Death of Brendan Finucane - Top scoring Irish ace of WWII | 32 victories - 15th July 1942
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2022
- On 15th July 1942, Wing Commander Brendan ‘Paddy’ Finucane, the top scoring Irish ace of the Second World War, led the Hornchurch Wing on a Ramrod ground attack sortie against a German army camp at Étaples, France. As the wing flew over the French coast near Le Touquet, a burst of machine-gun fire hit the radiator on Finucane’s Spitfire Mk.V, causing the engine to quickly overheat and eventually lose power. Attempting to fly back to England Finucane was forced to ditch, but despite making a very good water landing Finucane was not seen to exit his Spitfire. He is presumed to have been knocked unconscious during the ditching or unable to make it out of his aircraft in time.
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Sources
www.key.aero/article/paddy-fi...
bbm.org.uk/airmen/as-finucane.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_F...
acesofww2.com/can/aces/aikman/
Music: ‘Artemis' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Visuals: IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles il2sturmovik.com/
#sotocinematics #history #il2 
Развлечения
A great man.
So sad that Finucane, the South African Pat Pattle and other barely-remembered heroes didn't survive the war.
Brendan was my Grandfathers cousin. Always grew up with stories/photos of him in the family. Thanks for this video.
Greetings from Ireland, what a pilot and what a man, well-made film and I wish it was longer
Thank you to all the brave Irishmen who helped in our hour of need. 🇬🇧 🇮🇪
@@andrewemery4272 Around 70,000 Irishmen served in the British forces in WW2. Remarkable when you consider that it was a neutral country. Hundreds were decorated for bravery and Churchill praised them in a moving speech in the House of Commons.
I went to Finucane's old school in Dublin, O'Connells, and his name was never mentioned. Then again, O'Cs was also the alma mater of more volunteers in the Easter Rising, and more of those executed, than any other school, and they were hardly mentioned either. Actually, Finucane's father had fought as a Volunteer in the Rising and had known DeValera personally. Yes, history, apparently experiences as many twists and turns as a Spitfire in the hands of an expert pilot like Finucane.
@@Bulshie Brendan's father fought against the British in 1916 during the Easter Rebellion in Dublin. Brendan as a child was caught in crossfire in Dublin with his mother during an urban engagement between the IRA and British Crownn Forces during the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921. There will be a movie about Brendan coming out this year called "The Shamrock Spitfire". You can see the trailer on YT This movie does not have a huge budget and wont have the fantastic large scale CGI special effects that you see in movies such as "Midway" and "Pearl Harbour".
Such a tragedy, this young man lost to ditching!! Rest In Peace!! 🙏🏿🙏🏿
Historical discrepancy: Finucane's Spitfire did not flip over as it hit the water; however this was the closest I could get to reality in this case.
You did the best you could with what you have available 👍👍👍
Ahem... just the fastidious police in me talking, I'm sure you would have noticed the gear indicator rods (on the wings) were up during the ditching, indicating the gears were in the down position, pretty sure he would have the ldg gear up as you've depicted 😉
Looking fwd to more of your videos.
Noticed it at 5.35...
@@linuschan39 uh Linus that's not a thumps up that's a middle finger. lol
@@Spitfiresammons Dang....! Thks for highlighting, didn't mean to be rude lol. My eyesight has suffered with age. I've corrected it, sry Soto mate.
He nor his fighter were ever recovered,, as far as I remember!! Sad with all our technology we haven’t located his fighter, and give this magnificent warrior a proper burial!!
That's why you always ditch any aircraft along the waves and not into the wind and the swell.
One of "The Few" we owe so much gratitude to. RIP Paddy
Gratitude for saving your honour at that time period i'll grant you that, but what did fighting the Germans save you from, look at the mess you are in today with all that wondercull Jewish diversity, which your heroic flyers fough and died for! You got yourself a raw deal there!
@@janmale7767 you can take your anti-Semitism elsewhere chump.
I've no idea of your nationality but in 1940, stopping Nazi Germany invading Britain, probably saved your arse too.
Great video. Finucane was a close friend of Bluey Truscott, an Australian ace who by then had transferred to the Pacific and was preparing to fight the Japanese invasion of Milne Bay, on the eastern tip of New Guinea. He died in a similar way, flying his Kittyhawk into the sea in limited visibility
From Spit to Kittyhawk... not nice
@@angriff69 We Aussies loved our P40s. The highest scoring P40 ace is Clive "Killer" Caldwell, an Aussie with 22 kills in the Mediterranean theatre. He transferred to RAAF operations over the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines in Spitfires, and ended the war as a Group Captain with 28.5 confirmed kills.
