Introduction: An aggressive pilot, due to his daring nature, a young Canadian became a legend and inspired a new generation of aces. Billy Bishop was a courageous man and the greatest fighter pilot to serve Canada during the times of war. The purpose of this essay is to learn and recognize the different contributions made by Billy Bishop and his journey to rising above his peers through strength and courage. This is true because he would go on to won 16 medals and become the first Canadian to win the Victoria Cross. First the difficult path he faced to achieving his dream will be discussed. Secondly his amazing victories and contributions during the war will be discussed. Lastly the ordeal he faced by people who believe he lied about his fights and the controversies of whether he deserved the Victoria Cross will be discussed. Life before Flying: Billy Bishop’s path to greatness was not an easy one. He encountered many challenges throughout his young life that recognized him as a fiercer fighter pilot and a true hero. Billy Bishop faced an incredibly tough task to achieving his dream of becoming Canada’s greatest ace. Bishop had a tough life at Owen Sound Collegiate. He would be the subject to many jokes and preferred the company of girls. However his anger and fists won him acceptance on the school ground. He was a good natured boy born on February 8th, 1984. In 1911, at the age of 17, his parents sent him Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario due to his mediocre marks in school which his father knew would not allow him to get accepted to the University of Toronto. He was not an academic student and in his third year of high school was found cheating on a class exam which would later be the subject to many controversie... ... middle of paper ... ...owing were discussed. The difficult path he faced to becoming a fighter pilot, his amazing victories and contributions during the war and recognizing the ordeal he faced by people who believe he falsely claimed that he was triumphant in the fight that won him the Victoria Cross. This indicates that after the conclusion of research there is confidence that Billy Bishop contributed considerably to the success of the Allied nations in both World Wars. However, the controversy of Billy Bishop is very opinionative and discussed among by any historians. There is inconclusive evidence that would prove if Billy Bishop had completed the mission or not. Therefore it was hard to do analysis on that section because every historian has their own answer. It is a shame however, that a controversy like this can damage an extraordinary career of Canada’s greatest ace, Billy Bishop.
World War one saw many great airmen, but there were two that stood out among the rest; Captain Edward Rickenbacker and 2nd Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr. These men both demonstrated courage and bravery that ultimately asked them for their life. Both men received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their deeds of bravery, as well as earning the title of Ace. An Ace is someone that has shot down at least five enemy planes. Rickenbacker was nicknamed “Ace of the Aces”, while Luke was the first of only two men to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Luke honored his country through his actions. Frank Luke Jr demonstrated superior characteristics that lead him to make a valuable contribution to World War I through bravery, skilled flying skills, and selflessness.
Officially credited with 80 air combat victories, 26 year old Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”) was not only Germany’s greatest Ace, but the greatest Ace of World War 2. Despite the fact that he was killed nearly 100 years ago on 21 April 1918, the question still remains: Who killed Manfred von Richthofen? While the kill was credited to be the work of Captain Roy Brown, a Canadian pilot, there are reasons to believe that the Baron was killed at the hands of a different soldier. Sergeant Cedric Popkin, of the 24th Australian Machine Gun Company is the man who was most likely to have shot his plane down. Not only was Cedric within the range the bullet was shot from, but bullet trajectory and evidence from the official autopsy comes
The Avro Arrow was Canada’s broken dream and it could have been one of Canada’s greatest aeronautical achievements. The cancelation of the Avro Arrow was a huge mistake that set Canada’s aviation industry back, which resulted in a Brain Drain to USA and was an act of Canada bowing to USA pressure. The Avro Arrow, an advanced, supersonic, twin-engine, all-weather interceptor jet aircraft developed by A.V. Roe of Canada in 1949, could have been many things. It might have become the fastest plane in the world, our best defense against Soviet bombers, the catalyst to propel Canada to the forefront of the aviation industry. Instead, it became a $400-million pile of scrap metal, and the stuff of legends. If A.V. Roe Ltd. remained and the Arrow flew today, Canada’s aircraft industry would be a very different thing indeed.
Mr. Billy Bishop was an ace World War One pilot who was extremely devoted to being a pilot. Billy was a man who was loyal and courageous. The young, gentle, Canadian man was devoted to what he did, Bishop would practice flying and shooting all the time. “You’ve got to be good enough to get him in the first few bursts, so practice your shooting as much as you can. After patrols between patrols, on your day off. If I get a clear shot at a guy, he’s dead.” (Pg. 69) Billy was a role model for his devotion ...
