Extra Episode - SEX, SPIES & LIES My father’s suspicions about the aircraft crash that killed the grandfather of award-winning historical author Jessie Childs, echoed her family history. She contacted me to discuss the remarkable career of international diplomat Stephen Childs, who died on the fateful flight out of Iran on January 18th, 1943 and featured in Episode 1 of ‘Blighty Thank God’. She also shared an official file on the crash that spotlighted the tangled affairs of another passe...
Oct 23, 2024
21 min
After a relatively peaceful war, the Italian port of Bari suffered a terrible bombing raid in December, 1943 that led to a poison gas release killing many in mysterious circumstances that the Allies tried to cover up. My father’s diary describes the aftermath and the dangers of visiting the local 'vino shop' for a drink in the lead up to Christmas, 1943 and the New Year. Diary entries read by grandson Nick. Additional voice: Lynda Proffitt Episode photo: Civilians caught up in the Bari bom...
Sep 9, 2023
18 min
The ‘Blighty Thank God’ podcast and website could not have been produced without expert help from webman Geoff Paddock of GP Media and podcast producer Sam Pauly of SummitUp. Sam interviews me - Neil Chapman - about the podcast and web resources based on my late father’s diary for 1943 and how finding the 'lost' diary turned into a 6-year research project. Immeasurable thanks to Crockford Management for permission to use a rendition of ‘The Last Post’ played by Mark Knopfler - dedicated to th...
Sep 9, 2023
20 min
The revelation, after he died, that my father was involved in secret missions to drop supplies to civilian resistance fighters during the war came as a surprise to our family. It took many decades to finally unravel the full story behind what he did, the risks he took and the full extent of 267 Squadron’s secret operations that played a role in thwarting Hitler’s vengeance weapons. Diary entries read by grandson Nick. Additional voice: Chris Hogg. Episode photo: A 267 Squadron Douglas Dakota...
Sep 8, 2023
15 min
Few vaccines were available to protect Allied troops sent overseas during WW2. After West Africa, where he likely caught malaria, my father was posted to the Middle East where he encountered lice-borne typhus and then rabies, just two of a long list of deadly diseases in the region. Eminent virologist Professor Geoffrey Smith helped me understand what protection - or lack of it - was available to those serving at the time. Diary entries read by grandson Phil. Episode photo: A roadside sign ...
Sep 8, 2023
14 min
My father mentioned a plane crash that killed 2 of his colleagues - the first of two fatal crashes within two weeks of each other that left 33 airmen dead. I discovered that the two Hudson planes that crashed at Khartoum, Sudan in June, 1943, were part of a new service operated by civilian airline British Overseas Air Corporation for the RAF. Were the crashes horrible coincidences or was something else at play? Diary entries read by granddaughter Caitlin. 'The Fair Maid of Barra'...
Sep 8, 2023
13 min
Researching 2 Bisley aircraft that my father helped recover after both force landed (Listen to ‘A New Goolie Chit’ episode), I discovered numerous other, similar incidents, some with fatal consequences. I also discovered how much pilots despised the aircraft, dubbing it the ‘Grisly Bisley’. Shockingly the plane’s failings were well known to senior RAF leaders and while the Middle East was somewhat of a backwater, risks it posed for pilots had to be weighed against keeping vital supply lines m...
Sep 8, 2023
18 min
In Baghdad’s sweltering heat of the summer of 1943, my father helped run the city’s airport for the RAF - managing the arrival and departure of VIPs. Two he mentions were playwright/singer Noel Coward and Lord Louis Mountbatten. Not everything went smoothly with their visits. Guest interviewee, author and professor Sky Gilbert, talks about Noel Coward in 1943. Grateful thanks to the Noel Coward Foundation and Noel Coward Archive to be able to use an extract from his tour diary. ...
Sep 8, 2023
17 min
Flt Sgt Jimmy Eden was a friend of my father’s, killed outright doing the same job as him - ferrying fighter planes to the North African front. A nine-word entry in his diary on the anniversary of Jimmy’s death set me on a journey to discover what happened to him and to meet the daughter who never knew her father. Diary entries read by granddaughter Bethan. Many thanks to Maureen and her family for sharing information about Flt Sgt. Eden. Also grateful thanks to Rachel Bostock - @rachelbosto...
Sep 8, 2023
17 min
A ‘gold racket’ my father casually mentions in his diary wasn’t the only surprise on the Takoradi Route, along which he was a ferry pilot moving planes between West and North Africa 1941-42. Leo the Lion was also a surprise awaiting first time visitors to the remote airfield of El Fasher in Sudan. My father also faced a court martial -as an escort helping two friends out who found themselves in trouble. Diary entries read by granddaughter Claire. Additional voices: Chris Proffitt, Geoff Pad...
Sep 8, 2023
15 min
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