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BISHOP
WILLIAM AVERY BISHOP was at Kingston when the First Great War began, a 20-year-old cadet at Royal Military College. When that war ended, he was Lieutenant-Colonel William Avery Bishop, V.C., D.S.O. and bar, M.C., D.F.C., Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Croix de Guerre with Palm.
In just four years he had won practically every decoration for valor conferred by the British and French governments. Today as an Air Marshal his service to his country goes on in a manner scarcely less vital, if less spectacular.
His is an extraordinary record best told with least trimmings. An "ordinary" boyhood at Owen Sound gave no inkling of his future, nor did his enlistment in the 4th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, at Toronto in 1914.
But he didn't like the mud around England's cavalry camps and when one day a plane landed neatly in a nearby field — and took off again — he decided he had had enough of dank, slimy and boggy earth. "I knew there was only one place to be on such a day," he has written, "up above the clouds and in the summer sunshine. I was going into battle that way."
This was in July 1915. He got his transfer and a few months later went into action in France as an observer. His pilot made a poor landing one day and Bishop injured his knee — the only injury the war held for him — so that with this delay and the customary training in all types of air work it was March 1917 before he was appointed a pilot with the 60th Squadron, R.F.C.
But once there he made up for lost time. On March 25 he downed his first enemy plane and nearly crashed behind enemy lines himself because his engine "oiled up." He glided home to safety, however, and his "score" against the foe was declared opened.
On April 7 he won the Military Cross for destroying an enemy observation balloon — a task momentarily delayed because he was interrupted by a German plane that had to be shot down first. The next day was Easter Day — a fete Bishop celebrated by engaging eight enemy planes, destroying two, dispersing six and wrecking another observation balloon.
And so his record mounted. It seemed Lieut. Bishop flew and fought for the sheer delight of flying and fighting. He roamed about the sky in his single seater Nieuport Scout, sniping at balloons and swooping upon any planes that came within his sight; he disliked to fly home.
On April 30 Captain Bishop (the promotion came within six weeks of joining the squadron) battled nine times in two hours, engaging eleven different enemy planes in the first hour. Two two-seaters were downed and the remainder were dispersed.
Two days later, Captain Bishop went up three times and engaged in all 23 planes — six from long range and the remainder from close in. Three machines fell from his gun that day, two in one engagement that won him the D.S.O. and this citation:
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. While in a single seater he attacked three hostile machines, two of which he brought down, although in the meantime he was himself attacked by four other hostile machines. His courage and determination have set a fine example to others."
It was before dawn June 2 that Captain Bishop in a spectacular lone flight won the Victoria Cross "for most conspicuous bravery, determination and skill." In the words of the War Office citation:
"Captain Bishop flew to an aerodrome 12 miles the other side of the German line. Seven machines, some with their engines running, were on the ground. He attacked these from about 50 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.
"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. One he engaged at 1,000 feet, emptying the rest of his drum of ammunition. This machine crashed 300 yards from the airdrome, 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 1,000 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."
No Canadian pilot had won the Victoria Cross before. But to that honour was added on September 26 a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order he had already won. This was in effect a second award of the D.S.O., this time for "gallantry and distinguished service in the field . . . for consistent dash and great fearlessness and for having destroyed at least 45 enemy planes within five months. With this further recognition came promotion to the rank of Major and leave to Canada.
Back home it was realized he would provide a stimulus to recruiting and at official request he co-operated loyally in this new and important service to his force. But early in 1918 he returned to the fray.
In May he was given command of the 85th Squadron and very shortly set out on what one authority has well called "a carnival of destruction." Organization work cut down his flying time but towards the end of the period he went fighting mad. In twelve days alone he brought down 25 hostile craft, bringing his total to 72 and winning still another decoration: the Distinguished Flying Cross. The total of 72 vanquished planes, mostly shot down behind enemy lines, was the largest "bag" of any British pilot.
