Eric 'Winkle' Brown: Celebrated British pilot dies, aged 97 - BBC News This gentleman lived a life. There is a good tv documentary on him and his book is a very good read if you like what he did for a living. Let's face it, most of us I reckon would do the job he did, given a chance!
What a man and what a fantastic life he had.Amazing that he has only just passed on - my old Dad pegged out in 1975 - he joined the Raf just as war broke out and didn't make the grade for fighter pilot selection so they put him into Bomber crew as a navigator/bomb Aimer and he flew 67 missions in Manchesters (crap),Halifax and finally Lancasters - he was my Hero
I have a real interest in Bomber Command, what those guys went through was ridiculous and to be treated like shit by Churchill and the politicians at the end of the war was scandalous. You should be and obviously are justifiably proud of your dad. I met two old Bimber Command crew last year and couldn't get over their 'it was a job that we did as best we could' attitude?
there was a bit about him on the radio Scotland this morning. yip what a dude. done the wheel of death to pay for his education rolled a bomber to prove it could be done without spilling his coffee. adviser to American test pilots and astronauts. just a small take on a massive life. do they still make em like that?
Sadly not. What an amazing character and what a life. My father flew Lancs at the end of the war and one of his friends is still alive at 92 yrs. He was a Spitfire pilot so there can't be many of them left. The remarkable thing is that he still lives on his own, drives and recently flew over the South Africa on his own and spent two weeks sorting out legal affairs for his son on a property sale. Made out of tougher materials back then!
My grandad was also bomber crew during WW2. I believe he was a tail gunner which was not the best position on a bomber. Last summer, whilst out walking on a lonely but beautiful stretch of the pennines I happened to come across an elderly gent and we got talking. He was in his mid nineties but obviously a fit man for his years. Turned out he was a spitfire pilot during the final year or two of ww2. Had a right good old chin wag and carried on my walk with a big grin on my face just because I had had the opportunity to meet the man.
Yeah,they got treated very badly.Churchill turned his back on Arthur Harris after the war when all the Dresden recriminations reared their head - I think he left for Canada.My dad only started talking about it all in his final years - he lost nearly all his mates that he joined up with and I could see in his eyes that talking about what went on deeply effected him
55,585 killed is an incredible figure and those guys went off towards their targets knowing their chances of returning were less than favourable. 617 killed on one raid on one night, staggering.
They have never really documented what happened to a lot af aircrews who parachute d to "safety".The Hermans called them terror flyers and getting captured and sent to a prison camp was the best option
