In another photo taken at Abscon, RE8 4889 (actually D4889) stands on the airfield with the cité ouvrière and the spire of Abscon church in the background. Pilot and observer are in position, as is the Lewis gun on the Scarff ring – but so are the wheel-chocks. And there are no ground crew in evidence, so this looks like a posed photo.
RE8 4889 (D4889) – squadron number B1 – at Abscon. Click for larger image. Credit: Air Force Museum of New Zealand
RE8 4889
In January 1919, RE8 4889 was in a scruffy state. Scratches, patches and scuff marks are all over it. It used to be pristine. In fact, this is the shiny state in which we saw the same aircraft previously. In the post for 27 August 1918 it was pictured with Capt. Bill Ledlie standing proprietorially in front of the gleaming aircraft:
Capt. Bill Ledlie, CO B Flight, 42 Sqn RAF, standing in front of RE8 4889 (D4889), squadron number B1. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
In this older photograph (probably taken at Rely, to where 42 Squadron had moved on 25 April 1918) the aircraft was clearly pretty new. It had been built by Napier and delivered to the squadron on 8 July 1918. It stayed with them until 28 January 1919. On that day Lt Judd ferried 4889 to St Omer, where 13 Squadron took charge of it. It had survived its time of active war service without major incident.
Possibly 4889 was the aircraft that Capt. Ledlie often flew. The squadron designation was ‘B1’, and Capt. Ledlie was the flight commander of ‘B’ flight. So he might have been the pilot in the photo at Abscon. But Capt. Ledlie didn’t have exclusive use of it. For instance, Greg flew 4889 on 6 October 1918 and 7 October 1918. More likely, since the photograph came from Lt McDermont, who later emigrated to New Zealand, it was he who was the pilot in the January 1919 photo.
The Abscon RE8 Photographs
This photograph is one of a series of aeroplanes and crew taken – probably at least semi-officially – at Abscon. Two others have been posted in previous weeks, one (of 2872) from Greg’s collection and one (of 2924) from the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, as this one was.
No doubt there are others in museums and dusty attics around the world. And more still that have been lost or destroyed.
Abscon Church
In the January 1919 photograph of 4889, the stubby spire of Abscon church rises above the house behind the tail of the aircraft. That church is now gone. According to French Wikipedia:
The old church, built in 1892 and closed to worship in July 1969 because of mining subsidence, was replaced by a new building inaugurated in 1981.
It was the stubbiness of this spire that made me think that the spire in the photograph in the post for 28 December 1918 was probably not Abscon’s, but more likely to be that of Saultain:
No doubt they would all have preferred to be at home for Christmas, but the chaps of 42 Squadron made the best of things at Saultain. “B” Flight Officers’ Mess was the setting for an evidently lavish, probably lengthy and undoubtedly boozy Christmas dinner. It inevitably became something of a farewell feast.
The Compliments of the Season
In one of Greg’s photo albums is a Christmas card. He probably sent the card home to Holyhead, and the family kept it.
42 Squadron’s Christmas Card, 1918, with artwork by Laurence East. Click for larger image.Inside of card signed by Greg, probably sent to home in Holyhead. Click for larger image.
The ‘card’ measures 3″ x 4¼” (8 cm x 10.5 cm), folded. It’s actually printed on photographic paper. Maybe someone in the squadron photographed the original artwork and printed off copies – rather as we might use a smartphone today as the front end of an impromptu printing press.
Inside, the card is signed “from Cecil”. He didn’t care for his given name, but on a Christmas card to his parents he really didn’t have much choice but to use it.
Laurence East, Illustrator and Cartoonist
The artwork on the front bears the signature Laurence East, France ’18. (Bottom right, small lettering – hard to read.) It was an early work of an illustrator who became better known after the war for his sketches, cartoons and book drawings. Laurence East was particularly a sketcher of sporting figures – especially from football and cricket. Examples of this work include Autographed Sketches of the 1930 Australian Cricketers, and The “Bees” (Brentford FC) Sketchbook 1936-37:
The “Bees” Sketchbook 1936-37 by Laurence East. Click to see a complete copy at The National Football Collection’s website.
