GREATEST ACE - Billy Bishop VC - by Richard Taylor
A highly-restricted edition by Richard Taylor – only ELEVEN available worldwide
In the chivalrous skies over the Western Front during WWI, Billy Bishop duelled with the very best, including Jasta 11 and the ‘Red Baron’, and by the end of the war he had gained command of 85 Squadron. His daring encounters earned him two DSOs, a DFC, a Military Cross, and the highest award of them all – the Victoria Cross, awarded for the ‘most conspicuous bravery, determination and skill’ for a solo attack on a German airfield deep behind enemy lines, on 2 June 1917.
As with many legendary Aces, however, Bishop’s first patrols contained some hair-raising adventures such as that depicted by artist Richard Taylor in his exciting tribute to Billy Bishop titled ‘Greatest Ace’.
Richard skilfully transports us to a moment from one of Bishop’s early encounters when, moments after scoring his first victory on 25 March 1917, the engine of his Nieuport 17 C.1 suddenly failed, leaving him no option but an emergency landing under fire in the middle of no-man’s-land.
The precise technical quality of Richard’s drawings lend themselves to scenes like this full of minute details and completed on antique-buff paper befitting a bygone era.
