Enough is as good as a feast..
 

I am going to disappoint a lot of people but I have come to the conclusion that it is better to leave you all "cliff hanging" as it were. so there will be no more on the events of nearly forty years ago from me. It left an indelible scar upon my life and the life of my family and I pay homage to the people of all faiths who suffered . Please understand. Regle

Regle, whilst your personal situation is of course the most important aspect to consider, your clarity of description of the events to which you have borne witness is a quality which shouldn't be allowed to fade.

Do please reconsider - the thread will of course remain open if, as I'm sure many will hope, you decide to continue your unique discourse.

"I've started, so I'll finish", perhaps?

May I thank you for all that you have done.

Reg: concentrate on getting better, we all wish you a prompt return to good health and the ability to be independent again.
When you're on the mend, you know where your friends are!!
All the best for Tuesday and beyond!!

To all the other great contributors to this thread:
Please carry on posting the memories of your own, or fathers, grandfathers etc so that this can remain as a repository and tribute to the courage of those who were there through the dark days of WW2 and whose exploits, however mundane they may seem to you, can be cherished by those who appreciate their efforts.

For any new contributors: Welcome aboard. A high standard has been set, but please don't let that dissuade you from posting. We'd like to hear from air gunners, bomb aimers and anyone who stepped up to do their bit in the Air Force in WW2. Let this thread be a lasting testament to them.

icare9 and everyone
 

First of all, Icare9, the last two emails that I have sent you, one today, have both been returned and I have not changed anything in the address. I should like you all to know that I am coping and shall continue to contribute to the Forum but must leave the very delicate subject alone for many valid reasons. So please bear with me and I shall try and entertain you on more suitable subjects. Thanks for all your good wishes. Regle

Reg, I, for one, respect your decision to say nothing more of this event. I haven't been through the initial trials to earn an RAF pilot's brevet; nor did I suffer the the rigours of a daily run into Germany with its horrendous perils. Of those who did, very few, I think, could claim to have faced a postwar trial of that magnitude, and to have dealt with it with such fleet-footed intelligence and sang froid under the most extreme pressure.

As you have already mentioned, something in your 'gaining an RAF pilot's brevet' was, I think, responsible for giving you the considerable backbone required of such a trial; and I salute you and all your brethren, past and present, for your gift of these great qualities.

There is more to gaining an RAF pilot's brevet than just flying an aircraft, it seems!

warm toast
 

Yes, please remove them. They are just what I do not need, Regle

regle

"Yes, please remove them. They are just what I do not need, Regle"

Press cuttings removed as requested.

Warmtoast

Please! No further references to the Sabena incident. Reg has made a personal request for the all relevent details to be deleted - that has been done. He has informed us that it greatly affects a very close relation who is most upset that it has been bought up again.

However, Reg has offered to relate things that are of interest regarding his time as a DC10 and 747 skipper.

PPP

We also have to protect Regle

Regle,

Your memoires have been excellent, thank you for all that you have shared and please do continue onto the DC-10 and 747 years.

It seems we have our very own Earnest Gann. :ok:

Still enjoying each contribution and hope to read more from all of the posters with the story to tell...

Now don't you start, Ernest Gann indeed!!
We've got our own High and Mighty!!
Haven't you noticed the similarity to Alfred (Alistair) Cooke's Letters from America??? He had almost as eventful life as Reg, and from similar schooling!!

Don't post usually in this forum but this thread is remarkable and hope regle and other veterans can continue to contribute.

Was thinking how fortunate it is that the relatively recent arrival of internet open discussion forums such as this has been just in time to capture these important memories, and in such an interactive way.

MichaelJP59
 

Welcome to our "Band of Brothers", Michael. Your contribution is very appropriate. I count myself as having been bludgeoned, by my family, into learning the basics of computing about eighteen months ago at the venerable age of 86plus and so being able to contribute to your "important memories". In so doing, I have discovered that I could write rather better than I thought possible and ruefully reflect on what might have been another career----- but then I would'nt have had anything to write about so would that have been another story. ? We look forward to hearing from you,. All the best, Regle

What's happened to cliffnemo, the thread originator. Nothing heard since April.

Very well said MichaelJP59 and, not surprisingly, a suitably erudite response from Regle. In the words of the proverb, "What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts" and, my Goodness Regle we too have certainly gained enormously on the roundabouts thanks to you and your "brothers in arms" being prepared to relive and recount your spellbinding experiences in such a vivid way - with or without the aid of a bludgeon!:ok:

Jack

We have to thank your family then for bludgeoning you, then - hope it wasn't too painful! You may not have written your memoirs formally but having read many aviation history books I have to say your writing in this format stands just as worthy as any of them - but unfortunately for you there is no royalty cheque for your time and trouble:)

Cliff Nemo
 

Just to let you all relax a bit, Cliff is fine. I too, as well as others, had noted his absence, but he's been up to the Yorkshire Air Museum and out and about in the beach buggy as weather permits....

I just think he's surprised that he started such a wonderful thread and it's all "Thanks" to him that we have had, and still hope to have, some wonderful contributors on here.

OK, let's see who else can step up to the plate?
All welcome with those all important (to us!) memoirs about wartime life - BEFORE those memories are lost forever.

3 BFTS Association?
 

I have a friend who was in the first class to go through 3 BFTS at Miami, Oklahoma. He went on to fly Spits, Hurricanes and P-51s, and got a few kills to boot.

He says that there used to be UK-based association of some sorts that kept 3 BFTS people in touch, but that he has heard nothing in a few years.

A Google search has yielded nothing, but I wondered if anyone here knows something?

I have asked if he would post his recollections here, but I am not sure he wants to 'steal' anyone else's thunder.

Strap him down to a chair in front of a keyboard and tell him there is a free beer at the end of each page he composes.
If he is aircrew that should be more than enough.

I do hope he will post, as he has some remarkable and often funny stories.

He is in ill health and has some surgery planned for next week, but assuming that goes well, I will pester him to post here when he feels well enough.

In the meantime, I know it will lift his spirits to find out more about this enigmatic 3 BFTS association.