Outside sport, his other specialisation was in illustrating books and magazines for children. For example, he illustrated the Chums Annual 1939, various periodicals for boys and girls, and Paddy the Pride of the School, written by Dorothy Dennison and published by Every Girl’s Paper Office in or around 1931.
East’s artwork for 42 Squadron’s Christmas card in 1918 is clearlya stylish composition. An aircraft heading home to Blighty would have been a popular image at the time. But members of the squadron would surely have questioned the rather elongated rendering of an RE8 – if that is indeed what it is meant to be! Note, incidentally, the winged laurel motif in the bottom right, which lists the three countries in which 42 Squadron served in 1918: France, Belgium (for all of two weeks, from Armistice Day) and Italy, from where they arrived on 14 March 1918:
On Christmas Day, there was again an abundance of food, with a few in-jokes on the menu. The after-dinner toasts, as listed, become rather poignant. And the back page gives us the names of the 42 Squadron B Flight officers present.
42 Squadron B Flight Christmas Dinner Menu, 1918, Page 1. Click for larger image.42 Squadron B Flight Christmas Dinner Menu, 1918, Page 2. Click for larger image.42 Squadron B Flight Christmas Dinner Menu, 1918, Page 3. Click for larger image.42 Squadron B Flight Christmas Dinner Menu, 1918, Page 4. Click for larger image.
42 Squadron; Royal Air Force
"B" Flight Officers Mess
(Somewhere in France)
---
Christmas Day, 1918.
---
MENU
DINNER:-
Zero Hour - 18.30
"T" Out ---------?????
Mr. C. E. Gregory
MENU
--------
Oysters (St.Omer Native)
--
Tomato Soup
--
Plaice (avec Findabs)
--
Roast Turkey a l'Ulster
Roast Pork
Mashed Potatoes
--
Roast Beef
Fried Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
--
Saultain Apricots
Custard or Cream
--
Sardines on Toast
(or the Hun Air Force)
--
Fromage
--
Fruit, Nuts Etc.
--
Coffee, Cigars, Liqueurs.
T O A S T S.
--------------------
1. Our Colonel in Chief -
His Majesty The King
2. The Ladies (God bless 'em)
3. The Squadron Commander
4. To when we meet again -
sometime, somewhere, somehow
5. To the memory of those who
made the supreme sacrifice.
"B" Flight Officers:-
Captain W. Ledlie
" C.F. Gordon, M.C.
Lieut C.E. Gregory
" K. Bon
" J.B. Judd
" D.C. Sewell
" H.G. Wallington
" J.G.J. McDermont
" R. Scarterfield
" J.E. Elliott
" T. Whittles
" A.N. Paton D.C.M.*
" A. Mulholland
" G.A. Lynch
*Should be A.Y. Paton D.C.M., not A.N. Thanks to Stuart Paton, Arthur Y. Paton’s great nephew, for the correction. See below for more information.
In-Jokes
As with the Farewell to Rely dinner menu in October, some of the in-jokes are more decipherable than others.
Oysters (St. Omer Native)
The very same conundrum as on the Rely menu! Only at Rely it was Huîtres de St. Omer. I still don’t understand it: St. Omer was better known for cauliflowers than for oysters. I continue to wonder, though, whether this was an obscure reference to St. Omer being thought of as the ‘home’ of the RAF and RFC.
Plaice (avec Findabs)
Plaice is clear enough. But why with Findabs? And what are Findabs anyway?
Maybe Findabs was/were something to do with dabs. A dab is a type of flatfish that, like plaice, is reasonably common in waters round the UK, presumably including the English Channel off northern France. Dabs, plaice and flounder look similar and are sometimes confused. Only the plaice has orange spots, according to Angling Addicts. But they all have fins…
Roast Turkey a l’Ulster
My guess is that this was a reference to B Flight’s commanding officer, Captain Bill Ledlie, who was an Ulsterman.
