In the Company of Friends

They still come for me late at night, when the glass is nearly empty and I am alone in the dark with only my thoughts to keep me company. Their boisterous invitation to a smoky pub is irresistible and we pile into the back of a lorry for the trip to the nearest village. It is a retreat to another time, before the date of my birth, when young men laughed too loudly, drank too much to shake off the tension in their necks and shoulders while singing raucous, sometimes naughty songs. Local folk looked on, then quietly, sadly, looked away from faces that may not be back again. After closing time there was always a ten cent nightcap on the base to keep the chill of war away. A blessed sleep in the Nissen hut and the the next morning we set out again, to do nothing less than save the world.

"Home Run" by Robert Taylor

Peter Townsend, Don Blakeslee, Bud Mahurin, Bob Stanford Tuck, Bob Doe, Geoffrey Page, Tony Bartley and many, many more ... My friends are in books, some they wrote and some written about them, and they have been with me for over 60 years.

"Canadian Wing" by Robert Taylor

Johnnie Johnson leads over the Normandy beaches 6/6/44

The first book I bought with my own money was "Wing Leader", by Group Captain Johnnie Johnson, Royal Canadian Air Force (1915-2001). The county circulated a pamphlet as part of a reading program for seventh graders and we could pick a book from a selected list as our reading project for school. I don't remember the 'required' book I selected, but I do remember that we had an option to buy an additional book of our own choosing. It cost 50 cents and I talked my way into a job, of sorts, to earn the money from my mother. I still have it, next to tatters, but I pull it out every few years and re-read it, still much in awe of those wonderful fighter pilots who operated from bases in England during World War II.

"Bader's Bus Company" by Robert Taylor

Beautifully framed by Virginia Bader Fine Art Studio

"Reach for the Sky", Paul Brickhill's 1956 story of the legless legend, Douglas Bader (1910-1982), became an inspiration for countless amputees through the years and was the first book I checked out of the local library. It was Bader's indomitable spirit, first as a pilot, then later, as a POW, that fueled my own independent streak from an early age.

My most recent find is "Tumult in the Clouds" by James A. Goodson. "Goody", who died recently (May 2014) at 93, survived a torpedo attack that sank the ship evacuating him from England to become one of the leading RCAF/RAF/USAAF Aces in the European theatre; he was quite a character. The story of his crash landing behind enemy lines and how he managed to talk his way out of a summary execution by teaching an enemy officer to blow cigar smoke rings is a classic.

My old friends keep bringing new friends into the squadron and I enjoy their company as well . . . there are a lot of books and even more stories but, alas, the men are fading fast. Most, in fact, are already gone but thanks to resources like YouTube and others, we can see their faces, hear their words in their own voices and, of course, read their books. 

The artwork and books that surround me in my home library keep my old friends close, ready for a reunion visit whenever the luxury of time allows. They are always welcome.