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Members Hybrid Meeting – The In Laws at War
September 24 @ 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM BST
The In Laws at War by Peter Rudd
Joe Browne was an 18 year old miner at Thyrbergh and rushed off to Rotherham to join the war in 1914. His enthusiasm was “rewarded” with a 1915 visit to Suvla Bay, Gallipolli with the 6th Yorks and Lancs, after a rest in Egypt he was thrown into the Battle of the Somme 1916 and suffered serious shrapnel injuries that curtailed his war!
Joe saw an advert that he thought would keep Basil out of harms way in WW2. So, Basil joined the RAF at Doncaster as a MET AIR OBSERVER. Basil, aged just 18, crashed on Dartmoor on Christmas Day 1943 and miraculously survived after being thrown from the aircraft, a USAAF B-17.
The Talk discusses the Weather War fought by the Germans and British and the role of the MET AIR OBESERVER.
Margate, Kent played a role in that war and gets a brief mention. Basil had no idea where exactly he had crashed, apart from Dartmoor, until a chance encounter between a Rotherham couple and a Devon garage owner in 1985. This sparked a hunt in Rotherham for the DEAD AIRMAN’S FAMILY!
The Talk describes how the full story of the crash slowly emerged and the consequences the crash had for the American Crew and their families. It’s a fascinating tale that has been partly reproduced in several publications BUT I bet your audience will not know it.
This meeting will be a hybrid meeting where members can join either in the room or on Zoom and joining instructions will be emailed 48 hours before the event.
Registration for this events will open 2 weeks before.