The Making of Billy Bishop: The First World War Exploits of Billy Bishop, VC

History records that Billy Bishop was the top-ranking British Empire ace of World War I, scoring 72 kills and winning every major decoration for bravery including a Victoria Cross for a lone early morning attack on a German airfield. For years that record has been suspect and now, at long last, the truth regarding Bishop's claims is revealed in this bookshell of a book. Even a cursory examination of Bishop's record brings up glaring problems. First of all, most of his "victories" were not witnessed or confirmed by other Allied aircrew or ground personnel, being accepted solely on the basis of his word. This includes the 2 June 1917 airfield attack where he claimed three kills. Few if any other British pilots were treated similarly. Why was he treated thusly? Second, Bishop scored victories at a much higher rate than any other Empire ace even in his first month of combat flying. Yet curiously he rarely scored kills while flying with others; almost all of his claims were made on lone wolf missions. It seems odd that a high-scoring ace would lose his shooting eye when flying with others only to have it reappear once he went aloft alone. Lastly, Bishop's own accounts of his missions were embellished with every re-telling. After rigorously examining Bishop's claims using all existing sources of information including postwar examination of German loss reports, author Brereton Greenhous comes to the devastating conclusion that Billy Bishop "was a distinguished fraud - a brave flyer but a bold liar." At best Greenhous calculates Bishop may have downed 27 German aircraft; the other 40-odd claims were optimistic or totally imaginary! The airfield attack never happened; his VC and most of his other decorations undeserved. Greenhous maintains Bishop was aided and abetted in this disception by his 60 Squadron CO, Major Jack Scott, and top RFC commanders. Scott wanted maximum publicity for the squadron hence he pushed Bishop's claims through uncritically and sometimes embellished Bishop's own combat reports. The brass wanted and needed a British air ace hero to counter the endless publicity given the Red Baron and to stiffen the morale of RFC aircrew who were suffering crippling losses. Consequently they too turned a blind eye to the lack of confirmation. This book exemplifies historical research at its finest. Rather than blandly repeating the accepted Billy Bishop story, Greenhous examined all available documentation with a critical eye and assembled a well-reasoned, dispassionate summary of Bishop's career and accomplishments. After 90 years, the truth regarding Billy Bishop has finally seen the light of day. This book receives my highest recommendation!