An accurate rifle marksman since the time he was hunting small game with youthful companions back in Ontario bush-lands, Major Bishop owed much of his success as an aerial duellist to his sharpshooting ability. But there was more to it than a good eye — it was a matter of perfect co-ordination of flying skill and marksmanship. The entire aeroplane had to be aimed until the enemy aircraft was caught and held athwart the cross hairs of the machine gun sight. Then the trigger was pressed and Death leaped at the hapless foe from Major Bishop's gun muzzles.
The Canadian ace was always sparing of ammunition. Usually a short burst of three to fifteen rounds at short range accomplished his purpose. No more was needed because Major Bishop practised assiduously on "Le Petit Boche," a cloth target resembling an aeroplane laid out on the ground near his home aerodrome. Major Bishop would go aloft in his spare time and dive on the ground target with guns chattering, pulling up sharply a few yards off the ground. Spurts of dust showed him where his bullets were striking.
Practice brought proficiency — and doom to luckless German aviators. Major Bishop never overlooked this gunnery practice even after he had become a leading ace, for he realized that his skill could always be improved. The whine of his diving plane and the rattle of his guns over in a corner of the aerodrome were familiar sounds to his squadron mates.
It was a fitting climax to this man's war service — on the last day alone he destroyed five planes while a lesser man might well have rested on his laurels. Major Bishop was then sent back to England to organize a separate branch of the Royal Air Force, but though plans were completed the new force did not come into actual existence before the Armistice.
Before leaving Major Bishop's war record it might be well to quote from the pen of Lieut.-Col. George A. Drew. In his book, "Canada's Fighting Airmen", Col. Drew says of Major Bishop:
"It is true that Richthofen and Fonck exceeded his total by a few machines (Richthofen, the German, brought down 80 and Fonck, the French ace, brought down 75), but in the short period of his active service during 1918 Major Bishop proved himself beyond question the most brilliant aerial duellist the world has known."
To quote further from Col. Drew:
"All along the battle front young Canadians were taking an increasingly important part, fighting like furies and displaying almost unbelievable endurance in the arduous and less spectacular observation and bombing squadrons. When we find that among the fighters from all parts of the Empire the first two were Canadians as well as ten out of the first twenty-two, the reason presents itself why Canadians today should know who these men were and what they did."
Peace did not bring an end to Lieut.-Colonel Bishop's flying activity, and much less did it arrest his boundless energy. With the outbreak of the Second Great War came his immediate and voluntary enlistment in active service and his contribution as Air Marshal Bishop to Canada's prosecution of this war cannot but add stature to his already magnificent career of service to his country and her cause.
Painting & text from Clyde Scollan's booklet - Canada's Air Heritage
Featured in the booklet are
Billy Barker Billy Bishop Ray Collishaw Alan McLeod
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Born - 8 February 1894 in Owen Sound,
Ontario
Son of William A. and Margaret Bishop
He attended Owen Sound Collegiate
& Vocational Institute
In 1911, age 17, Bishop entered the
Royal Military College of Canada
In 1914, Bishop left the Royal Military
College and joined the Mississauga
Horse Cavalry Regiment.
Left for England on 6 June 1915
He transferred to the RFC in July
The rest, as they say, is history
Son Arthur Bishop flew Spits in WW2
Bishop died on 11 September 1956 |
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Military Cross
London Gazette, 25 May 1917 - His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to confer the Military Cross on the undermentioned Officers and Warrant Officers in recognition of their gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field:
CANADIAN FORCE
Lt. William Avery Bishop, Canadian Cavalry And Royal Flying Corps.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty
He attacked a hostile balloon on the ground, dispersed the crew and destroyed the balloon, and also drove down a hostile machine which attacked him. He has on several other occasions brought down hostile machines.
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Distinguished Service Order
London Gazette, 15 June 1917 - His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the appointments of the undermentioned Officers to be Companions of the Distinguished Service Order in recognition of their gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field :—
Capt. William Avery Bishop, Can. Cav., and R.F.C.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty
While in a single-seater he attacked three hostile machines, two of which he brought down, although in the meantime he was himself attacked by four other hostile machines. His courage and determination have set a fine example to others.