Apparently the sea was very calm and Bluey misjudged the timing of pulling out of his dive. A "false horizon" had been created by the light conditions. Very tragic and I feel his loss. He should have survived the war. It was a training exercise, not even an engagement. My uncle also died in an accident, when his Mosquito went down while based in Canada near war's end. He had married a Canadian girl only weeks before he died.
@@neilpemberton5523 thank you Neil
@@neilpemberton5523
Are they the ones that hit the flag pole in Calgary ?
Thank you for the video and the hard work you put into making it very much appreciated RIP "Paddy" Finucane
The videography of the squadron takeoff is quite breathtaking.
This popped up in my feed just a few weeks after my sister (who lived in the road named for him in Hornchurch) passed away.
As always.....excellent production. Keep em' coming!
Amazing what CGI can do these days.
Well done to all who created this.
Our top British ace Johnny Johnson said the most stupid decision of our air force was the rhubarb operations against the German held continent, he said it cost the lives of many of our best fliers for negligible results
Wasn't Douglas Bader a promoter of those "bait-the-enemy" sweeps that seem to have given the German fighters an advantage ?
How did Bader get to be so [apparently] well-connected wirh the R.A.F. 'higher echelon" staff like Leigh-Mallory ?
@@None-zc5vg
Good question, and why did they listen to his opinion when Dowding and Park had just successfully defended the country .
@@None-zc5vg Since the BOB outcome. Bader avocated the Big Wing concept supported by Leigh Mallory, and Park was "parked" aside as Churchill got convinced to authorize those changes. The result were those Circus Sweeps, a meal well enjoyed buy Galland and is boys.
@@None-zc5vg
Bader supported Leigh-Mallory's Big Wing initiative.
Thanks to the loser French!
Great work!
Respect Sir. thank you.
Awesome video.
Great production - very interesting
I read Tuck's 'Fly for your Life' in the 1950s and still remember with sadness the death of another, Pat Learmond, whose a/c was engulfed in flames with the squadron's first encounter with the enemy in 1940. Possibly the tactics of the Vic formation and the novice wingman looking after his leader but being easy pickings for a first shot from a Me.
Muito legal! Eu tenho uma miniatura do Spitfie em escala 1/72 e é exatamente esse mesmo esquema de camuflagem e também a mesma combinação de armamentos. 4 metralhadoras e 2 canhões, para mim o Spitfie foi o Caça de Combate Mais Bonito da segunda guerra mundial! 🌟
Dave, Australia here thanks for the video
Lovely story RIP paddy.
Reminds me of Jochen Marseille - Plane got battle-damaged and he died because his cockpit was full of smoke and he couldn't see how steep a dive his plane had gone into prior to bailing out. Hit the empenage of his aircraft and was either knocked unconscious or killed outright and was never able to open his parachute.
Yes, please check my recent video on this
Joachim had only engine damage..
It was a problem of the new model G
@@danielfmontero Ah yes!!! I'd forgotten that detail! It wasn't "battle damage" that caused Joachim to bail out, it was the wonky, early production series alterations to the BF109-G's engine which caused some sort of oil or coolant leak and smoked out his cockpit, forcing him to bail out. Therefore, he was never shot down by the enemy, but died in an accident. So tragic, but his unlucky demise likely saved a lot of Allied pilots. Thanks for reminding me Daniel!
@@moistmike4150 Thank you, Mike. he was shot down 4 times
When I said "never shot down by the enemy", I was talking about the flight where he died. God, I gotta proofread my s**t. Thanks for all the corrections!
good vid well done
Leigh-Mallory, the man who stole the 11 th Group Command from Park. Don´t feel sympathy for him at all.
Great video once more. I suggest one about "Cobber" Cain, pardon me if you have already done it.
I have reason to believe that my father was Paddy Finucane's engine fitter while on 452 Sqn at Kirton-in-Lindsay and later Kenly.
Great little video. Really enjoyed it.
Given that Eire sat neutral in WW2 - but consuming resources that men died to get those resources to Eire - there were many Irishmen and women who came across the Irish Sea and lent a hand. ...... Including members of the Irish Army, who were treated abysmally by their government after the war. ...... "Thank You!" to the best of the Irish!
