A few quick points, if I may?
Albert Ball has them all beat: 14 victories, possibly 3 more, in 13 days. It was the last two weeks of his short life, before he flew into that cloud and immortality.
(I'm surprised that another Albert didn't know this!)
Please keep in mind that Mannock could very well have been going through a nervous breakdown at the time of his death; please don't make it sound as if it were easy for him or for anyone to command a flight as well as run a squadron at the same time. It just gives the Bishoprics ammo, as in Bishop not having undergone such stress, ergo, something wasn't on the level about his time at 85...
And why, dear God, why do the Bishopites ALWAYS weaken their case by citing such writers as Reynolds and Whitehouse as historians? Does anyone take either one of them seriously nowadays? (I won't mention Drew, for I'm not familiar with his work). This is not to say that they didn't contribute something in their time -- but more information has become available since then, as well as writing methodologies having changed. Look, I LOVE reading Whitehouse -- but I wouldn't mention him and Wayne Ralph or Alex Revell in the same breath! (Although I'm afraid I just did!)
Even Chadderton gets into this silliness, when he mentions Joseph Phelan as an "American historian" who believes Bishop's version. Now, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Phelan was, is , a MAGNIFICENT illustrator -- I look at his watercolor technique and it just takes my breath away...
But Phelan also wrote that Ball flew into that cloud, but "never came out"...
'Tis the stuff that comic books are made of...
VBR,
Capt. Lewis