Names !
They are names to conjure with and even revere. I was at a 51 Sqdn. reunion a few years ago and was standing on the Tarmac, talking to a present day Sgt. who had said how good it was to talk to wartime members of the Sqdn. and get their views and experiences. We were awaiting the arrival of the Red Arrows and I suddenly spotted one of our "Veterans" standing in front of a hangar. He was wearing a shabby old mac and a cap.. "You see that chap ?" I said, pointing him out "Well that is the chap that sank the "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian Fjord back in 43/44 " It was Willy Tait. The Sgt. was dumbfounded. "He looks so ordinary!" He said. They were far from ordinary when it counted.
"F for Freddy Pickard", One of the first CO's of 51 and made famous as the pilot of the Wellington in one of the first wartime films "Target for Tonight". He was shot down when leading the raid on Amiens Prison
that helped many POW's to escape their pending execution.
"Wilky" Wilkerson, the revered CO of 51 and the newly formed 578 SQdn. (Formed from C Flight 51 Sqdn . He was the most charismatic man I have ever met, and I met some ! He is also the reason that I am still alive today as he summarily "screened " me when I returned from Berlin on my 29th. Op , the day that my first child was born on 28th. Jan. 1944 saying that "I had done enough ". He was ,tragically, killed when a passenger in a Baltimore that crashed in 1944.
I could go on and on.... It was a time for exceptional men to stand up and be counted and I was fortunate and privileged to serve with so many of them. Reg
Last edited by regle; 25th Jun 2009 at 08:55.
Reason: Oops! Wrong date for my son,s birth ! Thanks Kev.