The withholding of the Treaty Ports and airfields restricted Britain's projection of power out into the Atlantic, which meant that more sailors died from U-Boat attack.
See my reply to "Freemen of England" above for a more accurate role of Eire's role in WW2.
Sad loss RIP
Never have so many owed so much to so few, as my Mother told me remembering what Churchill pronounced with the Battle of Britain in 1940. I was born in St Marylebone in London, a month before D Day,. We lived in Park West off Edgware Road north of Marble Arch, which I had last seen again in 2013. After the war, Spitfire Pilot, Douglas Bader, was a neighbor there. I have read his book, Reach For The Sky, and the movie from the 1950's.
Great video mate, lovely skins, you even included the correct serial BM308 on his Spit. I've always looked fwd to your videos, appreciate the amount of details you put into your work. Really a waste of talent for the RAF to have lost so many of their best fighter leaders on those offensive sweeps over France. Perhaps sometime later you can also do some videos on other famous Spitfire personalities who were also lost on similar fighter sweeps? Eric Lock, Brian Lane, Wally MacLeod, etc to name a few...
Such a tragedy. I wonder why he opted to ditch given the Spitfire's terrible reputation as a ditching aircraft. He had such a great reputation, such a waste.
I've read so many pilot memoirs that mention him, but never known how to pronounce his name - now I do!
Excellent job on the visuals - this one especially, looked excellent. Loved the squadron start up and take off.
It's easy to get tangled up in shroud lines and drown.
@@infantryattacks true, but during the BoB the Spitfire was found to dive on contact with the water during ditching from the intakes underneath and the Merlin up front - and but 1942 I thought they had the bailing out situation pretty down pat - complete with dinghy.
@@avipatable There are always those who must complain
Very tragic but good story, Only the Good die young " good video
Sad end to a true hero.
21 years old war is such a waste
...times several million young men (and women) with their entire lives in front of them. What a hideous, awful, obscenity war is. For the Allies, WW2 truly was a "good" war, but no war is good.
Brilliant
Paddy Finucanes father fought against the British in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising. Paddy is still the youngest Wing Commander in the history of the RAF. Due to Paddys success and those of other Irish pilots Churchill toyed with the idea of forming an exclusive Irish squadron within the RAF but it never came to fruition.
That what I was thinking A Irishman fighting for the British?
Be like a Palestinian joining the Israeli Army.
My grandfather was in the IRA in the 1930s before moving to Canada.
@@Crashed131963 With the greatest respect what an ignorant comment to make. Since Ireland was colonised by the British there has been Irishmen and women serving in the British armed forces right up to WW1. Centuries of service. Even after Ireland had gained self determination in 1922 Irishmen and women have continued to enlist in the British army. Over 70,000 Irishmen like Brendan Finucane joined every branch of the British armed forces in WW2. Going back further in time over 30% of Wellingtons forces at Waterloo were Irish including native Irish speakers. Over 40% of the Victorian British army was from what is now the Republic of Ireland. There is still Irishmen and women in today's British armed forces.The best IRA units in the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921 had ex soldiers in it's ranks. The most successful IRA Commander in that conflict was Tom Barry who had served with the RFA in WW1. Some IRA men were decorated for bravery in WW1. The most successful IRA operations in the Irish War of Independence conflict were either planned by IRA ex veterans or they played a huge part in the victories. Check out the IRA successful ambushes such as Rineen, Kilmichael,Toureen,Dromkeen,Clonfin,
Headford and Crossbarry. There has been centuries of intermarriage between the peoples of the UK and Ireland,economic ties etc. What your post achieved was to highlight the depth of the chasm in relation to the void you have in relation to Anglo-Irish history. That comparison you made was absolutely devoid of any logic or intelligence. The IRA were more or less dormant in the 1930's and the most militant of them went to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.
@@johnroche7541 Where we stand today, the hatred from the Irish towards the British is several degrees higher than any animosity going the other way. Of course, it's understandable given the history. But I think Paddy Finucane's example shows above anything that we have more in common than we have against each other, at least after Irish independence was achieved - and, as a proud Brit, I massively welcome that achievement.
A British Irish squadron,... whaat?