Lindbergh’s passion for mechanics didn’t come as a surprise to many. As a young boy, Charles seemed to be very interested in the family’s motorized vehicles, such as the Saxon Six automobile and Excelsior motorbike. But after starting college in the fall of 1920 as a mechanical engineer, his love for aviation started to bloom. Deciding that the field of aviation was more exciting, he dropped out within 2 years. He then decided to take lessons at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation’s flying school and was up in the air for the first time on April 9, 1922 when he was in a two seat biplane as a passenger. But his solo flight would not be until May 1923 at the Souther Field in Americus, Georgia, an old flight training field where Lindbergh came to buy a World War I Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane. It only took half an hour to practice with another pilot at the field to decide that Lindbergh was ready to fly the plane himself. After a week of practicing, Lindbergh took off on his biplane on his first solo cross country flight and few weeks after that, achieving his first nighttime flight near Arkansas, both marking huge milestones for the young pilot.
Throughout history, a Canadian by the name of William Avery “Billy” Bishop was considered one of the best fighter pilots of World War I. Bishop was a courageous, daring and dedicated hero, credited with 72 kills. However, the subject of his claims has always been a controversial topic for historians. Some say Bishop cheated and lied about the events that took place during the war, including his number of victories. The heart of this debate rests on the mission Bishop flew at the crack of dawn on June 2nd, 1917. After flying off on his own, he claims that he found a German aerodrome and took on seven planes on his own, shooting down three. The facts do not always add up, so it makes people wonder if and how he accomplished
Alex Kershaw’s “The Few The American ‘Knights Of The Air’ Who Risked Everything To Fight In The Battle Of Britain” doesn’t just tell the story of the seven American aviators who flew for the British as but also their enemies, the Luftwaffe’s point of view. This book is told through this group of Americans and from the viewpoint of the Royal Air Force pilots they fought with but also the perspective of the Luftwaffe fliers that they fought against during the battle. For example, in one part of the book, there was this one German lookout who had commented on how much of an advantage the British had because of their radars that could locate enemy planes while they crossed the English Channel; the lookout considered the radar an “unfair” tool.
Yeager is by the far the most enjoyable history lesson anyone could wish for. The autobiography tells the story of Chuck Yeager, the world’s greatest pilot and first man to break the sound barrier. The story, told by General Yeager himself, has the perfect balance of humor and action. Witty anecdotes and suspenseful flight sequences keep the reader engrossed. The book is a multi-million bestseller for a reason.
The British were outnumbered 900 fighters to 640 fighters plus the Germans had an additional 1,300 bombers. With these statistics, the Luftwaffe thought that they would have a very easy time defeating the Royal Air Force. Even though the British were outnumbered, they had a few advantages that the Luftwaffe was unaware of. First, they develope...
The Fighter Pilot leadership included attention to moral. Transformational leaders are able to enhance the moral of the team. Robin Olds intense charisma was contagious in the unit. Olds told the pilots when he arrived he was not the best pilot for t...
A quote from Bennett “Of all the countries in the world, we Americans have been the greatest destroyers of land of any race of people barbaric or civilized,” (Egan, 2006) makes your realize the self-inflicted destruction of the great planes. This book is not only about people who died but the ones who survived and lived on to tell their story directly to Egan.
In Conclusion the feared and praised Manfred Von Richthofen is the most famous fighter pilot ace in history. Why he died can be explained with previous injury to his head and a pilot mistake to fly his plane at a dangerously low altitude within enemy grounds. We might never know who killed the famous air ace but he was a great tipping point for the allied forces. With the death of The Red Baron we gained a new confidence help defeat the exhausted and morally downed Germans.
Lawson, Robert L., and Barrett Tillman. U.S. Navy Air Combat: 1939-1946. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub., 2000. Print.
Unikoski, Ari. “The War in the Air - Summary of the Air War”. First World War.com. 2009. http://www.firstworldwar.com/airwar/summary.htm
Jon Daly was a great American hero and during his exploits in the war he became a changed man. He put himself in harms way countless times for the greater good of his squad. Even though he may have been less than extraordinary as a child and in his adolescent years he showed that he truly was a man for others. He showed that with the right attitude anyone can make something of themselves even if they have been less than great as a child. Jon Daly was a misfit as a child but through proper habit formation he made himself into a respectable man that would put himself in harms way for the good of his squad.