Back in October at Rely, occupying a key place in the menu was “Poulet Rôti d’Unter”. This was probably referring to Major Hunter, who at the time had overall command of 42 Squadron. Now, at a B Flight dinner, the flight commander may have been similarly – if obliquely – honoured, with a certain resonance to the original joke.
Saultain Apricots
This could mean exactly what it says. If apricots can grow in the Chiltern Hills in England, at least on a sheltered wall – which I can testify they do – then they should be able to grow in Saultain, which is 1.5° latitude nearer the equator. In December, they wouldn’t be fresh. But they could be tinned, or reconstituted from dried.
Sardines on Toast
With the savoury course comes the inevitable dig at the (former) enemy: the Hun Air Force. “Sardines on Toast” may have a been a more widespread derogatory term for German forces than just an in-joke of 42 Squadron. In “Fred’s War” by Andrew Davidson, Short Books, 2013, (republished as “A Doctor in The Great War” by Marble Arch Press in 2014) sardines on toast are referred to as “Remnants of the Huns” by the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Toasts (sans Sardines)
The toasts follow what would have been a familiar sequence.
First the loyal toast.
Then the affectionate even if – to modern eyes – somewhat patronising toast to the ladies. Autres temps, autres mœurs.
The Squadron Commander was next. According to the squadron’s daily orders, by this stage the commanding officer was Major Geoffrey Harold Brinkman McCall, formerly of 6 Squadron.
Next came the toast “to when we meet again”. By this stage one can imagine a somewhat maudlin atmosphere setting in. They must have guessed that in fact most of them probably wouldn’t meet again after they dispersed and demobbed. The “sometime, somewhere, somehow” seems to acknowledge this. Yet they must have all have wondered what the future would hold.
And finally, the heartfelt toast to the fallen. 42 Squadron had its share. Two early deaths during Greg’s time were recorded in his diary on 24 June 1918:
On this subject, it seems odd that young 2/Lt Gregory was at the top of the list of lieutenants on the last page. Even allowing for the fact that the pilots (from Greg down to McDermont) are listed before the observers (Scarterfield to Lynch), it’s still less than seven months since Greg was the new boy of the flight in June. Let’s hope there were other reasons for the more senior lieutenant pilots to be no longerwith B flight.
Signatures
The signatures below the toasts are (I think):
Billy Ledlie
George A. Lynch
A.Y. Paton
R. Scarterfield
Jack E. Elliott
Wally (presumably Lt Wallington)
J. McDermont
C.F. Gordon
Not everyone signed (too much the worse for wear, maybe?), but enough did to enhance a memorable souvenir of the occasion.
2/Lt Arthur Young Paton D.C.M.
Arthur Young Paton was born on 9 May 1894, in Glencourse, Midlothian, Scotland, He died on 5 March 1965 in Irvine, Ayrshire, at the age of 70.
Prior to joining the Royal Air Force on 12 July 1918 and being trained as an observer with 42 Sqn, he was a Colour Sergeant Major in the Highland Light Infantry. During his army service he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal the citation of which follows.
5th Sept 1915 1380 Sergeant A.Y. Paton, 1/6th (City of Glasgow) Bn., High. L.I. (T.F.) (LG 15 Sept. 1915).
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on July 12th, 1915, on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Although wounded in the shoulder he brought back a message for ammunition from his Commander, and after assisting to carry it back, he remained at his duty all day. On 13th July he led out a party under fire and brought in a wounded Officer and another who had been killed.
Many thanks to Stuart Paton for this information about his great uncle.
42 Squadron RAF only arrived at Ascq Aerodrome on 22 October 1918, and would be leaving in three days time. Among Greg’s collection are two photographs of him and a few fellow officers, taken on the airfield, with some still identifiable houses behind them. Meanwhile, the everyday business of B Flight – reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols and a shoot – continues. As it turned out, these would be the last counter-battery patrol and the last shoot flown by the flight in the war. Greg did not fly today.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 8.11.1918:-
2707 10.00 12.30 Lt Judd Lt Elliott RECON & CBP
4889 when fit Lt Bon Capt Gordon SHOOT
Lt Sewell Lt Whittles NEXT JOB
Lt Wallington Lt Bett - do –
E27 will be ready to leave the ground at 630.
