William Vail Bishop Research Paper

1252 Words6 Pages
William Avery Bishop was born on February 8, 1894, to William and Margaret Bishop of Owen Sound, Ontario. He was the middle child of three. His father was Grey County registrar and a strict Liberal, but he had a conservative attitude to life. Billy had a tough life at school, he was required to wear a suit and tie to school, he had a slight lisp, he preferred swimming and riding to hockey, and lacrosse, and he seemed to prefer the company of girls. This all made him the butt of many jokes and jests. However, he did not tolerate the jests for long. He would never show any fear and attacked like a madman. His fists won him acceptance on the school ground, and his natural talent at individualistic sports gained him the respect of his peers. He…show more content…
Before them were two weeks in the North Atlantic, with stormy weather, sea sick men and horses and German U-Boats. "Oh what a trip! Fifteen days to reach England! We had 700 horses on board, and 700 seasick horses are not the most congenial steamer company." Once in England the 14th was sent to Shorncliffe on the Kent coast. Unceasing rain made life miserable in camp as the mud mixed with manure. The war was settling in to a pattern with high casualties from trench warfare. Bishop saw this and became depressed at the prospects of being in a cavalry unit in a trench war. One day in July, 1915 a biplane landed briefly for the pilot to get his bearings in a nearby field. "We were in England. It had rained for two days in torrents, and there was still a drizzle coming down as I set out for a tour of the horse-lines." "Ordinary mud is bad enough, when you have to make your home in it, but the particular brand of mud that infests a cavalry camp has a meanness all its own. Everything was dank, and slimy, and boggy. I had succeeded in getting myself mired to the knees when suddenly, from somewhere out of the storm, appeared a trim little

More about William Vail Bishop Research Paper

Open Document