@@paddykennedy3820 As I stated in my previous post due to the exploits of Brendan "Paddy" Finucane and other Irishmen serving in the RAF Chiurchill had an idea to have them serve together in one squadron as part of the RAF. Obviously it never came to fruition. It would be based on similar lines to the Polish 303 Squadron which distinguished itself in the Battle of Britain.
Good video - Those damn water cooled engines, one bullet and it's caput, ask any 109 pilot .. :D
God bless you Paddy
Brendan was told when he was doing pilot training in the 1930s, that he would never make-it as a Pilot !!!
Ocean ditching land in the trough of the waves following the length of the waves. It's a cross wind normally but slamming into a wave is worse.
All pilots on both sides hated flying over the Channel. And the offensive sweeps over France cost lives without enough return.
Out of all the replies you're the only one who has recognized the truth of the tragedy of those bloody useless ramrods,rhubarbs,rodeos and circuses. These were the great ideas
of those two bright sparks Sholto Douglas and Trafford Leigh Mallory.
They made the exact same mistakes
that the Luftwaffe made in 1940!
By 1941, Pilots were badly needed in
the North African theater as well as better aircraft, but this pair of Empire
Builders wouldn't release them.
The only reason this Island didn't go under was because Hitler turned East.
And they thought they could do better than Dowding and Park!
It makes you want to weep when you know the truth of it.
@@stevenprice8091 Hitler had already “turned East” by this time. If we’d had the benefit of your leadership skills of fighting Germany by not doing anything it would have been just a matter of time before this little island had been blown to pieces. Do the world a favour…just shut up.
Wing Comd Cunningham had no worries about Rhubarbs and he ranged from England to the Swiss border Knock over a convoy of trucks or a troop train that could be hundreds of enemy out of the fight . The RAF and all on here complaining about Rhubarbs must remember THAT all service personnel first priority is the kill the enemy Not glorify themselves
It's that we call to be a victim of a magic bullet.
Hit as soon as they reach France by such a crippling hit. The disadvantages that come with a liquid cooled engine.
Another fine cinematic.
All British G/A planes were Liquid cooled and the main destroyer the Typhoon lost only 670 through its service life[ Not all pilots killed ] compare that with its US contemporary the P47 which lost 2400 in 12 months and it was NOT liquid cooled Come back
God bless the true heroes!
Just imagine if He and Pat Pattle had gone right through the War
Ditching a plane was almost always a certain death
Sad end for a young brave pilot. Although on the opposite side. Rip
I am not a pilot , but what i have read ditching in water has a whole set of risks in itself esp if your aircraft has a fixed under carriage like Ju- 87 Stuka and Ju - 52 transport , he should have taken his chances with the silk, but that also has inherant dangers, like entanglement, war is a risky business!!
Sadness!
My respects to an outstanding fighter pilot and leader. I have to wonder though...why didn't he bail out???
As the plane had to be traveling at least 150 MPH, Paddy's plane then came to a sudden halt, sort like smashing into a wall. At that speed, he undoubtedly suffered from whiplash and possibly smacked his head against the instrument panel. Another theory is that he broke his neck on impact or suffered such a head blow that he went unconscious and drowned. This is why pilots practice in the crash seat into a pool. "tis a shame he couldn't get out of the plane while several feet from the surface and slide off the wing into the water. But that is all hindsight. I wonder how much heavier the Spitfire would've been had they been equipped with armor plating around the radiator?
The narration sound goes from stereo to mono when it go to landscape!
I understand the Spitfire was a poor plane to ditch and it would dive straight under after hitting the water.
Ditching on water can be tricky especially judging the swell of the waves, a higher nose up attitude before touch down might had saved him from his fate.
A god amongst men. I have had the honour of holding his RAF field head dress. What happened to Butch please?
Did they ever find paddy's spitfire in the channel ?
No, but it has been looked for
Drowning might be one likely circumstance.
"Shamrock Spitfire" is coming soon and is based on this story.
How unlucky !
A shame he chose to ditch rather than bailing out
Bloody shame.
Your narration is left ear only. The background music is stereo. You've recorded your voice over on a stereo track, so the right track is blank. Convert to a mono track and re-upload.
Just a heads up, on the beggining of the video, audio is comming out from left side only. That being said, good video
Ok thanks
Ditching is a risky business. What he should have done was climb to maybe 2,000 feet and bale out.
Part and parcel of Churchill giving away a 500 year old empire.
Ironically, it was ground fire that got his plane, not a dogfight.
Same for the Red Baron..same for a lot of guys...
