Our slim connection to 'The Great Escape'

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, both of you, you are well aware of my love for our family history, especially how WW2 effected it.
My dad served in the RAF during the war, spending part of his time with the 350 Squadron of mostly Belgian pilots.
He worked on Spitfires while serving with them.

This first image is of dad.

I don't know if love is the right word but he really made the most of his time in service and his time with the RAF.

While doing some more research today (reading wikipedia) I came across a pilot who served in his squadron at the same time as he did, and the same airfield.

We will never know if they knew each other or even met. Most ground crew were assigned to a specific plane and pilot.
But I still find it interesting.

Henri Picard was born 1916 in Etterbeek, Belguim. When Germany invade Belguim the pilot school he was attending was closed.
He left Belguim in June finally in a round-about way making England in July. He soon became a pilot officer and in Nov. of 1941 tranferred to the 350 squadron, the same month as my dad.
In April of 1942 the 350 transferred airfields and my dad went to bomber command.
In August of 42 Picard was shot down and after recovery from injuries was sent to Stalag Luft III.
In March of 1944 on the night of the 24-25 Picard was one of 76 who escaped Stalag Luft III.
On the 26th he and three others were recaptured and on the 29th they were executed by the Gestapo.

Pilot-officer Henri Picard 1916-1944

















It seems Henri had some talent as an artist also. You can find a link to a story about his art here.

I hope this is true, although I really loved the original.

HBO 'to remake All Creatures Great and Small'

HBO is said to be planning a 'sexier and glossier' remake of All Creatures Great and Small, the BBC series about a vet in the Yorkshire Dales

It is an unlikely idea: the US network behind gritty dramas The Wire and The Sopranos buying the rights to All Creatures Great and Small.

But if rumours are true, the gentle British story of a vets' practice in the Yorkshire Dales is to be given a “big-budget remake” by HBO.

The US version will reportedly be “sexier and glossier” than the original, which would not be difficult – with their tweed jackets, flat caps and scenes elbow-deep in recalcitrant cows, the on-screen trio of Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy and Peter Davison did not radiate the kind of glamour associated with Sex and the City, another HBO hit.

Attempts to remake British favourites for US audiences have met with varying degrees of success. Dad’s Army, The Vicar of Dibley and Absolutely Fabulous never made it past the pilot stage.

However, US executives are said to be full of “great ideas” for an All Creatures Great and Small remake.

The original was based on the memoirs of James Alfred Wight, who wrote under the Herriot pseudonym about his life as a vet in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

Timothy played the newly qualified Herriot, with Hardy as his curmudgeonly boss Siegfried Farnon and Davison as Siegfried’s boyish brother, Tristan.

It ran from 1978 to 1990 and was hugely popular, attracting 20 million viewers at its height. Set in the fictional market town of Darrowby, it also featured Lynda Bellingham in later series as Herriot’s wife.

The BBC, which holds the rights to All Creatures Great and Small, attempted to revive the story in 2011 with a prequel called Young James Herriot. It was shown as a Christmas special, but ratings were unspectacular and plans for a series were abandoned.

Wight died in 1995, aged 78, having sold more than 50 million copies of his Herriot books, including If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen To A Vet. Despite finding fame and wealth, he continued to practice, saying: “If a farmer calls me with a sick animal, he couldn’t care less if I were George Bernard Shaw.”

An HBO spokesman said: "HBO does not comment on shows in production until they are green lit."

Source

And more

Fake Homes - this is interesting.

I did not know, but it does make sense, that fake homes where built on top of Boeing Airplane factory plants.

Story here.