As the time is approaching of marking the BoB I would like to ask a question. I grew up hearing the stories of our parents and later on acquaintances, of stories on the war. These are snippets which in the most part feature in no written format and are lost forever with their passing. I relate here a short memory shared with me by a friend who died 15 years ago.
My friend James Brooks had joined up as a volunteer as war broke out he related he spent a night guarding a 109 which had crashed landed near the sea on the south coast. He related how spooky and uncomfortable he felt standing out there, but couldn’t put his finger on it. In the morning when he was relieved the body of pilot of the plane was still in the aircraft. No one had thought to look. It affected him to an extent that he painted a picture of it and it hung in his front room till the day he died.
What other memories are out there small punctuation marks of history?
By: Mo Botwood - 16th September 2011 at 02:00
I was born and raised in Portsmouth and it was quite hectic during the BoB with the Naval Base being a prime target. Some of us would play on old bullet riddled timber cabin cruisers, which had obviously been used in the Dunkirk evacuation. They were out on the mud flats between the shore and Whale Island wher the RN Gunnery School was established: I was in one on my own when the air raid siren went off. The tide was about to come in and the boat would fill with water and the mud would become too soft to walk across. I had always been told to stay where I was when the siren went. Luckily the action was short and sharp with the massive floating dock being the prime target. I had a grandstand view as it was only half a mile away. Once more it was a lovely sunny day and everything was crystal clear. I can’t ever remember it raining during the war.
Mo
By: Arabella-Cox - 15th September 2011 at 19:33
…plays a very important part in the Battle of Britain Memorial flight,though!
By: BRIAN C D - 15th September 2011 at 19:18
I have just watched a very silly woman who apparently organised the Battle of Britain memorial service in the Vulcan hangar at Robin Hood Airport tell the reporter from B.B.C. Look North that alongside the Vulcan was an appropriate place to hold the service as the aircrafts predecessor the Avro Lancaster played a very important part in The Battle of Britain.
Where do they get them from
Brian
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September 15, 2011 at 10:13 am