William Avery (Billy) Bishop

Billy Bishop web (I made it)

In March 1917, a young pilot named Billy Bishop arrived at an aerodrome called Filescamp Farm in France ready end eager to fight the Germans. Billy Bishop was born on February 8, 1894 in Owen Sound. He was the son of William Avery Bishop, and Margaret Louisa Greene. His grandfather, Eleazar Bishop, had settled in Owen Sound in 1855. His home on the town's west side was Billy's childhood home.

Billy Bishop (http://www.tao-yin.com/baron-rouge/img/photos/bishop.jpg)

Billy Bishop's life was remarkable because he never gave up and he never turned back. His life was also remarkble because he sometimes flew 7 or 8 or 9 missions a day. Billy Bishop's life is admireable because he never gave up.Billy Bishops most helpful trait was he was courageous. 2 lessons that people might learn are that you should never turn back and to always try your hardest. I think being a hero means helping people that nead help and always doing what is right.I think Billy Bishop is a hero because he was very brave. He managed to shoot down many German planes during World War I and saved the lives of many comrades. Billy shot down a total of 72 planes in the war. Without Billy Bishop Canada and the world might look a lot different. In 1952 he retired to Palm Beach, Fiordia. On Septenber 10 1956, he died in his sleep in Palm Beach and was buried in The Greenwood Cemetary in Owen Sound.

Billy Bishop (http://collections.ic.gc.ca/ heirloom_series/volume4/50-53.htm)

Billy Bishop earned many different awards in his lifetime including the Military Cross, the Distinguished Service Order and his most famous achievement, the Victoria Cross - the highest award for gallantry in the whole British Empire! On April 7 1917 Billy Bishop destroyed a German observation balloon that earned him the Military Cross. On May 2 1917 Billy Bishop participated in 9 flights one of witch earned him the Distinguished Service Order and this is how Billy Bishop earned the Victoria Cross.

Billy Bishop (on a Google images search)

At 3:00 A.M. June 2 1917 Billy Bishop crawled out of bed and tried one more time to get his fellow war ace Willy Fry to fly with him on a daring raid across enemy lines. Willy said "No!" and went back to bed. At 3:57 Billy Bishop took off alone into a light drizzle. He thought he could find an aerodrome (airport) at a place called Estourmel and attack the plains while there were still on the ground, when the enemy wasn’t expecting it. But when he got to Estourmel there wasn’t a single German in sight. Billy Flew southeast for 6 or 7 kilometers. Finally near a village called Esnes, he saw 4 sheds, an airplane hanger and some vehicles parked on the road, plus seven German airplanes-six scout planes and a "two seater." This Was a lucky break for Billy, But not for the German unit that was on its way to Flanders to prepare for a British attack. The aerodrome that Billy had stumbled across was temporary. The sheds and hanger were there today, gone tomorrow - now you see it, now you don't. Or in Billy's case, now you see it, now you shoot! The German planes were idling their engines. Billy flew straight at them, firing his machine gun. When the first plane took off he fired 30 rounds of ammunition at it and watched it crash. Ditto the second German plane. Meanwhile, two more planes had taken off. He zoomed toward one of them, still firing and watched it crash on the ground. The second of the pair started to chase him and he fired a whole drum of ammunition at it until it finally stopped its attack.

As Billy headed for home he began to feel very strange - dizzy, sick to his stomach and afraid of fainting. To make matters worse, he was lost. So he landed in a farmer's field to ask, "Which way to the front?" The farmer got him pointed in the right direction and he arrived back at Filescamp Farm at 5:40 A.M., firing off his flare gun as he always did to let his fellow pilots know that his attack had been successful! When he climbed out of the cockpit, everyone gathered round to marvel at what he had done. They found bullet holes in the tail of his plane and along one of the lower wings where the edge had been shot away. Billy's commanding officer, Jack Scott, was thrilled with Billy's daring exploit, and recommended him for the Victoria Cross.

Billy Bishop (on http://www.airmuseum.ca/ web/ammq0011.html)

I chose Billy Bishop as my hero because when I first read the section of Famous Dead Canadians about Billy Bishop I was inspired by his courage and how he never gave up. I think that I learned never to give up and to always be nice to your friends.