Background
Bishop was born in Owen Sound, Ontario.
Bishop was born in Owen Sound, Ontario.
Bishop attended Beech Street School (later renamed Dufferin Public School in 1910), just down the street from his home. As a teen, he attended the Owen Sound Collegiate Institute before enrolling at Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, ON
He went overseas during World War I with the Canadian cavalry. In 1915 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, joining the 60th Squadron in France in 1917. He soon became highly skilled in aerial combat and shot down a total of 72 enemy aircraft, including 25 in one 10-day period. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and several other decorations, and in March 1918 he was promoted to the rank of major, assuming command of the 85th Squadron.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel, Bishop was appointed to the staff of the British Air Ministry in August 1918, and in this capacity he helped to form the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a separate service. After the war he joined one of the first commercial aviation companies in Canada, and he eventually became a businessman. In 1936 he was appointed honorary air vice-marshal of the RCAF, and he became honorary air marshal during World War II. He was the author of Winged Warfare (1917) and Flying Squad (1926).
Growing up, Billy Bishop was an outdoorsman and enjoyed riding, shooting and swimming. He also exhibited a keen interest in flight at an early age. As a boy, he crafted his own flying machine from an orange crate and bed sheets. He “flew” his craft from the roof of the house, only to land in his mother’s rose bushes.