I have watched it and i have a limited knowledge on world war 1 as it is not my time of interest but for Joe Public it would have given those who watched it a better appreciation on what it was like.

Also it is FAR better than the recent docs like the Spitfire one and the travesty from a couple of years ago about how easy the dams raid was to do (baring in mind no one was shooting at you and you did it in the day!!!).

Also it was good to see new Historians instead of the normal History channel crew.

One tiny down side for me was banging on about how impossible the Avro 504 was to fly and skirting the fact it was the standard British trainer for about 10 years.

curlyboy

Some good points there curlyboy…..it may not have been 100% accurate but it was watchable…..not bad at all really and a lot better than some that have gone before.

‘ From days afterwards to present the entire raid has been almost shrouded in a sterotyped film hero action, this new book will help substantiate certain facts, but above all allows the reader to draw their own conclusions from a selection of new evidence that has for the main not been approached from this angle before.’

Precisely so Julian. For those in Britain there’s a half hour documentary repeat on the raid: this Wednesday Ch 5, 7-30 in Great Raids of WW2. I haven’t seen it before so, whether its sugar or ****e I have no idea.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

Is that the same Francis Blackadder that was (later, 1950’s?) a Captain with BOAC?

Hi Martin,
No not the same man. Francis Blackadder, this one, rejoined 607 Squadron in September 1946 staying with that squadron until retirement in December 1948. He had no further flying after that. He took command of the Northumberland Wing of the ATC and left that in February 1951. He then did some lecturing at Newcastle University: he died in 1997.
Photo from left 3rd Sgt Spyer, 4th Sgt Cunnington, 7th Blackadder, 8th Milne Irving, 10th P/O Young: Tangmere September 1940.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

607 Squadron, Tangmere, September 1940. Jim Vick CO and Will Gore.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

As far as I know Mannock only ever smoked a pipe

Would recovery of insufficient remains lead to two crew members being interred in the same plot then? I ask because the Lanc crew a relative of mine was on all have separate graves, apart from the tail gunner and the pilot share the same plot.

Maybe a bit different: My mothers cousin, a Lancaster pilot, was killed with his crew and three French civilians: the aircraft crashed onto a farm house. All are buried in ‘collective’ graves numbering 1 to 10 but each has a headstone of their own.

My information was for one squadron only: 607. ORB etc was left in France. Information came from the various pilots above and some others: P3535 AF-C was well known on the squadron.

Why wasn’t George Fidler wearing a parachute; what was he sitting on?
I have no idea at all. This information was passed on to me from a French source and was handed down by an eyewitness. ‘He was found in a deep depression sans parachute’. Although he was CO of 607 Squadron his total experience on a Hurricane was three hours: he had been an armaments officer with 14 Group. He lasted less than three days.
It has been stated elsewhere that there may have been a clerical error on 607 Squadron re P3535 AF-C. This is totally wrong as no less than five 607 Squadron pilots are recorded as flying it: Will Gore, Francis Blackadder, Peter Parrott, Bobby Pumphrey and George Fidler. That is not to say P3533 was not on 607 Squadron only that no record of it has been found to date.