neverforget Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 I was just thinking the same thing, plus the star shaped thingy whatever that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 1 minute ago, Knotty said: Looks like he took all podium spots, Gold,Silver and Bronze😀 I'll try and get this right 4 Silver, 3 bronze 5 war merit crosses, Gold medal for Civic Valour and a Belgian Croix de Guerre He wouuld have needed a reinforced tunic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 Another clue for our brave Italian. An MP who has never been mentioned on WIT but has a couple of mentions on GWF. A future cabinet minister and apparently the oldest flight crew in WW2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 (edited) Going back to the VC and politician he was with, I’m pretty sure they were these two pilots, William Barker VC and Viscount Stansgate, if they are then I have definitely identified your man. His initials AT, didn’t realise he was the first ever,you associate more with French Resistance WW2 Edited 29 January , 2023 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 1 minute ago, Knotty said: Going back to the VC and politician he was with, I’m pretty sure they were these two pilots, William Barker VC and Viscount Stansgate, if they are then I have definitely identified your man. Good man both are correct and so the Italian is......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 (edited) If you insist Alessandro Tandura The first recorded parachute drop of a military personnel to carry out espionage/attack on the enemy. Looking for a suitable reference to the operation, this taken from wiki under Paratrooper The first operational military parachute jump from 1600 feet was logged in the night of August 8/9 1918 by Italian assault troops. Arditi Lieutenant Alessandro Tandura jumped from a Savoia-Pomilio SP.4 aircraft of the Gruppo speciale Aviazione I piloted by Canadian Major William George Barker and British Captain William Wedgwood Benn (both Royal Air Force pilots), when Tandura dropped behind Austro-Hungarian lines near Vittorio Veneto on a reconnaissance and sabotage mission Edited 29 January , 2023 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Knotty said: Alessandro Tandura It is indeed and quite a tale it is. Stansgate who was then known as William Wedgewood Benn father of Tony Benn and Grandfather to Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, was approached by the Italians to get a spy, Tandura, into Austrian held territory. Benn wasasked because he had experience of flying at night and approached Barker, his friend to come along with him. The Italians wanted to parachute their man into enemy territory and devised this 'Heath-Robinson' apperatus into a rickety bomber. The plane had a hole cut into the rear of the fuselage and Tandura sat on a trap door. When the plane reached its destination Benn pulled a lever and the trap door opened and Tandura fell out. He was attached to a device under the plane that held the parachute which then opened. Tandura had no ide when this was to happen and was told not to hold onto the side of the craft. The drop which is apparently the first ever into enemy territory made him the first person parachuted into action. Benn who seems to have enjoyed his was chucking bombs at Turks, Austrians and Germans wrote his war experiences in a book published in 1919 called In The Side Shows which can be read here https://archive.org/details/insideshows01stangoog/page/n334/mode/2up Tandura's subsequent exploits are well recorded on the internet but you will need Google translate unless you can read Italian The plane and its contraption is shown in this diagram Edited 29 January , 2023 by ilkley remembers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, ilkley remembers said: but you will need Google translate unless you can read Italian That’s what I’ve been doing but trying to copy and paste was a bit of a challenge so looking for an English reference,glad you have something from the Wayback side of things😀 Edited 29 January , 2023 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 4 minutes ago, Knotty said: That’s what I’ve been doing but trying to copy and paste was a bit of a challenge so looking for an English reference There are few Italian sites that describe his exploits here one of the several that I used https://www.guerra-allorizzonte.it/Agenti/alessandro-tandura.html The Benn book does go into some detail about the incident Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 37 minutes ago, ilkley remembers said: It is indeed and quite a tale it is. Stansgate who was then known as William Wedgewood Benn father of Tony Benn and Grandfather to Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, was approached by the Italians to get a spy, Tandura, into Austrian held territory. Benn wasasked because he had experience of flying at night and approached Barker, his friend to come along with him. The Italians wanted to parachute their man into enemy territory and devised this 'Heath-Robinson' apperatus into a rickety bomber. The plane had a hole cut into the rear of the fuselage and Tandura sat on a trap door. When the plane reached its destination Benn pulled a lever and the trap door opened and Tandura fell out. He was attached to a device under the plane that held the parachute which then opened. Tandura had no ide when this was to happen and was told not to hold onto the side of the craft. The drop which is apparently the first ever into enemy territory made him the first person parachuted into action. Benn who seems to have enjoyed his was chucking bombs at Turks, Austrians and Germans wrote his war experiences in a book published in 1919 called In The Side Shows which can be read here https://archive.org/details/insideshows01stangoog/page/n334/mode/2up Tandura's subsequent exploits are well recorded on the internet but you will need Google translate unless you can read Italian The plane and its contraption is shown in this diagram What a marvellous WiT this has been. It shows that this old thread still has life and momentum even after all these years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 54 minutes ago, Uncle George said: What a marvellous WiT this has been. It shows that this old thread still has life and momentum even after all these years. The great thing about WIT is that it is not only informative but good fun. I'm always amazed at the knowledge of forum members Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 (edited) Who’s this then ? ? ? We haven’t had the pleasure of her yet: EDIT: image from https://www.facebook.com/hyldabakerGB Edited 30 January , 2023 by Uncle George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 7 minutes ago, Uncle George said: We haven’t had the pleasure of her yet: Ooh Matron😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 1 hour ago, Knotty said: Ooh Matron😁 You big girl’s blouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 Was this young lady a spy? I will take a guess and suggest Marthe Cnockaert/McKenna nurse, spy and best selling novelist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 4 minutes ago, ilkley remembers said: Was this young lady a spy? I will take a guess and suggest Marthe Cnockaert/McKenna nurse, spy and best selling novelist No - you’re way off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Uncle George said: No - you’re way off. Curses Edited 30 January , 2023 by ilkley remembers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, ilkley remembers said: Curses OK then - here’s another photo of her. You will see that her autograph has been redacted. Which is a clue, I suppose - the third or fourth so far. EDIT: image from regisautographs.com Edited 30 January , 2023 by Uncle George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 Was she a very young music hall artist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 3 minutes ago, Knotty said: Was she a very young music hall artist? Yes she was. And I can say that without fear of contraception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 That could only be the one and only Hylda Baker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Knotty said: That could only be the one and only Hylda Baker Yes indeed. The great Hylda Baker. “You haven’t had the pleasure of me yet” and “You big girl’s blouse” were catch-phrases of hers. Her music hall career started in 1915. Extraordinary, it seems to me, that she entertained Tommies in 1915, and I saw her perform a ‘Grease’ parody on ‘Top of the Pops’. EDIT: image from https://www.facebook.com/hyldabakerGB Edited 30 January , 2023 by Uncle George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 3 minutes ago, Uncle George said: Extraordinary, it seems to me, that she entertained Tommies in 1915 Barely 10 years old when on stage from what I have gathered, I picked up on the “big girls blouse”, that’s why I queried wether she did the music halls, as I thought she would have been very young to have been performing. Grease with Arthur Mullard, former Sgt Maj RA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 Another we seem to have missed thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 1 hour ago, neverforget said: Another we seem to have missed thus far. Is this not Vernon Kell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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