I am the first to admit this is a very strange story.This is why it has remained very much alive in my head for so long.
The gent in question, as I have already said, was a dignified, well dressed, erudite Canadian, who had clearly made his way to Selkirk to re-visit a scene of a wartime drama, if he was to be taken at face value.
I talked to him for a period of time. and I took him at face value.
He had already visited what he told me was the site and wanted to return with me to shoot some pictures of the area along with the views and presumably with him in some of the shots. We never got as far as that. We discussed possibility, location, cost, along with why he wanted the shots taken. Bear in mind, an old farmer from the area had memories of some kind of incident involving an aircraft during WW11.
The local press have now taken up the story so perhaps some new light will be thrown on the situation.
Whatever one might think about Selkirk nowadays and regardless of it's status, during wartime it was probably less than a one horse town with the bulk of men away at war.
If this person was as disoriented and confused as he would have been if he had been involved in such a trauma, it is hardly surprising that he wanted to return as fast as possible to his "own"
The reason why he found himself in such a situation my have contributed.
If you can thing of a better reason why a person of this calibre would travel a long distance to a little borders town to pay someone to photograph an empty field, then please enlighten me.
He was not senile, he was not doddery, he was exactly as I have described him several times.
What I am hoping for here, is that someone with closer access to records and a greater understanding of WW11 fighter operations can turn up some details.
There is already one possible lead that is being investigated and as I say The local press have taken up the story.
I hope we can get somewhere with this situation.
Thanks for all of the input.
El G.