Hi,
Yesterday I found an old news paper cutting that a customer had given me many, many years ago; it is only just about readable.
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I emailed my brother and my cousin with a copy and my cousin came back with a copy of the original photograph which must have been bought from the Daily Express.
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I remember speaking to my uncle about the photograph, he told me that a news agency came and photographed groups of personnel of the squadron; the photographs were then sent to their local news papers at home. He said look at the various uniforms being worn, it was close to the end of the war he and others had done two tours of duty in the Far East and he didn't think anyone in the squadron had a complete uniform that hadn't rotted!
My uncle is the tall fair haired guy on the right.
Then my brother came back with a cutting from the Arizona Gazette of 8th. November 1941. My uncle was one of those that went to America as a so called civilian to learn to fly. He said it was something to do with having the surname Bird.
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Apparently being a blue eyed 6 foot 2 inch individual with a cute accent he went down quite well with the local young ladies. Especially when he showed them a photograph of where he was born and lived most of his life up until then; it looked much the same when I was a child there in the late 40's and early 50's.
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I am sure he told them that his parents worked there for most of their lives as a chauffeur/gardener and cook and lived in one of the lodges on the estate!
My brother also came up with this cartoon.
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Tom took after his father also named Tom who was tall and fair, my father and their sister took after Emily their mother who was dark and 4 foot 11 inches tall, though they were a little taller and dark.
Regards Tony.
Amazing how things like this gain in importance as the years fly by. Interesting, no doubt, when you first got all of this, but truly fascinating now.
There are sooooooo many relatives that I wish I could go back and talk to now, with what I now know!
Tony, that was a very interesting read.
One item stood out for me...the reference to flight training out of Falcon Field in Phoenix, Arizona. That airport is still there!!! 3 years ago my son started working at Falcon as a flight instructor and he works there to this day. He lives in Mesa, Arizona just east of Phoenix.
I will be making an annual visit to see him next month...warm enough for shirt sleeves, but not the scorching temps of July.
Rog
Very cool piece of history!
Rog- should ypibget a minute while you are there checkout the cliff dwellings scattered around the area. Spooky, haunted places if you ask me. Same with some of the ghost towns around there.
Very cool piece of history!
Rog- should ypibget a minute while you are there checkout the cliff dwellings scattered around the area. Spooky, haunted places if you ask me. Same with some of the ghost towns around there.
Will do doc... will be there for a few days and I'm up for exploring.
Rog
Nice re-connection to family history!
That is a nice bit of history Tony!