shaymen Posted 21 October , 2007 Share Posted 21 October , 2007 Hi all Just nipped into the war in the air forum to ask all you RFC experts to tell me all you know about Captain Basil Radford aka Gilbert the Filbert. I have had a search on forum and can't find anything...might be my search techniques though. My reason for asking is I have just been given a transcribed personal diary written by an old soldier (Artillery signalmen) from my village and he quotes "I saw Cpt Basil Radford (Gilbert the Filbert) fall from balloon" Its a very interesting diary and names those around who were killed or wounded. Hope to maybe add more with his grandaughters permission, but for now its going in my book and I would like to add a few annotations to it. Name: RADFORD, BASIL HALLAM Initials: B H Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Captain Regiment/Service: Royal Flying Corps Unit Text: No.1 Army Kite Ballon Sec. Age: 28 Date of Death: 20/08/1916 Additional information: Son of Walter T. H. and A. L. M. Radford, of 206, Cromwell Rd., South Kensington, London. Actor, known to theatre goers as 'Basil Hallam' or 'Gilbert the Filbert.' Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: II. C. 15. Cemetery: COUIN BRITISH CEMETERY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 21 October , 2007 Share Posted 21 October , 2007 Times Obituary 24-8-1916 Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 21 October , 2007 Share Posted 21 October , 2007 Read all about him here: http://tinyurl.com/3cc55c TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaymen Posted 21 October , 2007 Author Share Posted 21 October , 2007 Steve / Terry Thanks chaps, excellent stuff. Appreciated Glyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 22 October , 2007 Share Posted 22 October , 2007 I have a photo of him, if you need one for your book. His death is recounted in Gliddon's book on the Somme. I can't remember if it was that or another book which quotes a letter home from a fellow officer who witnessed Basil's death, describing his body as "dreadfully foreshortened". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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