Wm. Ledlie, Capt.
Ascq Aerodrome
The Anciens Aerodromes website pinpoints the site of Ascq aerodrome as being just south of the junction of the Rue des Fusilés and the Rue de la Tradition/Rue Gaston Baratte. The road junction is itself only a few hundred yards/metres southwest of the centre ville of Ascq itself, as can be seen on this embedded Google map:
Today, the site of the airfield is mostly an industrial estate, with a bit of scrubland and some allotment land – with what looks like an asparagus bed on the right! –
The site of Ascq aerodrome, June 2018. Looking south from the Rue de la Tradition towards the marker in the Google map, above. Click for larger image.
Photos with the Rue des Fusilés in the Background
Here are the two photographs of Greg and others. They are taken with buildings on the Rue des Fusilés being visible behind them.
The first:
Greg (second from left, front row) and others on the airfield at Ascq. Third from left in the front row is probably Capt. Bill Ledlie. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
The houses on the left of the group are still there, on the Rue des Fusilés, although somewhat altered and built around:
Houses on the Rue des Fusilés in June 2018. The cream house on the left and the red-roofed building, since refashioned but recognisable by its chimneys, were there in 1918. Click for larger image
And the second, probably taken on the same occasion:
Greg (on the right in the back row) and others on the airfield at Ascq. Seated in the middle in the in the front row is Capt. Bill Ledlie. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
Note the house with the patterned roof, visible between the observer standing on the left and other other five. It is still quite conspicuous on the Rue des Fusilés:
House with pattered roof on the Rue des Fusilés in June 2018. Click for larger image
Although Greg was not flying again today, it was business as usual for B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF at Ascq. Reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols and shoots were in today’s daily orders. An apparent dual role for Lt Sewell is resolved.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 7.11.1918
2517 6.0 830 Lt Wallington Lt Bett Recon & CBP
4889 1200 1430 Lt Bon Capt Gordon – do –
6740 Lt Sewell Lt Sewell Shoot
2707 Lt Judd Lt Whittles do
E27 Capt Ledlie Lt Paton do
Lt Mulholland
Pilots and observers who have not passed all tests will please arrange to do so tomorrow.
The early machine will send down a weather report at 6.45 so that, if fit, the people on shoots can get into the air without any loss of time.
W. Ledlie, Capt.
There are obviously a couple of mistakes here. I have corrected Capt. Ledlie’s implication that he himself was still a lieutenant. But then there is Lt. Sewell’s designation as both pilot and observer in 6740! Judging from other entries in the B Flight Orders, he was in fact a pilot. And he often flew with Lt Whittles as observer. So probably Lt Sewell’s name should just be deleted from the observer’s column, and those named beneath him shunted up.
Lt Denis Charles Sewell
Lt Denis Charles Sewell was born on 31 October 1898. Prior to being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 42 Sqn, he was in the Honourable Artillery Company.
‘Tests’
The nature of the ‘tests’ that both pilots and observers must pass is not explained.
It was another non-flying day for Greg, but today we can see why. For the last few days of the war, we have copies of the daily orders for B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF. And today’s entry shows that Greg was the first reserve pilot on the list for any job that fell due after the already scheduled reconnaissance flights and shoots. As it turned out, he stayed on the ground.
B Flight Orders
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 6.11.1918
2707 0800.1030 Lt Sewell Lt Whittles RECON.
6740 1400.DUSK Lt Judd Lt Elliott - do –
E27 Capt. Ledlie Lt Mulholland SHOOT
4889 Lt Bon Capt. Gordon - do –
Lt Wallington Lt. Bett - do –
Lt Gregory
Wm. Ledlie, Capt
Presumably other flights from the squadron will have fielded aircraft for further reconnaissance patrols and other jobs during the day.
The flight’s daily orders, and presumably those for the other flights, were nothing very grand. They were hand written and signed by the Officer Commanding the flight or his deputy. What we see above is evidently a carbon copy of the orders in Army Book 152, a correspondence book for field service. Probably a notice board or somewhere equally prominent displayed the original for all concerned to see.
