Billy Bishop was born in Owen Sound, Ontario on Feb 8th, 1894. He was educated at the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario. Bishop was qualified as a pilot in December, 1916. He had joined the Royal Flying Corps, and flew a Nieuport 17. From March 25th 1917 to June 19, 1918, Billy had destroyed over 25 enemy aircraft. He participated in over 170 air battles. In total, he was given credit for 72 kills, and was the third highest Ace Allied total. In one of Bill's battles, he had shot down five enemy aircrafts, in a five minute period. Bishop was promoted to the rank of lieutent colonel and was given command of the 85th Squadron in 1918, Billy was successfully awarded the Military Cross, Distinguished Service Award, and the Victoria Cross. He had a reputation of an accurate shooter, but a lousy pilot. The Germans had given Billy a nickname of 'Hell's Handmaiden'. William Avery Billy Bishop died quiety in his sleep on September 11th, 1956.