It's a Bird, it's a Plane, it's Billy Bishop!
At the beginning of World War 1, airplanes were driven by pilots to track two things; the location of enemies and enemy movements. The pilots would shoot at each other with hand guns and throw bricks at each other to try to keep enemy planes from knowing their troops' movements and to protect the troops on the ground. As the war progressed, machine guns were designed to shoot between the rotating propellers. When these guns were mounted on airplanes, aerial warfare was introduced. The battlefield was now taken from the ground and water to the air!
War pilots were seen as knights of the air. In the words of of the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1917, "They are the knighthood of this air, without fear, without reproach, and they recall the legendary days of chivalry, not merely by the daring of their exploits, but by the nobility of their spirit." (Freeman-Shaw & Haskings-Winner, 14)
War pilots were seen as knights of the air. In the words of of the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1917, "They are the knighthood of this air, without fear, without reproach, and they recall the legendary days of chivalry, not merely by the daring of their exploits, but by the nobility of their spirit." (Freeman-Shaw & Haskings-Winner, 14)
William Avery "Billy" Bishop was known to have the 3rd greatest number of air victories during the war. Before him were "Red Baron" the German pilot and René Fonck the French pilot. In March of 1917, he flew with Britain's Royal Flying Corps and made his first kill against a German plane. This started his long, eventful journey as a war pilot.
"Indeed, William Avery Bishop, Canada's first aerial Victoria Cross winner, was audacious. He was also an imperfect human being and a study in contradictions, frequently at odds with the perceptions of an adoring public." (Bashow)
"Indeed, William Avery Bishop, Canada's first aerial Victoria Cross winner, was audacious. He was also an imperfect human being and a study in contradictions, frequently at odds with the perceptions of an adoring public." (Bashow)