I can recommend ‘Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer’ by Philip D. Caine. This is the story of LeRoy Gover and is a very ‘human’ tale which not only describes his military service with the RAF (133 Sq) and the USAAF but also includes his ‘off duty’ adventures. (The latter describes how his Air Force cap got burnt when he used it to shade a light bulb whilst on ‘manoeuvres’ with his girl-friend!)

I believe the book was published in 1995 and the ISBN number is 0-02-881115-1

According to a note in the book, Caine also wrote two others that may be of interest – (‘American Pilots in RAF’ and ‘The WWII Eagle Squadrons’) – but I have no other information on these books.

One more that I heard myself some years ago…..

There was some sort of light aircraft rally at Duxford with a continual stream of aircraft arrivals. I was at home 2 miles from the airfield and listening to the tower communications. The aircraft were calling DX tower and asking for joining instructions and being told the runway in use, etc, and being told to call back when on the downwind leg.

One aircraft subsequently reported back as requested but no further word was heard from him. After a while the tower called him again asking his position and was told that he had already landed and was parked beside a Tiger Moth near the tower! The tower queried this as he was nowhere in sight but during this transmission, the phone in the tower could be heard ringing so the controller stopped transmitting. After a brief pause the controller came back on air and calmly stated that it had been Cambridge Airport on the line enquiring about an aircraft that had landed unannounced!

The controller then gave the errant pilot fresh joining instructions…..

“Leave Cambridge Airport via the main gate and take the Cambridge ring road to reach the M11 motorway. Head south and then leave the motorway at Junction 10. Turn right onto the A505 and after 400 yards, the Duxford main gate is on the left!”

Hi Mark

“Advance into Europe”, “Normandy Fighter Sweep” and a first day cover depicting the latter were released together as a D-Day Portfolio – I am looking at the original sales brochure as I type.

“Normandy ~ ~” was a ‘limited’ edition of 2500 some of which remain unsold and are still quoted at the original issue price of £45 by ‘The Military Gallery’ – (the publishers) – and as Moggy says, by ‘Aces High’. That being the case, you can not realistically expect to obtain a higher price unless yours has extra signatures, for example – (they were all signed by Johnnie Johnson and Nick.

“Advance ~ ~” is a different kettle of fish altogether. There were 1250 prints in the standard edition, 125 artists proofs and 50 remarques and has been ‘sold out’ for some time. Furthermore, it does not seem to ‘pop up’ too often around the art dealers – especially in the UK – which makes estimating a value more problematic. In recent years I have seen this print only rarely, (apart from the presentation remarque at home!), and then at prices between £300 – £500 as near as I can recall. Often the quality of the framing can have a marked effect on the value. If the print has been framed with inferior quality materials, no mount so that the image is touching the glass or, horror of horrors, has been cut down to fit the frame, it may be virtually worthless!

By all means try e-bay but I would also suggest a small ad in FlyPast inviting offers – you might be pleasantly surprised but do not part with it easily to the first person who rings. Try also to determine if the caller is a dealer – remember, they will want to ‘buy cheap’ to enable them to make a profit.

Have you also got the ‘first day cover’ to complete the set? If so, you might get a better price by selling them together.

I hope these ramblings may be of some use.

Finally to any one else out there reading this…
NEVER store prints in the sturdy cardboard tube in which they were delivered however safe you think it might be. After a relatively short while the print will be almost impossible to ‘flatten’ out for framing rendering it of little value. Buy a proper ‘print browser’ – like you see on some of the art stalls – they will keep it flat and you can also see them easily.

Good luck with the sale.

Some years ago several of us were helping on one of the aviation art stalls at Plymouth Navy Days where we were doing the book launch of Robert Taylor’s Maritime paintings book. During the afternoon of the third day business was rather quiet as people were watching the various displays going on and we were just sitting in the front of the marquee watching the action.
Various aircraft were displaying, (Sea Harrier, Sea King, etc), but in the distance we could hear the rumbling of something ‘heavy’ approaching. The noise gradually got closer and louder but we could not decide what it might be. We all stared at each other until the curiosity grew too much.
Suddenly we all jumped to our feet and ran outside to investigate and were just in time to see a Naval Rating come around the corner pulling an empty wheelie bin!!!!

On another occasion we were helping on the same stall at the Waddington show. Our stall was next to one of the Vulcan preservation group stalls. During the afternoon my wife was sitting on a chair partly in front of the Vulcan stall directly beneath a sign advertising a video they were selling.
The sign read, “45 minutes for £7:50”! Unfortunately someone pointed this out to her before I could get to my camera.

Seeing the reply by ‘Zwitter’ about the veteran and the Hurricane wheels reminds me of a conversation I overheard some years ago between the artist Robert Taylor and the late ‘Johnny’ Johnson.
In front of them was a print of Robert’s ‘Coming in over the Estuary’ depicting P38s over Bosham, on the South Coast.
‘Johnny’ was studying the artwork and remarked about the ducks in the foreground….
“What are these?” he asked.
“Ducks” said Robert.
“I can see that,” snapped ‘Johnny’, “But what sort of bl**dy ducks?”
“Mallards, of course!” replied Robert, “Can’t you tell by the markings?”
“If you’re so good with the markings,” snapped ‘Johnny’, “what bl**dy Squadron are they then?”

Yes, it HAS arrived…..