frederick william spink keighley (From The Northern Echo)
Texel
Bill was laid to rest last Monday with a service in Piercebridge where his son has laid since June 1972.
Bill was 99.
He was joined the RAF before WW2 and told me a little of his history.
He was arrested by gendarmes during the Spanish civil war having decided to have a jolly with a pal along the Pyranees.
During the Battle of Britain he volunteered for a "one way" mission of a daylight raid on Germany...Churchill's idea of taking the heat off the fighter squadrons.
Having been shot up by Messerschmitts (the first pass killed his gunner) he headed for cloud cover where he lost the fighters. He described watching a propellor arching into the North Sea after the engine failed but said the Blenheim wasn't a problem on one engine...
After the second engine seized he did a 180 and managed to glide onto a beach of Texel.
After his wounds had healed he spent most of the war in stalag luft drei and participated in the death march.
The family was devastated after the death of their son...Jerry...my pal...in Papa India...the Trident that stalled after take off at Heathrow...but destroyed by what many of us perceived as BEA blaming Jerry for the accident.
Bill didn't speak about this although he read my autobiography with interest and asked me what was the point?
It was only after speaking to Sue - Bills daughter - who had found a drawer of correspondence between her parents and BEA, apparently trying to get the truth about the "accident", that I realised how much "protecting the establishment" had affected the family.
Whilst the recent National Geographic disaster program shifted the blame from captain key and SO Keighley it did so at the expense of the P3 - SO Ticehurst, Captain Collins on the jump seat and FO Flavell who was one of the pilots who had a preflight argument in the crew room.
IMHO an absolute disgrace when after over 40 years the truth should be known.
Bill was a gentleman - on my last visit I drove him along Swalesdale where his Grandfather had built a house - wonderful company although very deaf and loosing his site.
His hallway had a WW1 Camel propellor adorning it...a true aviator
RIP.