learned very quick. Although he was in fact a bad pilot he had an excellent sense of situational awareness. Knowing where you are in relation to the enemy, the ground and allies in four dimensions, and how to exploit the situation to your advantage. Also he was a crack shot and had a great believe in himself. He preferred to combat alone as a hunter and started solitary patrols.
On April 8, 1917 he had his 5th victory, but came back with a hole in his windscreen, that bullet had just missed his head. In a bold mood he painted the V-struts and engine cowling of his Nieuport bright blue, thus copying and a bit of worship Albert Ball's red V-struts and cowling. The next day he singlehanded attacked a flight of six Albatrosses and had shot 3 down.
At the end of this "Bloody April" he had 17 victories and was the squadron's leading Ace. Only the Red Baron, a few miles away, had a higher score: 21 allied aircraft in that april month only. On April 25, Bishop had been promoted to Captain.
On May 7 "The lone hawk" Bishop shot down two more Germans, making his score 19. That same day his friend and idol Albert Ball, the leading British ace was killed.
Just a few days before Ball's death they had talked about a plan to attack a German airfield, early some morning. Billy had discussed this briefly with his commander, Major Scott en he just told him to "go ahead". The 1st of June Billy Bishop checked and prepared his Nieuport and loaded some extra ammunition drums for his Lewis gun.
Very early in the morning of June 2, 1917 Billy Bishop got up, and took a quick breakfast and drank a cup of tea. At the same time his mechanic rolled the blue-nosed Nieuport B1566 out of the hangar and started it. Just before 4 o'clock Billy Bishop was airborned. He headed south-east for aerodrome Estourmel near Cambrai, which he had chosen as target to attack. Flying in clouds and mist he soon became lost and arrived above a deserted airfield. He circled around not sure what to do now. Then he discovered tents, hangars and barracks of Estourmel Aerodrome. It was the home of Jagdstaffel 5 of Commander Lt. Werner Voss. They must have heard that Billy approached because six Albatross scout aircraft and a Rumpler reconnaissance plane were ready for take off. Billy in his Nieuport made a first attack on these lined up airplanes. He destroyed one Albatross, a second to take off. But the pilot of one plane could not get enough power to climb, hit a tree and crashed. Two other made it in the air and attacked Bishop. In this fight Billy shot one of the two and while approaching the other Albatross his gun jammed. The German pilot not sure what happened and what to expect escaped. Bishop, not capable anymore to fire, also turned away and went back home to Filescamp. His score now brought to 28. For this attack he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Some pilotes of his squadron were not so happy with this solo action and believed he had become too ambitious and thought of this as a bit cowardly action. The Germans of course came for revenge with a number of casualties and destroyed aircraft and this fact also did not help him to become a popular member of the squadron.

There were many rumors spread about his feat that day. Because Bishop flew many of his patrols alone, most of his victories were never witnessed. In 1985, almost 30 years after the death of Bishop there had been a television broadcast entitled " The Kid Who Couldn't Miss" which led to a controversy about this episode. More of this you can read in the comprehensive work of Albert Lowe (the first link at the end)

Until August 16, 1917, he had another 22 victories, bringing his total to 50. Then he went back to Canada for a few months leave. He married his fiancee and as a famous airman he had to participate in a long promotion tour, to raise funds and goodwill for further warfare. He returned to England where he was promoted to Major and given the command over the 85 squadron, flying SE-5a's. On May 22, 1918 this squadron was transported to Petit Synthe, France.
He got back into action with his new SE-5a and on May 27, 1918 he shot down a two seater LVG above Houthulst in Belgium and the next day two Albatrosses near Langemark. Two days later May 30, he shot down four German opponents and on May 31 another two, bringing his total then 58. In the month of June he downed 12 more. The High Command ordered Bishop to come to England to assist in training and formation a new special squadron; the Canadian Flying Corps.
As a goodbye to the continent, Bishop was flying his last operation in the Air war over France and Belgian front and had another successfully day of fighting by downing five planes near Ieper (Ypres). Credited with 75 victories Billy Bishop went to England. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and got a function in the Headquarters General Staff of the Canadian Air Force, section overseas. His new organized C.A.F. had two squadrons for fighting service in France, but was in October 1918 not yet ready for operations. Bishop was called back to Canada to report. When he was on a ship back to England again, the war ended and peace was signed in Verdun.