A passing thought

[MyData]

Reading this thread brought back some memories...

In the early 90's I was seeing a girl. Her father had been in the Navy in WWII - on the North Atlantic crossings. He didn't talk much about what he had done due to the horrors he had seen and the fear at sea. He had also lost his brother in the RAF but nothing much was said on that topic either.

At that time I applied to BA to enroll on a pilot training programme - after 3 tests / interviews etc. I got through to the final selection exercise with 10 others from an original application of over 3000 people. I failed at the final hurdle - but that's another story.

Upon returning home I went to see my girlfriend and her father asked how the day had progressed. I was disappointed to say that I wouldn't be selected to go any further. At that point he brought out an RAF flight log book and gave it to me to read.

The family had never seen this book before. They didn't even know of its existence. I sat enraptured reading through the detailed comments and observations of a young pilot learning the basics and going through to solo, navigation etc. I recall he spent some time in Canada practicing night flying and reconnaisance / bombing flying. The dates (1941? 1942?) rolled by rapidly with the occassional gap for R&R. He then returned to the UK, a qualified RAF pilot awaiting his orders.

The log then recalls how he was stationed with squadron in East Anglia. The excitement and apprehension is apparent in his notes. He made a couple of check flights and finally was up for an operational mission over Holland, diligently updating the log upon his return.

And then the entries finished. A red diagonal line closing the log after the final entry. It was only his second sortie, back to Holland. His aircraft must have been shot down over the North Sea. There were no survivors, no bodies or aircraft recovered. Simply a log book along with other personal effects returned to the family.

It still chokes me to recall that evening reading the log book - it really brought home the debt and gratitude we owe to those who paid the ultimate price. I was also stunned at how much dedication, work and effort had been put into getting this young man trained, only for him to be so ruthlessly taken. And to think this happened in thousands of cases...