The talk went ahead as planned – almost. I turned up at the venue in Elgin library to be told that due to an exhibition the venue was now in the Town hall. On the way out I met the talks coordinator, who also was unaware of the change! Anyway, the talk went ahead to about 20 listeners and several questions were asked at the end of the talk. I had hoped to sell some copies of my book ‘Dinghy Drop’ on which the talk was based, but in the event only sold one copy of another of my books ‘Training for Triumph’. All went well enough though for me to be invited back to give another talk about No 72 Squadron in the Cold War 1947-61. This will be on a date in October 2011.
Don’t you just hate it when something you should have spotted a long time ago comes back and bites you in the bum? Whilst doing some research for an article about a mid air collision between a Meteor and a Thunderstreak I was reading an appendix in my book Swift to Battle Vol.3 and some photos included in the book when I noticed that the serial number I had used in the photo captions did not match the data in the appendix! There were two Meteors listed, two lines apart, and both with the code ‘O’ but different serial numbers. I had picked the wrong one! I proof read it, the proof reader proof read it, I proof read it twice more then it was published. Two years later I spot the error – doh! Ah well, better late than never eh?
I am booked to give a talk to the Highland Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society in Elgin on 9th Feb 11. The venue is to be confirmed but will either be Elgin Town Hall or Elgin Library. I will update this when it is confirmed. The talk is on the Air Sea rescue operations of No 279 Squadron during WW2 and is based on my book ‘Dinghy Drop’. Come along if you are in town!
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