Inspiration to Live Your Magic: 75 Inspiring Biographies

William “Billy” Bishop
Air Marshal Billy Bishop was a daring World War I fighter pilot who 
won the Military Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, and the 
Victoria Cross, and he became the leading Canadian flying ace with 
seventy-two air victories.
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When Billy Bishop was fifteen years old, he did something really stupid. He built an 
“airplane” out of cardboard, wood, and string, and then tried to fly it off the roof of his 
three-storey house.
His sister dug him out of the wreckage, and was surprised to find he was not hurt! But 
Billy was a very tough boy. He was known as a fighter at school, and he used his fists to 
protect other kids from bullies.
When World War I started, Billy Bishop dropped out of school to enlist in the army. His 
trainers were astounded to see what a great shot he was with a rifle; he seemed like a 
natural soldier!
But on the battlefields of Europe, Bishop was soon fed up with living in a muddy, filthy 
trench. WWI was the first war in which airplanes were used, and when Bishop saw an 
airplane land, he quickly transferred to the air force, hoping for more action.
And action was what he got. Billy Bishop turned out to be as natural at flying as he was 
at fighting and shooting. After flying scouting missions, he asked to be stationed in 
France, where British and German fighter pilots were battling for control of the skies.
At that point in the war, the Germans were shooting down the British by a ratio of five to 

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one. The average British pilot lasted only eleven days! But the Germans had never seen 
anyone like Billy Bishop in action.
Bishop would always lead the way and be the first to attack, no matter what the odds. He 
frequently returned with his plane shot full of holes. Apart from his regular missions, he 
would take off alone and fly deep into enemy territory to stage surprise attacks.
Soon, Bishop had shot down five enemy aircraft, then ten, twenty, thirty! His victories 
kept mounting until the Germans nicknamed him “Hell’s Hand-maiden” and put a reward 
out for anyone who could shoot him down.
No one ever did, and Bishop finished the war with a chest covered in medals and 
seventy-two air victories, making him the top Canadian flying ace of World War I. He 
had used his crazy courage and natural toughness to fight for his country and become a 
national hero.
Billy Bishop ultimately became an air marshal, the highest rank possible, and head of the 
Canadian Flying Corps.
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