At three in the morning on June 2nd, 1917, William Avery “Billy” Bishop climbed into his Nieuport Type 17. It was pitch black. As he soared into the sky, the first streaks of dawn were beginning to show. Bishop, the young Canadian ace who had scored 28 kills in three months, was about to win the Victoria Cross. He had shared the idea of using his fighter as a ground attack plane with the British pilot, Albert Ball. Now B all was dead and Billy was flying alone. He tried one aerodrome but there were no planes on the ground.
Flying on in a bad temper, he suddenly saw below the sheds of another German air station. Billy reported, “I at once, decided that here was my chance.” On the ground were seven German machines, several with the engines running. ‘I pointed my nose down”, Bishop said, “and opened fire with my gun, scattering bullets all around the machines and coming down to fifty feet in doing so.”
“I was laughing to myself as they tore around in every direction on the ground.” And then Billy heard the sound of machine guns firing back. One plane began to taxi down the German airstrip. ‘I immediately tore down after it,” Billy said. “I managed to close on its tail when it was just above the ground and opened fire from dead behind it. There was no chance of missing and I was as cool as could be.”
A second plane took off. Bishop fired 30 rounds at 150 yards range. The German aircraft crashed into a tree. And then two more. “I climbed and engaged one at 1,000 feet, finishing my drum, and he crashed 300 yards from the aerodrome.” Changing drums of ammunition, Bishop dog-fought another and then another. Finally, it was time to leave. “I took the bit between my teeth and slipped away.”
On August 11th, 1917, Billy Bishop was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military award for bravery.
Originally aired December 7th 2016
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