Billy Bishop Lone Wolf Hunter: The RAF Ace Re-Examined by Peter Kilduff, Grub Street, London, 2014, $39.95
The dean of World War I aviation biographers, Peter Kilduff, has outdone himself with a very difficult subject, examining the career of Canadian hero William Avery “Billy” Bishop. Kilduff’s work is distinguished here by his judgment when balancing Bishop’s attributed history against possible sources of confirmation from German or Allied sources, as well as his judicious use of excerpts from Bishop’s letters to his sweetheart and later wife, Margaret.
Kilduff is not the first to conduct such an inquiry into Bishop’s claim of 72 victories, but his book is by far the best researched. An example is his use of 13th Wing, RFC, reports that credit Bishop with flying more patrols and making more contacts with enemy aircraft than any other member of his squadron. Perhaps more important, this account is nuanced, for Kilduff manages to quote from those reports and letters in a way that vividly portrays changes in Bishop’s character. Readers can pick up on the subtle influence that the 23-yearold pilot’s genuine skills and successes have upon his dreams of glory.
Kilduff uses restraint in citing the corroboration—or lack of same—of Bishop’s claims. As you progress through this book, you sense that Bishop understands his good fortune in becoming recognized by the British government as a necessary hero. He wants to become known as the British counterpart to French ace Georges Guynemer, and although it is never stated outright, he must have had the same drive to exceed Manfred von Richthofen’s total of 80 victories. That accolade would be denied Bishop, but little else was. He was awarded England’s supreme combat honor, the Victoria Cross, and other high decorations.
There is no denying that Billy Bishop was a brave and talented fighter pilot, with perhaps 27 victories to his credit. Kilduff allows the excerpts from letters, the frequent notations on his combat reports that “Bishop was alone” and the lack of confirmation from careless and often obscured German records to tell the story and let the reader decide the truth. His careful notation of all the victories in the appendix helps underline the difficulties in getting an exact count.
It is hard to conclude there was ever even an informal understanding between Bishop and whoever was backing his ascent to glory in the Canadian government. Instead, a mutually unstated but understood symbiosis occurred. Bishop on the one hand wanted to believe in his victories, even if they were doubtful, and officials on the other hand wanted him to become famous. Before leaping to any conclusions about the morality of either position, readers must remember how great the British losses were in this savage conflict and understand that Canada had previously refused to accord aviators the honor and glory routinely granted by other governments.
So, in a way, Bishop was led to believe that he was indeed the far-reaching, always successful ace that he reported to Margaret. Once his story was established, there was no way out, and in any case neither side wanted one. By the time doubts about his combat record began to emerge, Bishop was so idolized that he probably believed his record was exactly what he said it was— and the government was not talking.
Billy Bishop is expertly laid out, with photos of the aircraft mentioned by Bishop, particularly the German types. Kilduff has done a marvelous and subtle job of showing how a real hero became larger than life.
Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.