| Bishop attended the Royal Military
College before joining the 8th Canadian Mounted
Rifles at the beginning of the war. After serving
overseas with the Canadian Expeditionary Force,
he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in December
1915 and received his pilot's certificate in
1917. Flying the Nieuport 17 and S.E.5a, " The
Lone Hawk" was considered by some to be
a mediocre pilot, but his extraordinary eyesight
and consistent practice earned him a reputation
as a crack shot. As the commanding officer of
the " Flying Foxes," he was awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) after scoring
25 victories in just twelve days. On the morning
of 2 June 1917, his single-handed attack against
a German aerodrome on the Arras front earned
him the Victoria Cross, making Bishop the first
Canadian flyer to receive this honor. Before
the war ended, he found time to write " Winged
Warfare," an autobiographical account of
his exploits in the air over France.
Because Bishop flew many of his patrols
alone, most of his victories were never witnessed.
After years of controversy, a television
broadcast entitled " The Kid Who Couldn't
Miss" led to an inquiry by the Canadian
government in 1985. In conclusion, the Standing
Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science
and Technology discredited the film, finding
it to be an unfair and inaccurate portrayal
of Bishop.
Bishop was the brother-in-law of Canadian
ace Henry Burden.
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