(part 1 of 2)
Quote:
As for  Willy Fry, Grid Caldwell, et al: I fail to see what their personal “agendas” might be. *They were, after all, the men who knew and flew with Bishop. Willy Fry even lived in the same hut with WB. *I can’t help but believe that they were in a much better position to make a judgment concerning WB than we, sitting here reading books 80 years later.
Oh, I can hear Al loading up his Lewis gun now- time to dive into that cloudbank up ahead.
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Actually, I replaced the Lewis with a 7.62mm mini-gun.
The only thing I can say about what some of his contemporaries have said about him is this:
While I personally, do not think they had an axe to grind, I don't think we can totally dismiss jealousy as a POSSIBLE factor.
Now, first, before everyone blows a gasket, I don't subscribe to this theory...not completely.
But, I have to ask myself this. WHY did they wait until Bishop was dead before coming out? Yeah, I know, they didn't want to embarass him to his family. Sorry, I don't buy it. Or, maybe they didn't want the ridicule they knew they'd face attacking a hero in public. That makes more sense.
Why do it at all? Well, first, as I understand it, Fry didn't. Not until Joe Warne, then (1982) 60 Squadron Historian revealed what was supposed to remain quiet to Paul Cowan when he was conducting research for "The Kid Who Couldn't Miss." But I still have to wonder, WHY tell anyone else at all?
Personally, if I had a problem with someone, depending on the situation, I'd either tell the whole world, or I'd tell NO ONE. The reason for telling no one is this. If you Tell ANYONE, you have to realize that sooner or later, YOUR opinion is going to get out. So, for ANY of these people to say they didn't mean for this information to get out is pure poppycock. They wanted it to come out sometime, they just didn't want to actually control "when" themselves. Plausible deniability. (it's a theory, remember that)
(end part 1)