On one of the first few days of November 1918, when other duties didn’t interfere, B Flight of 42 Squadron had a group photograph taken. If it wasn’t taken on this day, then for various reasons it can’t have been more then four days earlier or five days later.
B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection.
Faces of B Flight
Some of the faces are recognisable, but many are not. Of those that are:
Lt. John Macmillan is second from the left of the front row. (Thanks to Douglas Macmillan, John Macmillan’s grandson, for identifying him.) More on Lt. Macmillan here:
Next to Capt. Gordon is Lt Edward Ives (fourth from right), who had evidently returned to the squadron after his posting to the home establishment on 28 June 1918. Thanks to Julian and Les Ives for confirming their grandfather’s identity. More about Lt Ives here:
Today’s photograph looks like a more or less complete grouping of the officers and men of B Flight, 42 Squadron. The photos taken at Rely and recorded in the post for 25 August 1918 were apparently just of the officers of the flight:
Two attempts at photography today. The first, in cloudy conditions in the morning, was unsuccessful. The second was a success, with at least 20 plates exposed of the River Scheldt, north of Tournai. But success was accompanied by a narrow escape, as shrapnel from anti-aircraft fire split the propeller of RE8 2517. Fortunately, Greg and his observer Lt John Macmillan were able to return safely to the aerodrome at Ascq.
Log Book
Date: 26.10.18
Time Out: 9.45
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 178 hrs 05 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: McMillan [sic, should be Macmillan]
War Flying: 0 hrs 50 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Photos – too cloudy.
Date: 26.10.18
Time Out: 12.20
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 178 hrs 45 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: McMillan [sic, should be Macmillan]
War Flying: 0 hrs 40 mins
Height: 3500
Course/Remarks: Photos – 20 plates.
Although the log book gives little in the way of detail, there is more in the Squadron Record Book:
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt McMillan [sic, should be Macmillan]
Duty: Photography
Hour of Start: 0945, 1220
Hour of Return: 1035, 1300
Remarks: 1240. 12 24 plates exposed over I.A. & I.C. zones from 3500’.
A.A. [Anti-aircraft fire] Accurate, apparently at long range. (Propellor split by shrapnel.)
E.A. [Enemy aircraft] Nil.
Vis.Good.Clouds 3700’. Height 3500’. Obs.by P.&.O.
IA and IC Zones
Zones IA and IC together form the left hand (west) side of square I on map sheet 37. They cover the River Scheldt a few miles north of Tournai. Pont-à-Chin, the scene of yesterday’s patrol, is at the bottom of zone IC, and Pecq is at the top of zone IA:
Map showing zones photographed on 26 October 1918, north of Tournai. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
Propeller Split
Shrapnel from anti-aircraft fire (‘archie’) hit the propeller of the aircraft and split it. The RE8’s propeller was of laminated hardwood construction, which probably limited the damage to a split. The laminations can be seen in this photograph of the RAF Museum’s replica RE8 built by The Vintage Aviator Limited of New Zealand:
Propeller and engine detail of the replica RE8 A3930 at the RAF Museum, Hendon. Click or tap to see full size image.
In the event, the damage wasn’t so severe as to prevent the aircraft being flown back to Ascq. Nonetheless, it was certainly a case of: Archibald, certainly hot – as the song almost had it!
Greg’s observer today was Lt John Gibb Brown Macmillan. Both Greg’s log book and the Squadron Record book spell his name as McMillan. But when Lt Macmillan signed his name on the front of the menu of the Farewell Dinner to mark the squadron’s departure from Rely on 10 October 1918, he unmistakably wrote ‘Macmillan’. See the post containing the menu here (Macmillan’s signature is above the girl’s cap):
John Macmillan was born on 19 October 1898, and so had celebrated his 20th birthday exactly one week ago. Greg’s diary says nothing about him. But the list of RFC/RAF people at airhistory.org.uk notes that on 29 June 1918 he suffered a forced landing with Lt Bill Ledlie at Créquy in RE8 C2478:
Ok [C2478 RE8] f/l Crequy due thick fog on artly patrol. Lt W Ledlie Ok/2Lt JGB Macmillan Ok
42 Squadron were operating out of Rely at the time, and Créquy is some 15 miles (24 km) southwest from Rely, towards the coast. The nearest point of the front line was 11 miles (18 km) in precisely the opposite direction. So presumably they had (seriously) overshot Rely in the fog on the way home.
