Monday, September 17, 2007

"The Frozen Chosen"

440 Squadron in action (any suggestions as to who is the fellow in front of the drawn-back Hurricane canopy, with his hands in the pockets of his flight suit, at 00:23 of the first video? I have an idea but the timeline is wrong); Squadron history is here:





Real flying.

4 Comments:

Blogger Gilles said...

Its Sir Douglas Bader

7:56 p.m., September 17, 2007  
Blogger Mark, Ottawa said...

A taxpayer: As I thought (a man after one of my legs and my earliest hero); but in 1944 when 440 had the Hurris he was (I think) in Colditz. He was with the Canadians in RAF 242 in summer of 1940.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader

Mark
Ottawa

8:22 p.m., September 17, 2007  
Blogger Gilles said...

Correct but that picture was probably taken when he was commander of the RAF 242 squadron, which had Hurricanes. Probably that some of the others in the picture (242 was almost 100% Canadian) left the RAF and became part of the RCAF 440 later in the war.

9:16 p.m., September 17, 2007  
Blogger Mark, Ottawa said...

A taxpayer: Indeed. Stan Turner, who was in 242, (here's the Bader picture again)
http://www.constable.ca/turner.html

was Canadian Air Attache in Moscow when I was a kid. And when I scoffed "Jane's All the World's Aircraft", 1949-50 and 1955-56 (not to mention "Jane's Fighting Ships", 1942).

Mark
Ottawa

11:23 p.m., September 17, 2007  

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