Pendant la Seconde guerre les avions de chasse n'avaient pas de lumière au bout de chaque aile rouge à droite et vert à gauche
Better to bail out, less risky than a ditching. Frankòy speaking don't understand the choice of that pilot
Please, the emphasis in his name is on the “Fin” not the “ucaine.” And certainly not emphasising the “u”. Otherwise, good work.
@Hugh Johnson
He said it correctly.
The accent is on the u .
Kind of Red Baron ish, shot down by a lucky gunner on the ground.
I hope he did not undo his belt before the ditching (the facilitate getting out quicker) and bounce his head off the gun sight. Tragic and anti climatic.
Poor courageous boy :( I am sorry you had to fight and die in a war caused by stupid men, wars are stupid, let there be an end to them.
He was Irish , He fought on the Wrong side ............
It was his choice AND HE PICKED RIGHT.
So you'd rather he fought for the Nazis - very odd.
@@gediredi2 No check his name
He fought on the right side ..
Fighting for nazi murderers was never right
War is stupid.young men die for nothing.
Yup allied "aces" never shut down...hip hip
What are you on about?. Your comment doesn't make sense. Revise and edit it. Why is aces in quotation marks? Explain man!
@@imperialinquisition6006 I would say American maybe even Irish American
Piss poor sound
Irish Lives Matter
What a stupid mission. Makes no sense sending your Spitfires to do that.
When you say "Irish ace" what you mean is "Irish-born RAF ace". As we all know the Southern Irish didn't take part in WWII.
Many did though nearly 4000 southern Irish died in ww2
Would be more accurate to say the Irish government remained neutral however given the events between both countries only 20 years before that's understandable
My two uncles took part in WW2. Irish born and bred. One uncle served on Malta with the RAF and the other in the Far East. So your statement is incorrect to say that Southern Irishmen did not take part. Lots did take part. The governement was neutral but the citizens were not.
His father was Irish and mother English.
Free Men of England. In just 3 lines of a post you have displayed how ignorant you are and how deep your lack of knowledge in relation to Irelands(southern) role in WW2 . First of all Brendan "Paddy" Finucane was 100% Irish. His father took part in the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and fought against the British. His grandparents and their parents and generations back were Irish. His mother was English. The family emigrated to England. What's this "Irish born nonsense" which is a phrase to make out that the person born in Ireland does not belong to that nationality. It is a pathetic phrase also used in connection to Oscar Wilde(his mother was a staunch Irish nationalist and poet) and George Bernard Shaw. It is a futile pathetic attempt by the English to claim them. Southern Ireland known as Eire at the time was officially neutral. However that is not the true story. Historians have confirmed that 70,000 Irishmen from what is now the ROI joined the British armed forces. Hundreds were decorated for bravery and are giving a glowing tribute from Churchill in a speech in the House of Commons after the war. Thousands of Irishmen and women emigrated to the UK and worked in various industries helping the war effort. Irishwomen also served as nurses. Thousands of Irishmen and women also served in the armed forces of the USA,Canada, Australia & New Zealand. British planes were allowed to use the "Donegal Corridor" for quicker access to the Atlantic to engage the Kreigsmarine(both ships & U-boats). British pilots that came down over Ireland were returned over the border and German pilots were imprisoned for the duration of the war. During the "Belfast Blitz" the Irish government sent ambulances and fire engines over the border to help. The movement of German navy vessels and planes was passed on to the Allies. A woman working in the meteorology department on the Irish coast sent information in relation to the weather over the English Channel to Eisenhower. This made him change the date of Operation Overlord from the 5th of June to the 6th of June 1944. This fact is acknowledged by Eisenhower himself in his biography. Strictly speaking Ireland had a belligerent neutrality in the Allies favour. You should do a bit of historical research mate before you expose the copious amount of ignorance you have.
@@johnroche7541 Funny how its exactly "70,000" and of course modern Western "historians" or "academics" in general have such high credibility don't they!!! 😂 When you say "Thousands of Irishmen and women emigrated to Great Britain and worked in various industries helping the (British) war effort." Thousands is rather a vague term as I'm sure even you can understand. Two thousand? Five thousand? And while we're on the subject of numbers have you got a reference for the 70,000 Southern Irish in the British armed forces?
Ireland didn't fight in ww2, how can he be Irelands top ace?
His family moved to England in 1936.
