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[redelitev6]

My father was in the RN in WW2 and was a 3 time survivor after being torpedoe'd.  He departed this mortal coil in the early 1980's without ever recounting to any extent of his experiences to the family.  All the family know was that it was 2 Atlantic, one Med.

Greatest of respect to those who are able to recount their tales of courage and endurance, in all conflicts, not just WW2, so that we may learn lessons to avoid recurrence.

Sadly, we do not always act on what we learned....    

Must be a generation thing-people just got on with it and didn't make a fuss when they came back from war as not to appear a "flash harry"

[feeutfo]

Stiff upper lip order of the day, evident in the programme, it was a relief to hear him throwing a few breaks about the cockpit with a 109 up his chuff.  :-/

Did you catch the look on the actors face after his first landing, I giess that's the spitfire smile you get from flying one, made me smile, just watching it roll around the sky, both in film and at shows, it just looks like it was made to turn, aaaawwwhahaw, gizzago. Mwaaarhahaw to sit in that seat, where "they" sat....not worthy, not even nearly

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Stiff upper lip order of the day, evident in the programme, it was a relief to hear him throwing a few breaks about the cockpit with a 109 up his chuff.  :-/

Did you catch the look on the actors face after his first landing, I giess that's the spitfire smile you get from flying one, made me smile, just watching it roll around the sky, both in film and at shows, it just looks like it was made to turn, aaaawwwhahaw, gizzago. Mwaaarhahaw to sit in that seat, where "they" sat....not worthy, not even nearly

Yes Chris, and repeatedly I have heard from Battle of Britain pilots over the years that the Spitfire flew you, you did not fly it; it strapped you in and flew you off 8-) 8-) A lesson learned by many new Spitfire pilots who usually only came unstuck by flying too level, too straight, for too long

Of course one is reminded of the famous story of Luftwaffe Ace, Major (later General) Adolph Galland, when asked by no less than Reichmarschall Herman Goring what they, the Officers, needed from him to gain victory. Galland replied "A squandron of Spitfires Reichmarschall"

That said it all!    Thank God for R.J. Mitchell for designing the Spitfire when he did!!

[Sixstring]

Old guy I once met would not recount any experiences he had being a "guest" of the Japanese in Malaya, and then later in Singapore. He said it was too painful to tell, and that if he was asked, he would just say... "yep, I was there, now I am here, lots ar'nt." I couldn't get him to say much else without tears running down his cheeks. That was 60-odd years after??
God knows what he went through there to make him so emotional all that time afterwards.
What he WOULD tell me, was that there were 8 thousand p.o.w's taken by the Japanese in that particular theatre of operation, only 900-odd came home afterweards, most died from dysentry, malaria, or simply worked to death. His total hatred of the Japanese has stayed to this day, and no amount of "forgive and forget" will wash with him. He got physically angry when you mention what an advanced nation Japan have become, he wonders why America only dropped 2 atomic bombs, and says they should have finished the job properly. quite a bitter man, but you have to understand why.

And we think we've got it hard sometimes??