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Victoria Cross
War Office, 11th August 1917 - His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officer: —
Captain William Avery Bishop, D.S.O., M.C., Canadian Cavalry and Royal Flying Corps
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 machine about, he flew on to another aerodrome about three miles south-east, which was at least twelve miles (on) 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 of the ground, but at a height of sixty feet, Captain Bishop fired fifteen rounds into it at very close range and it crashed to the ground. A second machine got off the ground, into which he fired thirty 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 the 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 1,000 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.
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Bar To DSO
War Office, 26th September 1917 - His Majesty the KING has been pleased to confer the undermentioned rewards for gallantry and distinguished service in the field. The acts of gallantry for which the decorations have been awarded will be announced in the London Gazette as early as practicable:
Awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order
Lt. (T./Capt.) William Avery Bishop, V.C., D.S.O., M.C., Can. Cav. and R.F.C.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when engaging hostile aircraft
His consistent dash and great fearlessness have set a magnificent example to the pilots of his squadron. He has destroyed no lees than 45 hostile machines within the past 5 months, frequently attacking enemy formations single-handed, and on all occasions displaying a fighting spirit and determination to get to close quarter with his opponents which have earned the admiration of all in contact with him.
(Details given in the 8 January 1918 edition of the London Gazette # 30466)
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Noted Canadian Aviator Was Man Who Bagged Five Hun Planes Before Lunch
LONDON, June 27, 1918 — It is learned that Major W. A. Bishop, V.C., D.S.O., Canada's premier airman and pilot, who has the largest number of air victories to his credit of any airman in the war, has returned to England to take up an appointment at the air ministry in the department of the chief of the air staff.
Major Bishop's recall was ordered by Lord Weir, the air minister, at the special request of Sir Edward Kemp, the overseas minister of militia for Canada, as it was considered important that Bishop should be placed in a position where his war experience could be used to the best advantage, especially in connection with any developments that may take place regarding the organization of the Canada air force.
Took Picked Squadron
Three weeks ago Major Bishop took to France a hand-picked fighting squadron, of whom a largo percentage were Canadians. The squadron was equipped with the latest and best British fighting aeroplanes and in the short time they have been at the front have accounted for an extraordinary number of enemy machines.
Major Bishop's record in Boche airplanes brought down in aerial combats has now reached a total of seventy-two. If reckoned on the same basis of the late Baron Von Richthofen, the champion German airman, who counted a double-seated machine as two victories, Major Bishop's total would be well over the century mark.
Bishop Was the Man
On the morning of the day he received the order to return to England, quite unexpected by him, he went out for one last fling at the Huns and before his return had brought down five enemy machines. Upon his return, he said good-bye to his comrades, jumped into a motor car and caught a boat for England.
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Billy Bishop inspects his guns
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Distinguished Flying Cross
London Gazette, 28 June 1918 - His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to confer the Distinguished Flying Cross on the undermentioned Officers of the Royal Air Force, in recognition of acts of gallantry and distinguished service:
Capt. (T./Maj.) William Avery Bishop, V.C., D.S.O., M.C.
A most successful and fearless fighter in the air, whose acts of outstanding bravery have already been recognised by the awards of the Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order, Bar to the Distinguished Service Order, and Military Cross. For the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross now conferred upon him he has rendered signally valuable services in personally destroying twenty-five enemy machines in twelve days—five of which he destroyed on the last day of his service at the front. The total number of machines destroyed by this distinguished officer is seventy-two, and his value as a moral factor to the Royal Air Force cannot be over-estimated
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REUTER'S TELEGRAM
LONDON, 3rd August 1918 - A feature of the Gazette containing awards to British and Dominion airmen is the Distinguished Flying Cross to Captain Bishop, of Canada (who has already received the Victoria Cross and several other awards) for destroying twenty-five enemy machines in twelve days, and five in one day, making the total destroyed by him seventy-two.
