Billy Don't Be a Hero to ride out and seek reinforcements. (This suggests mounted infantry and a lack of modern two-way radio communications.) In the end, the heartbroken woman throws away the official letter notifying her of Billy's "heroic" death. Paper Lace's version of "Billy Don't Be a Hero" reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 16 March 1974, and did likewise in Australia, where it spent eight weeks at the top spot. Thereafter, Bo Donaldson's and the Heywoods's version reached No. 1 in the U.S. on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 15 June 1974, but was dubbed into French for Canada. The
Billy Don't Be a Hero performed a comedic cover of this song, featuring the altered line, "Where did Billy's head go?" in place of "Billy, keep your head low." Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants, named the hero of "The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby" Billy solely to make possible a passing homage to "Billy Don't Be a Hero." Since then, the "Billy Don't Be a Hero" homage has been applied to other characters whose names rhyme with "Billy" in several Captain Underpants spin-off comics. In the season 4 episode of "Dinosaurs," the episode title was referenced, "Earl, Don't Be A Hero." Billy Don't Be