A poignant tale from me...
Prior to the formation of the (now ) BBMF, it was decided in the early 50's that some additional Spitfire pilots were needed for said BoB day flypasts. The wartime pilots were becoming a bit thin on the ground.
RAF Duxford was seen as a suitable base for said pilots, and so one pilot from each of the resident squadrons (64 and 65 sqdns) were chosen.
Our hero had always wanted to fly a Spitfire (I should think most of us do)....and so with much anticipation he grabbed his flying helmet and a copy of the relevant pilots notes, and excitedly waited his flight.
Very sadly the other pilot came in to land the Spitfire, and whilst landing, ground looped it, and 'broke' it. Our hero was most disappointed-he never got to fly a Spitfire.
He completed his tour on the Meteor NF, and was offered a permanent commission-however on the day of his interview Mr Duncan Sandys released his infamous White Paper-both he and the AOC spent the whole interview crying on each others shoulders. Flying a desk was not for him, so he left and joined BOAC-and ended up a 747 Captain at BA/Virgin.
Many years later our hero was very proud to attend his owns son's graduation from the Towers. Everything was going very smoothly until he discovered the identity of the reviewing officer...it was none other than the chap who had 'broke' that Spitfire upon landing....he was now a 1*....
Our hero's son pleaded with his dad not to say anything, as he didn't want his fledgling RAF career to be over before it had begun. Our hero being the gentleman he was, didn't pop over and say hello.....
A funny tale, but very poignant, as our hero, Les Millgate, a very good friend and mentor of myself, sadly took off for his last flight last week. A real gentleman, and more importantly, a really lovely bloke. I met Les as we were both in the same volunteer group at .....IWM Duxford.
I'm raising a glass for you Les, and I hope wherever you are, you get that flight in a Spitfire you truly deserve.