Group Captain Frank Carey.

Nice first post and welcome.
mmitch.

Group Captain Frank Carey

Through my RAF SEAC Liberator research I befriended an officer, F/Lt Bob Ustick, who had taken an Air Gunnery Instructor’s course at the Air Fighting Training Unit, RAF Station Amarda (not Armada) Road, India during a time when Frank Carey was the C.O. Bob related anecdotes about the fun-loving evenings at AFTU’s Officer’s Mess, presided over by Carey, and he talked of his chats with Carey about jazz — a mutual passion. On one occasion Carey brought down the house with his comic rendition of a poem, “The legend of Darius, better known as ‘Dairy Ass’ “.

I was inspired to write to Carey. I thought it would be appropriate to share excerpts from his 7 Dec 1990 letter to me:

“To be perfectly honest I regret that I cannot recall Robert Ustick nor, for that matter, have I any recollections at all of the epic poem about Darius — must have been the other chaps!

However, my love of jazz, especially Artie Shaw at that time, squarely fits me. I have always loved playing the drums, but I did have the ‘musical achievements’ on the piano of both the Symphony ‘Alcoholique’ and the ‘Prang’ Concerto. The former, for obvious reasons, is best undertaken when one has partaken of a considerable amount of liquid support to free oneself of the normal constraints of anything vaguely approaching harmony, while the latter’s third movement demands the complete destruction of the instrument itself — legs, frame, wires — the lot (no mean feat!). It has to be left so that not a single note can be heard from it afterwards.

As you might imagine, I’ve only completed the third movement once — as I was posted from AFTU Amarda Road to the Middle East.”

This would have been in November 1944, when, as a Group Captain, he left India to command 73 OTU at Abu Sueir, Egypt.

The AFTU evenings are a reminder of the lighter side of the times. My framed Robert Taylor print, “Hurricane Force” — signed by Carey, Pete Brothers, Peter Townsend, and Geoffrey Page — honors the more serious exploits of these, and other, airmen.

I love that print, and what it represents to my own family. Though I was born and raised in the US, my mother is a native Liverpudlian. Her home lost its windows something like eight times during the Blitz, but the family came through unscathed.

Part of that, of course, was pure luck, but the aerial exploits of the Frank Careys of the RAF were also a big factor. Sticking their heads outside of a bomb shelter one night, Mom and her husband to be, Sgt. George Plank (later killed over Rangoon), witnessed a scene not unlike that in the Taylor painting: a Hurricane swooping down to pick off an incoming Luftwaffe bomber. In England on holiday I have, on occasion, found myself looking skyward and imagining such an image.

Frank Carey, et al, thanks!

If anybody is really bothered the mods can split the thread

Can’t see the point myself.

Moggy

I’m sorry if any of you are offended by my ‘mad’ comment – it’s just that I think this trivialises his passing. I’ll try and post a proper obit and we can all move on 🙂

If anybody is really bothered the mods can split the thread

Can’t see the point myself.

Moggy

Oh dear.
I deal with veterans’ families, their wartime pictures and issues arising from on a weekly basis. A faked photo published in a national paper (though I don’t believe the Times faked it) is a matter of concern, and affects their credibility over their abilities to publish accurate obituaries.

The picture, obituary, the Times and our discussion have nothing to do with the stature of Carey as a military pilot, though I quite agree it is a distraction from his memory.

Eliott, calling people ‘mad’ is a bit lose. The fact that the picture looked real enough in the Times and the fact that it is at best a retouched composite should cause you (as it does I) to wonder about their abilities in discrimination of data or at worse their journalistic integrity. So yes, it is of interest. Start another thread to his memory by all means.
Yours,

Maybe the title of this thread needs to be changed.

Certainly the first time I opened the thread i expected to read an obit. Though I dont think this discussion is in anyway disrespectful, perhaps a different title that describes the true nature of the thread might help.

Elliot

I really can’t see how the discussion on the provenance of the image, and what was done with photomanipulation in wartime, in any way shows a lack of respect for GC Carey.

I’m certain we all saddened by his passing.

Moggy

Where’s the lack of respect for the man?

First the sonar scan of the sunken Sunderland and now this.

The Times’ aviation correspondent skating on thin ice methinks.

Mark

I think you are all mad. The pic looked real enough in the Times.

Can we concentrate on Frank and not bizarre and anal speculation over the photo please? The man deserves our total respect.

Is this thread turning into a UK equilavent of the US “George Bush’s National Guard records” ?

We will be talking of font’s, Times New Roman and subscript text next

Though sad news

Hi
It just might be me seeing things but it looks like a reflection from a window
over the rear part of the aircraft.
Phil.

There’s a bit in the Frank Whittle/John Golley book which says that Whittle was refused entry to the RAF as he was too short. He went away and exercised until he grew a bit.
I’m quite prepared to believe Carey was small, but comparing it with the picture of Daz at 5’6″, Carey is reaching up a fair bit to the cannon. Anybody got a cannon-armed Spit handy to see how high the muzzle is? 🙂

Don’t forget Eric “Sawn-off” Locke, who was apparently not very tall, and flew Spits…

I have read Frank Carey being refered to as ‘Chota’ Carey. Chota in hindi means – Small /Short / Titch..etc etc.. So Is there something behind the name suiting his stature in the photograph?

I wondered what that refered to when reading the Times obitury, as I’d not seen that before. I think that’s that nail firmly hit on the head. 🙂

Fellas

I have read Frank Carey being refered to as ‘Chota’ Carey. Chota in hindi means – Small /Short / Titch..etc etc.. So Is there something behind the name suiting his stature in the photograph?

Jagan

As others have said above,the passing of the man is more important than any photo,but that doesn’t detract from the interesting nature of the picture. The Daily Telegraph also published what appears to be this exact same photo in thier obituary last week,so it’s not only The Times not picking up on these things.

That’s why lots of the tools on image manipulation programs have anachronistic concepts for what they do.

Cheers!

Yep, virtually everything on the home computer harks back with links to the days pre-computers in one way or another, no matter what progam it is.

It was an original photo from the time, so there was obviously a method of doing this, but I haven’y a clue how. Does anyone know what they did? Did they cut and paste the negatives together or something?

Very clever use of slate and chalk Dave, or degree level etch-a-sketch… 😉

Er… Photoshop ™ is just an electronic version of what lots of printers and photographers did manually, with a host of different methods. That’s why lots of the tools on image manipulation programs have anachronistic concepts for what they do.

Cheers!

If you blow the photo up, you can clearly see a black line drawn round the shorts and bottom of his tunic and the shorts and socks lack much contour or shadow. Also the line around the lighning flash looks hand drawn.

And there’s a hazy light patch around his head where it wasn’t trimmed right too.

Taking the No.6 KD Dress. His Jacket looks the right length, i.e., not out of proportion. If he is wearing the shorts and socks at regulation length i.e., two inches above and below the knee, someone might be able to work out his exact height.

Also, the almost pure white and untextured look to the socks looks unnatural, as does the very pale shorts. The socks would be a darker shade than the KD jacket and shorts when new anyway. While sun bleaching could have the effect on the shorts I know, it does looks a little false, or as if a bright light at low level was shining onto his lower body at the time….
The ‘state’ of the KD jacket looks as one would expect to see, compared with the unnatural brightness and textureless shorts/socks that might hint at some photo doctoring.