Don’t be a dick Moggy, you just merged a new thread into an old one, and as a result I removed my valid post and then you have posted this.
I stand by what I said however, these threads (now one big merged thread) are a waste of useless, baseless blather that get periodically sparked by inaccurate, repetitive tabloid reports.
Daz and co… the entire series of Wings is on Youtube.
I watched it again from start to finish and frankly it is still excellent. Good solid acting, good scripts, good flying scenes (despite most of it being models). It has stood the test of time very well.
The Harrier was one of the options looked at as a Skyhawk replacement for New Zealand in the 1980’s, but they then decided to upgrade the existing A-4K airframes and made then into the Kahu models instead.
That German pilot really could bust out the dance moves!
It’s great to see these members of The Few being recognised and remembered 75 years later. The Few are getting very few now, we have only two surviving New Zealanders who were in the Battle of Britain now as far as I’m aware, Bernard Brown (in NZ) and Keith Lawrence (who lives in the UK).
Thank you for what you did, Tim, 75 years ago and beyond. None of you will ever be forgotten.
Correct, and Judy Pay also has an ex-RNZAF Harvard too, but does she also fly a Spitfire. I think Liz is the only lady in the world with both Spitfire and P-40 ratings right now. Not many men have that either.
The top P-40N shot is John Kelly flying it, with a passenger. The photo below that is Liz, who is probably the only lady in the world who flies the P-40N, the Spitfire and in the Harvard team.
I watched The Watchtower a little over a year ago on Youtube and it was RAF East Kirkby that was the focus of the programme. Sqn Ldr Jack Currie had been a pilot there with No. 630 Squadron. It was a marvellous programme, sadly someone has removed it from Youtube now. I’d love to watch it again. Here are the particulars from the BBC Radio Times listing.
The Watchtower
BBC Two England, 2 January 1985 17.20
Synopsis
The Watchtower – Guardian of the Bomber Legend
Unexplained sounds and sightings continue to haunt the deserted airfields of World War II. Many of the mysterious events appear to centre on the control tower – the watchtower as it was known to battle-hardened bomber crews.
Former bomber pilot
Squadron Leader Jack Currie recalls dramatic events that could explain the reported happenings around one such watchtower at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire.
Film cameraman KEITH MASSEY Film editor BRYAN JONES
Producer DOUGLAS B. SMITH
Jack Currie presented three other programmes related to Bomber Command. They were:
The Lancaster Legend
BBC Two England, 13 June 1980 20.30
A Pilot’s Story
Winner of the 1980 Royal Television Society Regional Programme Award, this film features former Sergeant Pilot Jack Currie. It evokes the excitement and tension he once knew as the captain of a Lancaster bomber in the Second World War when one of the greatest air battles in history was fought from England’s quietest county – Lincolnshire.
Film editor PATRICK HARGREAVES Producer DOUGLAS B. SMITH
The Augsburg Raid
BBC Two England, 5 September 1990 17.00
On 17 April 1942, 12 RAF bombers attacked Augsburg’s U-boat engine factory. A former bomber pilot, Squadron Leader Jack Currie , returns to Germany and the airfields of the raid. Producer Douglas Smith
And this one I have not seen but would love to see:
RAF Scampton
BBC One London, 19 December 1983 9.00
Forty years ago the Dambusters flew from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. Now it’s the home of the Red Arrows aerobatic display team. Veteran Lancaster pilot Squadron Leader Jack Currie , DFC, goes On Location to see how it is, and how it was, at RAF Scampton.
Director ROGER KEECH Producer KEN COOPER
(First shown on BBC North)
Also excellent from the Spectrum series in 1981 is this fascinating, frank and amazing two-part interview ‘Career By The King’s Shilling’, in which Jack Perkins interviewed Colonel George Lee about his training as a soldier in Britain and his fighting in the trenches of Belgium during 1918! Its really worth a listen.
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