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How "Billy" Bishop Became Britain's Most Famous Ace
9 November 1918 - The following interesting review of "Winged Warfare" a narrative by Colonel W. A. Bishop V.C., D.S.O., M.C., published by McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, is taken from Saturday Night:
If there is a phase of military service where temperament tells more than in any other, it is surely the air service. Here it is not so much a battle as a duel and every fighter takes his own way of fighting. As a result, the great airmen seem to possess very strongly marked and curiously divergent personalities. Guynemer, the wonderful French "ace" was chivalrous, romantic a young knight-errant of the clouds, who took his work as a sort of sacred mission for France.
Fonck, his equally wonderful successor in the French service, is said to be coldly scientific in his methods, a man who goes into an air fight with the cool intellectual detachment of a chess player. Of the Germans, Richthofen, Immelmann, and Boelke, it is impossible to say much, though they seem to have shown the national preference for organization, and seldom fought without the assistance of decoys and a supporting squadron — Richthofen's "circus" became famous.
The great English "aces" Ball and McCudden, appear to have performed their work in a characteristically matter-of-fact way, without any particular hatred of Germans or lust for battle, but purely as a job to be done as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Our own Colonel Bishop, the little Canadian who has become world-famous as the greatest airman in the British service, seems to possess a genuine love of fighting for its own sake. Even before his identity was established, stories reached this country of a Canadian aviator who was making a name for himself by the tiger-like speed and ferocity of his attacks. It was said that he spent the minimum of time jockeying, but pounced on his prey as a hawk might, his reckless determination being one of his chief assets as an air-fighter.
Now comes Colonel Bishop's book — he was a major when it was written — and it shows that there was a great deal of truth in these first impressions. He evidently goes into battle with a zest that is positively terrifying. But if he is savage in his resolution to destroy the Hun he is not at all so careless in his methods as one might judge from his directness of attack. On the contrary, this is part of his system. He goes straight for the enemy, because he knows he can rely on his flying ability and especially on his extraordinary accuracy of fire. This is really Colonel Bishop's greatest asset as an air-fighter, this wonderful ability to shoot with deadly effect from almost any position. It is a natural gift, and one that he has sedulously cultivated, as his book abundantly proves. This book is very well written. In fact, it is the most interesting of the personal narratives of air-fighters that
I have seen, because it goes into the details of the numerous fights in which Colonel Bishop engaged. It is all told too, with a boyish gusto that is very attractive. Colonel Bishop does not brag about his achievements but neither is he unduly modest. After all, modesty would be a bit misplaced in a volume of this sort and might even savor of affectation. He tells his story frankly, as an enthusiastic football player might describe how he scored a touchdown. And it makes excellent reading.
Colonel Bishop's account of his first fight may be taken as a sample of the book's quality. It occurred on March 25, 1917, when he was flying as part of a formation with three Hun machines flying on the western front. "Like nearly all pilots who come face to face with a Hun in the air for the first time," he says, "I could hardly realize that these were real, live, hostile machines. I was fascinated by them and wanted to circle about and have a good look at them. The German Albatross machines are perfect beauties to look upon. Their swept-back wings give them more of a bird like appearance than any other machines flying on the western front.
"My first real impression of the engagement was that one of the enemy machines dived down, then suddenly came up again and began to shoot at one of our people from the rear. I had a quick impulse and followed it. I flew straight at the attacking machine from a position where he could not see me and opened fire. My 'tracer' bullets — bullets that show a spark and a thin little trail of smoke as they speed through the air — began at once to hit the enemy machine. A moment later the Hun turned over on his hack and seemed to fall out of control."
It was a trick, of course, but Bishop was not to be denied.
"When my man fell from his upside down position into a spinning nose dive, I dived after him. Down he went for a full thousand feet and then regained control. I had forgotten caution and everything else in my wild and overwhelming desire to destroy this thing that for the time being represented all of Germany to me. I could not have been more than forty yards behind the Hun when he flattened out and again I opened fire. It made by heart leap to see my smoking bullets hitting the machine just where the closely hooded pilot was sitting. Again the Hun went into a dive and shot away from me vertically towards the earth."
Even then Bishop followed him, suspecting that it might still be a ruse. But this time it was the real thing.
"When I was still about fifteen hundred feet up, he crashed into the ground below me. For a long time I had heard pilots speaking of 'crashing' enemy machines, but I never appreciated the full significance of 'crashed' until now. There is no other word for it."
