frankbarnard.com

It’s good to hear from a satisfied reader and always something of a surprise when it’s from someone on the other side of the world, small though the world is these days.
A few days ago an e.mail came through from an ex-Australian Army Blackhawk pilot named Richard (no surname as he was once involved with the SAS) saying he’d enjoyed Blue Man Falling and Band Of Eagles. ‘I can certainly relate to the characters,’ he told me, ‘especially Ossie Wolf who is oh-so-familiar. I came across several types like him over the years, mostly Yank fighter jocks who were seven-feet tall and bulletproof, and as soon as they got into combat went to pieces.’ I think Ossie would take issue with that, in his inimitable way, so perhaps it’s just as well he’s a fictional character.
Anyway, Richard went on to say that his interest in World War Two fighters was in the blood because his uncle was the Kiwi ace Al Deere, a flight commander with 54 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, who retired from the service as an Air Commodore in 1967. Richard also reported a visit to the set of the new Dambusters film on location in Masterton NZ, ‘where they’ve built a full-size replica of a Lancaster, amazing really, and I met the last surviving Kiwi who took part in the Raid as a pilot. Now there’s a real hero.’
It’s a relief to hear that history isn’t being re-written to claim the Raid was made by B17 Flying Fortresses piloted by seven-foot tall, bullet-proof Yank fighter jocks…