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Posted on 09/05/2010 9:14:41 AM PDT by jakerobins
A LEGENDARY Spitfire pilot said to have had a fling with World War II pin-up Betty Grable has died aged 90.
Fling ... Betty Wing Commander John Connell Freeborn is believed to have flown more hours fighting the Germans than any other pilot during the Battle of Britain.
He was so famous he was sent to the US to train fighter pilots in 1941 - where he met the film star
(Excerpt) Read more at thesun.co.uk ...
Oh, I say...well done, old man!
In two weeks I’ll be watching Spitfires and Hurricanes playing over West Sussex. I will think about Wing Commander Freeborn....
Two weeks, eh. Wish I was there with you, mate!
Another hero gone...RIP
A salute to Wing Commander John Connell Freeborn.
A Spitfire performed at the Atlantic City Air Show on August 25.
The appearance was awesome.
I think you could read 50 books about the aircraft and the men who flew it, but your education can’t be complete until you soak in that sight and sound. I hope we never forget those men and those planes and what they did.
I attended an event in England a few years ago where there were no less than 12 Spitfires in the air together, along with Hurricanes, Mustangs and the only operational Lancaster heavy bomber. Needless to say, it was a breathtaking spectacle.
Thank you for this most-interesting post.
And thank you, John Connell Freeborn; may you rest in well-deserved peace.
Rest in Peace sir, rest in peace you have earned it.
Huh. Wing Commander Freeborn’s Wikipedia entry says his first post in the US was in Alabama. My dad was a flight instructor at Gunter AB near Montgomery in late ‘41 and early ‘42. Maybe they met, or worked together. Dad never said anything about seeing Betty Grable there, however (though he did see Ingrid Bergman at Orly Airport in Paris after VE day—I’m pretty sure no affair ensued).
clintonh8r,
I would love to have seen the display you describe. What a great chance to time-warp!
I am adding such an experience to my ever-expanding “bucket list”.
Where is the mecca for flight demonstrations of WWII aircraft in the USA?
Allen Appel paints Betty Grabel as a major slut in his Alex Balfour historical time travel novels. It seems to have been true. I never thought much of her legs either; too skinny.
I thought I must be the only person in the world who didn’t think Betty Grable was all that pretty. Not ugly but nowhere near as attractive as many other girls including a few in my high school class.
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Aug 20, 1940 Sir Winston Churchill
The week including the end of August and the beginning of September 1940 was perhaps the most crucial of the whole thing. Come and check it out if you haven't already.
The annual EAA airshow in Oshkosh, WI is the ultimate US mecca for aviation enthusiasts.
Hockeypuck!If you'd been 22 years old at the time Betty was at the height of her popularity and those legs had been wrapped around you, you'd had a much different perspective.
We'll be leaving for this year's event in about 10 days. They are planning a fly-by of a Vickers Vulcan, the only one still flying. I'm getting excited already!
The link doesn’t work.
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