Ireland was neutral in WW2 but 70,000 Irishmen from what is now the ROI joined the British armed forces. Hundreds were decorated for bravery. Check out Churchills speech in honour of them. Thousands of Irishmen and women enigrated to the UK and worked in various industries therefore helping the war effort. Irishwomen also worked as nurses. Thousands of Irishmen and women also served in the armed forces of the USA,Canadian and Anzac Forces. Strictly speaking Ireland had a belligerent neutrality in favour of the Allies. It was an Irishwoman who worked in the meteorological department in Ireland that passed on the weather conditions over the Channel to Eisenhower that made him change the date for Operation Overlord from 5th June to 6th June 1944 a fact he states in his biography. During the hard fighting in Italy the Irish soldiers from north and south serving in the northern Irish regiments had a fearsome reputation for fighting bravely and fiercely that the Gernans referred to them as the "Irish SS" for their fighting prowess and combat capabilities.
He was born in Ireland
@@mikedon5205 He was 100% Irish. Brendan's father fought against the British in Dublin in 1916 during the Easter Rebellion. Brendan was Irish. His father was Irish,his grandparents and generations back were Irish.
The British boot licking Northern Ireland Prods fought for the British.
Die horten war einfach besser!!
I'd of had more respect for him if he flew for the US Navy.
Irish who fought for the British in whatever circumstances are no heroes of mine.
No doubt your heroes sneak up on unarmed, off duty Police Officers, shoot them in front of their Children and run away.
Yeah, real heroic that…
@ianmevans No time for paramilitary kilkers either. But nice of you to make that assumption.
He was fighting against the Nazis.
What future would Ireland have had if the Nazis had defeated the UK?
@Richard Simpson who knows, but remember the Irish free state was strictly neutral during ww2. In fact the only country that officially threatened Ireland during this time was Churchills Britain. Who wanted use of Irelands natural deep water ports for naval vessels. After the sinking of the Royal Oak in Scapa flow, Churchill thought the British fleet was vulnerable.
However a defiant DeValera stood firm and famously said that Britain would fight for every inch let alone every mile.
DeValera was a smart man and disliked the British with a passion. He actually fought against them in 1916 rising! Anyway He bought back control of Irelands ports in 1937 because he could see the inevitability of what was coming. Unlike the hapless Neville Chamberlain who was talking about peace in our time in 1938.
DeValera kept Ireland neutral because he didn't want any Irish dying for the cause of Britain like they did in the first world war.
Some still fought like Finucane but most didn't.
@@paulherlihy9290
I don't think being neutral bothered hitler...he even invaded Russia although Stalin sent him all the oil he wanted.
Leigh-Mallory wormed his way into Dowding's position via political intrigue and then repeated the mistakes made by the Luftwaffe which had allowed fighter command to defeat them during the Battle of Britain.
A much truncated Luftwaffe fighter force defeated RAF fighter command over the European channel coast.
During 1941 and 42 hundreds of excellent BoB veteran pilots were wasted on fruitless Ramrods, Rhubarbs and Rodeos along with thousands of priceless late mark Spitfires and this at a time when the rest of RAF fighter pilots were struggling in Hurricanes, P40's, Gladiators and Buffaloes against Zero's and 109F's throughout the Mediterranean and the Far East.
The death of any young man is a tragedy but to lose Finucane for the objective of disturbing a German Lance Corporals dinner break is criminal.
Bull shit they killed the enemy and that is the objective of war anyway you can
It's the great 'what if', isn't it?
I've read a lot of Christopher Shores' books about the campaigns in the Far East (Bloody Shambles) and Greece/Crete/the Western Desert. Many of the pilots in-theatre had barely any training and for the most part inferior equipment to their enemies. imagine what could have been if top-of-the-line equipment and veteran pilots were both present.
I think he may have been standing in for someone who was sick that morning..
I remember before each flight he would play the sane record for luck but because of thr last minute nature of this mission it was the one morning he never played it
NEVER CEASES TO PUZZLE ME HEAD STRIGHT FOR SHORELINE...LIKE UR GONNA ''BEACH IT'' LIKE SEA PLANES DO JUST COMMON SENSE....BUT WHAT DO I SEE HE HEADING IN DEEPER WATER!! NOO!
I'm guessing he hoped to make it back to British controlled waters where Aikman could alert the navy and get him picked up. Beaching would land him in enemy controlled territory where he would most likely wind up a POW. Courageous man.