The old gentleman quickly put me at ease
when he enthusiastically discussed writing as if we were long-time colleagues
comparing notes. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous phoning him, since he
had a daunting pedigree – great-grandson of Timothy Eaton, founder of a
mercantile empire, and son of Billy Bishop, Britain’s top WW1 flying Ace. But
Arthur Bishop was down-to-earth and utterly charming, showing as much interest
in my journey as a writer as I did in his.
Having just finished reading his engaging autobiography,
Winged
Combat: My Story as a Spitfire Pilot in WWII, I wish I had realized then that I would write
a novel set during the Second World War (Book 4 in the Muskoka Series), because
I would have had so many more questions for him.
Back in 2009 when we first talked, I was
merely trying to gather facts about Billy Bishop and William Barker’s seaplane
service from Toronto harbour to Muskoka in the early 1920s, which inspired
scenes in Under the Moon.
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| Ravenscrag (misspelled in photo), Lake Rosseau, Muskoka, 1910 |
Now I know that Arthur and his family spent
summers at Ravenscrag – the cottage that Timothy Eaton built in 1896. It was close to Windermere (see last week’s blog), and Arthur enjoyed dating girls who holidayed at the hotel.
His family frequently interacted with
famous people – Arthur’s godfather was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and
former Governor General of Canada, and his godmother was Princess Louise,
cousin to Queen Mary. In 1941 the Bishops hosted British film star Anna Neagle
and her director husband, Herbert Wilcox, at the cottage, much to everyone’s
enjoyment.
Billy Bishop was an Air Marshal during
WWII, so when he was in residence at Ravenscrag, his pennant was flown from the
flagpole above the blue ensign. Arthur
wrote, “… my father, never lacking in showmanship, had turned our place into a
designated RCAF seaplane base.”
We spoke about what it was like growing up
in the shadow of such a famous Canadian hero, something that Arthur addresses
in his memoir. As the Montreal Gazette stated, “He has the greatest name in
military aviation to live up to.” One of Arthur’s commanding officers in
Britain reprimanded him for not reporting a faulty radio in his Spitfire,
saying worriedly, “… you won’t hear me and you’ll be shot down. Then what’s old
man Bishop going to say?” In her foreword to Arthur’s memoir, his daughter,
Diana, writes about her grandfather, “…
as youngsters, my brother and I thought it was pretty neat to have someone so
famous in the family, and marvelled at how he ruled over us, larger than life,
even in death.”
Arthur’s biography of his father, The
Courage of Early Morning: The Story of Billy Bishop, is a riveting and
honest account of a man he obviously loved and admired, but who is certainly not
portrayed as a saint. I based a scene from it in Elusive Dawn, where my
fictional Ace pilot meets Bishop in an officers’ mess, dancing atop a piano and
pouring champagne into it.
Among Arthur’s many achievements was that
of military historian, with several other books to his credit. He seemed
genuinely delighted to read my first two Muskoka Novels, and I was thrilled
with his review [paraphrased, with approval, from a conversation]:
"The Summer Before The Storm and Elusive
Dawn are not only well written, suspenseful, and enjoyable, but also
historically accurate. The amazing amount of research provides an excellent
educational background on the Great War and on aviation. The writer obviously
has a keen interest in and knowledge of the subject."
I feel privileged to have connected with
Arthur Bishop, even if ever so briefly. He passed away in 2013 in his 90th
year, having had an interesting life, well lived beyond the shadow of his
illustrious father.
His tale helps me to chart the course for
one of my characters, just as his father’s experiences generated historically
accurate exploits for my WW1 aviators.
