Hi Nigel
Firstly let me apologise for the Escape from Java story ending up on your father's condolences thread.
I went over to the 84 Sqn FB page and managed to upset your sister as well.
Your Dad was hero worshipped and greatly respected by all sqn members past and present, and we hope to see more stories from you.
But we are post-Jimmy Saville now, and blanking things out only leads to further myths & misunderstandings. So with some help I have almost got to the bottom of it.
Having had two other sqn veterans (who I have never met) agree about the story, I am from now on describing it as "Sqn Folklore"
Escape fromJava
Official 84 Sqn History Version (still some gaps & questions)
There were two lifeboats and one was judged to be unseaworthy. OC 84 Sqn, Wg Cdr John Jeudwine had to make the appalling decision on who to put in the seaworthy lifeboat, and who to leave behind. He chose to fill the lifeboat with complete Blenheim crews, a total of 12 aircrew.
Unofficial 84 Sqn Folklore Version
Same as above, but with the unsubstantiated allegation that various "other ranks" were ordered out of the seaworthy lifeboat.
2nd Unsubstantiated ridiculous bit of Folklore
That 84 Sqn were disgraced by this incident and would never be allowed back to the UK - this is a standard bit of folklore that comes around in cycles every now and again, - probably utter rubbish.
Last edited by SirPeterHardingsLovechild; 10th May 2016 at 17:42.