COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

CHAPTER FIFTEEN FULL CIRCLE
at the suggestion of Ken Rimell, a professional photographer, who
looked after the publicity in his spare time.
After that there was no holding Ken. Thanks to his enthusiasm,
and that of his fellow aviation archaeologists, we had an Association
in being and a full blown reunion at Tangmere the following summer.
Great to meet old comrades again, but the two squadrons with
which I had served were thin on the ground, and it was kind of 197 to
make me an honorary member. That arrangement resulted in a very
pleasant trip to Normandy in their company, and a first encounter
with Allan Smith 43 years after he had been shot down and taken
prisoner.
At these annual reunions Pinkie Stark and I always face the hazard
of being invited back to Ben Gunn's place in Worthing. For our old
friend's appetite for Scotch is as strong as ever. Ben flew Tempests Vs
with 274 Squadron, and Spitfire IXs with 501, but there is no doubt
where his loyalties lie.
On the evening of the Spitfire's 50th Anniversary a large party had
gathered in the bar of the RAF Club. At the height of the celebrations
the door opened briefly - a voice bellowed "Ben Gunn says the
Tempest is a better aircraft than the Spitfire ever was!" - and the door
closed again.
The scene shifts to a residential area in Worthing on Sea. In the wee
small hours there came a thunderous knocking on the door. The
occupants stumbled cursing out of bed to find an envelope in the letter
box addressed to A.E.Gunn Esq. Inside, on a single sheet of paper,
written large, was the word "Bollocks!"
One September day, on my second wave flight at Portmoak, I went
straight to 20,000 ft plus over Bishop Hill. My long awaited third
diamond was the easiest thing in the world. At the top of the climb the
whole of central Scotland, westwards to the Argyll coast, was visible
between the stratocumulus bars. There were three of us that morning,
above 20,000 ft, with an aggregate age of over 180 years. Geof f Morris
in another Kestrel was not far away. I called him on the radio:
"Zero two, this is Kan Kan. 1 haven't been as high as this for ages.
You are at 11 O'clock, 1,000 ft below."
"Kan Kan - I do not have you in sight. A good thing you aren't
hostile with 20 mm cannon!"
Geoff, who had flown Spitfires with Fighter Command, was shot
down over France and evaded successfully. In the closing stages of the
war he was back on a squadron, flying Mustang IVs. Once, when we
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