Many people have been born that have struck a chord with the world. Some people have become legends, patriots and even heroes. Though one person stood out among the rest, this one was not made a hero, but was born to be one. He was a hero at what he strived to be in life and he has captured the attention of the public like no other solider has done before or since. This great Canadian Air Force Ace became one of the legendary figures in 20th century air warfare. With his daring and dramatic dogfights in France, he achieved a record of 72 kills in his many encounters. His role on the ground during the Second World War training pilots changed and inspired a whole new generation of fighter pilots. This man is known as Billy Bishop, the legendary and great Canadian hero who captured and won the respect of his enemies, comrades and the world. William Avery Bishop was born in Owen Sound, Ontario on the 8th of February in 1894. Billy was accepted into the Royal Military College in August of 1911. He spent three years as a cadet, even though he failed his first year exams and broke the strict disciplinary code of behaviour on several occasions. Billy was near the point of being expelled, when he was commissioned on September 30th of 1914 and headed off to the European war. He didnt make it to England that year since he was in the hospital suffering from pneumonia. When Billy recovered, he left on June 9th in 1915 to fight in the war. During his days in the Infantry he saw a Royal Flying Corps plane fly overhead. This possessed Billy to get away from fighting on the ground. He applied for a transfer as an observer to the RFC, because an application to be a pilot would have taken too long. The only way to fight a war, up there above the mud and the mist in the everlasting sunshine (Canadian Air Force Office of Public Affairs, 1996) Billy said when he transferred out of the Calvary. On September 1st in 1915 Billy was sent to th...