But Bishop was not yet out of danger. His engine had filled with oil and he could not start it. There was therefore, nothing to do but make a landing - in enemy territory, so he thought. But luck was with him. He just managed to glide over the German lines and tumble out into a ditch, from which some Tommies rescued him.
There are other stories of air-combats just as thrilling as this, but naturally, one must make an end of quoting somewhere. Besides, this sample should be enough to convince the reader of the extraordinary interest of this narrative by Canada's greatest airman and one of the most famous and successful of the world's winged warriors.
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AWARDS OF FOREIGN DECORATIONS
London Gazette 18 November 1918 - The undermentioned Officers and other ranks of the Royal Air Force have been awarded the Decorations specified, in recognition of distinguished services rendered:
CONFERRED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
Croix de Chevalier, Legion, of Honour
Lieutenant-Colonel William Avery Bishop, V.C., D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C.,
Canadian Cavalry and Aviation Service
The Groix de Guerre with Palme
Lieutenant-Colonel William Avery Bishop, V.C., D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C.,
Canadian Cavalry and Aviation Service.
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Billy Bishop & Billy Barker pose with a German Fokker D.VII
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Super Planes
NEW YORK, Jan. 29 1919 - Colonel Bishop, a leading Canadian ace, lecturing, stated that if the war had lasted three days longer, twelve super-planes built in England would have bombarded Berlin.
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WW2
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Bishop Struck Like A Swift Hawk
Present Air Marshal Developed a New
Technique in First Great War and Won Fame
(By HECTOR CHARLESWORTH) 22 May 1942 - There are many among the older generation, especially veteran newspaper men, to whom the major episodes of the First Great War are as vividly present in memory as those of the present one. In truth, it is easier to sort them out mentally in serial order than to envisage all that has happened since the spring of 1940. Looking back, it is saddening to note how many of those who were eminent figures in the story of Canada's war effort, from 1914 to 1918, have passed away. But there is one whose name was on everybody's lips a quarter of a century ago - who was even then a world celebrity - and who is still a potent figure in the present conflict. He is much in the public eye this very week, for he is William A. Bishop, V.C., Chief Air Marshal for Canada, and playing an eminent role in the great conference of the air chiefs of the United Nations at Ottawa.
It is suggestive of the slow tempo at which the present war developed, so far as Canada was concerned, that when Bishop, in the autumn of 1939, got back into uniform after years in commercial life, his appointment was announced as "honorary." It was stated that he would be "consultant" of the Minister of National Defence on air problems, especially with regard to co-ordination of effort between military and civil aviation. It was a capital appointment so far as it went, because Bishop had enjoyed unusual experience in both. But the time long since passed when so great an expert could confine himself to the duties of an honorary consultant.
My mind goes back to the "Billy" Bishop of 1918, hero of hundreds of thousands of eager school boys in Canada and the United States. And this was probably true of other parts of the world also. During the war, aviation had captured the juvenile imagination, and has held it in its grip ever since. Bishop, a Canadian boy not so very many years older than the high school matriculants of 1918, was Ace of Aces and his brief career a Horatio Alger story in real life.
When the war broke out in August 1914, he was a young lad in Owen Sound, legal centre of Grey County. His father was Clerk of the Court and that summer he was assisting him in the sleepy old office and wondering just what he would do with his life. The unforeseen war made life seem strange and different to him, as it did for every one on the verge of manhood. He was one of the first to enlist in the Royal Air Force, then a novel branch of the Imperial service. After the organization got well under way - and recruits were sent up to fight with much less training than they get today - his brilliance in pursuit and action was soon recognized. His fame became cumulative, and during a period of service in France, much shorter than the war itself, he topped all records by shooting down no fewer than 72 German planes.
When Bishop had reached a total of 69, the British War Office decided that he had assuredly done his bit and it would be tempting Providence to permit him to continue. It allocated to him executive duties which would keep him on the ground. On the last morning of his service as a fighting aviator, he went up alone on a sort of farewell flight. His luck held and single handed, he brought down three more German planes.
Bishop's unparalleled achievement was due to personal initiative. In those days, before the science of air fighting had been expanded to the present degree, personal initiative was invaluable. He is credited with having originated what was known as the "hawk attack"; that is to say, when he selected an enemy plane as his prey he did little or no maneuvering, but went after it in a bee line as a hawk does after a pigeon.
Among those who were awarded the Victoria Cross in the last war, none had a more marvelous record for bravery, and when he was "de-mobbed,” he was given the rank of full colonel, one of the youngest on record.
The war over, a form of reward unknown to our grandfathers awaited him. No war hero was more earnestly besought by publishers of all types to write books and syndicate articles for the press. Bishop once told me that, at the outset, the task of writing an article seemed to him a tougher job than bringing down an enemy plane. Once he set to work, he proved an accomplished writer on his special subject and needed no assistance from a "ghost." The rewards were generous and with his pen, he amassed a tidy nest egg for future use. Turning to commercial life, his initiative was still alive. With the late Colonel Barker, another brilliant Canadian ace, he started business in Toronto with a fleet of passenger planes, carrying the curious not only on short observation flights, but longer distances. Through its novelty it flourished for a while, but he soon realized that lack of suitable landing places in most Ontario centers was an insurmountable handicap.
His experiment in civil aviation taught him something of the oil business with which it is necessarily linked. Within less than fifteen years after the Armistice, he had become one of the most prominent oil executives in Canada.
The Air Marshal is a short, rosy man, heavily built, with blue eyes and close-cut blonde moustache. So far as his own achievements are concerned, he acquired in youth a traditional British reserve, but on other subjects is congenitally genial. He declares that the worst scare he ever got in his life occurred not in the war, but when he discovered that the tank of an aeroplane which he was flying from Montreal to Ottawa was leaking.
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Tells Graduates They Are Better Than Foe
Ottawa, July 31, 1942 - (CP) - Air Marshal W.A. Bishop today pinned pilot's wings on the tunic of his 19-year-old son, Leading Aircraftman A.C.W.A. Bishop, during a Wing's parade at near-by Uplands Service Flying Training School. The son of the first Great War ace, who now is director of recruiting for the Royal Canadian Air Force, was one of a large class to receive their wings. The graduates came from all parts of Canada and the United States.
Air Marshal Bishop told the class that theirs was a "most important and glorious task," and added, "This war will be won in the air. This is your hour. You must grasp it and make the most of it. I know you will.
Overseas they would meet a "fierce and fighting foe" but they would meet him with a great advantage.
"You can meet him with confidence that you are better trained than he is, that you are better equipped and, much more important, you are a better man than he is," he said. “You will win, never fear."
Ontario graduates were: E.L. Ashbury, A.K. Keats, E.A.K. Mundy, Charles Spring, C.H. Reeves, Toronto; C.W. Archer, Bartonville; G.M. Hyndman, T.P. Hyndman, Oakville; W. Wood, W.E. Worthington, Hamilton; A.C.W.A. Bishop, F.C. Boweing, J.M. Brady, P.K. Davidson, Ottawa; W.E. Cummings, North Bay; F.G. Doyle; Chatham; L.J. Hurrell, Carleton Place; J.R. McLaughlin, Colborne; L.A. Wearn, Enniskillen.
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Bishop Receives 14th Decoration
Ottawa, Nov. 23, 1944 (CP) - Air Marshal W. A. (Billy) Bishop, who retired from the RCAF as Director of Recruiting in September, was invested with the insignia of a Companion (Military Division) of The Most Honorable Order of the Bath at a private investiture at Government House today. It was his 14th decoration.
Air Marshal Bishop, who already holds the V.C., D.S.O. and Bar, M.C. and D.F.C., and other decorations, was awarded the C.B. in the King's birthday honors list earlier this year.
The investiture was made by the Earl of Athlone, Governor-General.
Mrs. Bishop was present.
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Billy Bishop & Winston Churchill
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See Also
Billy Bishop Home & Museum
Miles Constable's Bishop page
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