I have a problem taking the German records at face value for the simple reason that most of the records in most of the units facing Bishop were lost or destroyed after WWI, and during WWII.
Most of what remains are copies, and some of those have "subjective" gaps in them.
And I also have to take into account the "evidence" of
Ira Jones, who stated in his book "Tiger Squadron" that when the German government was asked AFTER WWI about some RAF claims made on June 19, 1918, they said (The German government) that they had lost neither plane nor pilot to hostile action that day. Jones called this a lie as one of only six RAF claims put in that day was by Captain Cobby of the AFC, and his victim was laid out in a hangar at Jones' aerodrome.
I might also add that this particular "victim" of Captain Cobby's was identified in "Above The Trenches" as Unteroffizer Max Mertens of Jasta 7, and that the tail skid of his Pfalz DIII is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
I am simply not convinced that the SURVIVING German records are as meticulous as some people seem to think. And I'm more than willing to accept that while Allied records may be self-serving, I have to think that the German records could be and probably are just as self-serving as the Allied records are.
I hope that answers your question
VBR,
Al Lowe
2-bit amateur air historian and/or enthusiast