The two flights today were to be the only ones in which Greg and Lt Macmillan flew together.
Next up…
The next entry in Greg’s log book is for Tuesday 29 October 1918.
No flying for Greg today. As he wasn’t keeping up his diary any longer, we don’t know the reason. But we can take the opportunity of an off-day to look a little more at Bill Ledlie.
Captain William Ledlie RAF
Bill Ledlie was the Commanding Officer of B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF. In the post for 25 August 1918, a couple of days ago, he was to be seen sitting (in shorts!) front-and-centre of the group photographs of the B Flight officers.
Ledlie was an Ulsterman, born on 16 April 1894 according to the IWM’s Lives of the Great War, who attended Banbridge Academy. Banbridge is a town in County Down that grew wealthy on the linen industry. It is on the A1 between Lisburn and Belfast to the north, and Newry and Dublin to the south.
Ledlie was some five years older than Greg, and was his commanding officer. But the two became friendly, as evidenced by the several photographs of Ledlie in Greg’s collection.
Capt. Bill Ledlie, CO B Flight, 42 Sqn RAF, standing in front of an RE8 bearing (appropriately enough) the squadron marking B1 “somewhere in France”. Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.Capt. Bill Ledlie, “somewhere in France”. Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.Capt. Bill Ledlie, “somewhere in France”. Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.
After the War
Ledlie and Greg had apparently made some tentative plans for after the war. They would go into business together, drawing on their aviation skills, but nothing ever came of it.
Although Ledlie survived the Great War, he died during the Second World War on 23 October 1940 when co-piloting the sole example of a de Havilland DH.95 Hertfordshire, no. R2510. The Hertfordshire was the military transport variant of the de Havilland DH.95 Flamingo. The IWM has a photograph of this aircraft here.
The aircraft took off on a sortie to Belfast and was carrying a crew of five and six passengers. Shortly after taking off the aircraft crashed into some houses at Woodlands Way [sic, should be ‘Woodland Way’], Mill Hill, London and all those on board were killed. The aircraft was the sole Hertfordshire in use with the RAF and it was a military version of the Flamingo aircraft. No Accident card was found for this aircraft nor could any reference to the outcome of the Board of Enquiry be located. AVM Blount was AOC 22 Group at the time of his death and was on a scheduled flight to Belfast to discuss joint training exercises with the GOC Northern Ireland.
Wikipedia records that the cause of the crash was jamming of the elevator.
Woodland Way is a short residential road just over a mile (about 2 km) north of what was then RAF Hendon (now the site of the RAF Museum) by Mill Hill Broadway Railway Station and backing on to the M1 motorway:
No flying for Greg today, for unrecorded reasons. So we take a look at some photos of the officers of B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF.
42 Squadron, B Flight Photographs
It would have been sometime around now when the following photographs of some of Greg’s fellow officers were taken. The location is almost certainly in front of the flight’s hut on the aerodrome at Rely. Greg isn’t in either of them, so he may have been the photographer.
Officers of 42 Squadron RAF, probably B flight, almost certainly taken in front of the flight’s hut at Rely aerodrome, Summer 1918. Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War CollectionAnother group photo of officers of 42 Squadron RAF, probably B flight, almost certainly taken in front of the flight’s hut at Rely aerodrome, Summer 1918. Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection
In both of the above photos, the person in shorts in the middle of the front row is Captain William (‘Bill’) Ledlie, who was the commanding officer of the flight. More on him another time. And sitting on the sandbags at the end of the second row on the right, in both photos, is Lt Edward Ives – thanks to his grandsons Julian and Les for the identification. More about Lt Ives here:
