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Billy Bishop:
Hero or Fraud?
William Avery “Billy” Bishop (1894-1956)
– fighter ace, hero, Victoria Cross winner, charming,
Air Marshal, Canadian icon, brave flier, bold liar?
For over eighty years Billy Bishop has been one of the
greatest heroes in Canadian history. Yet in the forty-five
years since his death, historical research into his
First World War exploits has brought forth blemishes
on the Canadian airman’s previously outstanding
wartime career. Did Bishop lie about some of his aerial
successes – most notably his 2 June 1917 dawn
attack on a German airfield that brought him a coveted
Victoria Cross? This lecture will explore these issues
plus others such as Bishop’s effect on morale
and the war effort, his role in the First World War
Allied propaganda machine, and his oft-ignored post-First
World War career. Finally, we will exam Billy Bishop’s
place in Canadian history itself.
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* Lecture
Notes *
PowerPoint
Slides
Readings:
Greenhous, Brereton. “Billy Bishop – Brave Flyer,
Bold Liar.” Canadian Military
Journal. Volume 3, Number 3 (Autumn 2002), 61-64. Available
online at: http://www.journal.dnd.ca/engraph/Vol3/no3/pdf/61-64_e.pdf
Bashow, David, Lieutenant-Colonel. “The Incomparable
Billy Bishop: The Man and the
Myths.” Canadian Military Journal. Volume 2, Number 3
(Autumn 2002), 55-
60. Available online at: http://www.journal.dnd.ca/engraph/Vol3/no3/pdf/55-60_e.pdf
A combined PDF version of the above articles can be downloaded
here [LINK].
Further Reading:
Bashow, David. The Knights of the Air: Canadian Fighter
Pilots in the First World War. Toronto: McArthur and Co.,
2000.
Bishop, Arthur [Billy Bishop’s son]. The Courage
in the Early Morning. Toronto:
McClelland & Stewart, 1965.
Bishop, W.A. Winged Warfare. Toronto: McClelland,
Goodchild & Stewart, 1918.
Chadderton. Hanging a Legend: The National Film Board’s
Shameful Attempt to
Discredit Billy Bishop, VC. Ottawa: War Amputations of
Canada, n.d.
Greenhous, Brereton. The Making of Billy Bishop: The First
World War Exploits of
Billy Bishop, VC. Toronto: The Dundurn Group, 2002.
Mathieson, W.D. Billy Bishop, VC. Markham, Ontario:
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1989.
McCaffery, Dan. Billy Bishop: Canadian Hero. Toronto:
Lormier, 1988.
Shores, Christopher, Norman Franks and Russel Guest. Above
the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units
of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915- 1920. London: Grub
Street 1990.
Wise, S.F. Canadian Airmen and the First World War: The
Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force Volume I.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the
Department of National Defence, 1980.
Other Sources:
Films/Videos:
“The Kid Who Couldn’t Miss.” National Film
Board of Canada, 1987.
“The Billy Bishop Controversy.” The War Amps of
Canada, 1982.
Theatrical Productions/Plays:
“Billy Bishop Goes to War.” Written by John Gray,
1969.
