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Daring RAF pilot dropped French flag on Nazi-occupied Paris

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The incredible story of how Wing Commander Ken Gatward, a RAF pilot, flew down the Champs-Elysees to drop a French flag over Nazi-occupied Paris has emerged after his medals were put up for sale. (www.dailymail.co.uk) 更多...

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JCMIA
James Carlin 8
The medals and other items belong on public display in a museum or WWII monument. I hope whoever buys them does the right thing and loans them permanently to a public institution so the items can be properly preserved and displayed, so future generations know about what this man did.
flightsun
flightsun 6
Well done commander, we need more example like you today.
jongatward
Actually he was a group captain and I am proud to say my uncle!
EdSchijf
Ed Schijf 4
What an amazing story, what a hero Ken Gatward was.....
akirkham
What an amazing feat in the face of very intense opposition from the occupies.these must have been extraordinary people.
MichelBRUN
Michel BRUN 4
Thank uou, Sir!
aqqn
Alain QQN 4
To 'flightsun' I agree
BharatBhandare
Sir , i doff my hat to you and your bravery . You were one of a kind. They do not make many men like you anymore .
With respects,
Bharat Bhandare, India.
lisejungebloedt
That´s the spirit!!!! Congratulations on your comment - it is by far the best of all to date.
lisejungebloedt
I find it difficult to keep my language within the permitted ranges while commenting on this heroic feat by RAF Wing Commander Ken Gatward. Why does someone like this man have to die almost 30 years ago and then lately his widow too to have his unbelievable moral boosting action at the hight of WWII to be made public? How is it possible for a family not to be proud of this man and his legacy and sell off all his medals and trophies? To use the language expected by the moderators, I am "amazed and shocked". It would be a great coup for the French Government to be aware of this sale within the next few days and buy everything and then keep it all in an aeronautical (or other) museeum. Looking at his flight log for a single engine plane, it seems quite obvious that W.C. Gatward was flying a Bristol Beaufighter and not the two engine fighter bomber that is shown on the cartoons.
jpmerceron
The Bristol Beaufighter is indeed a twin engine fighter.
FrankHarvey
Frank Harvey 1
It seems that only part of the logbook page (single engine time) is shown. There may be a section to the right of the page for multi-engine time which was not in the photograph.
lisejungebloedt
Sorry to sound like a bickering female, but if you read the article in the Daily Mail online, they specify that the pilot was flying a Bristol Beaufighter. As for there "may have been" a section for multiple engine time, I seriously doubt that Mr. Gatward reached the rank of Wing Commander and would choose the wrong log page to enter his mission.
richardgaffney
The Bristol Beaufighter was a twin-engine aircrarft, used as both a night-fighter and a bomber.
lisejungebloedt
My apologies for having been a pest. I had to look the plane up in Google to get it through my stubborn brain that it was a twin engine bomber. That what happens everytime I forget to use my grey cells before writing or saying something.
smoki
smoki 2
Heroic and daring indeed. The drop could have flopped some had the flag not snagged the prominent structure though it was hard to miss at such a low altitude where he apparently also ingested a bird into the starboard oil cooler according to the log entry. Lucky also for him that he was not shot down later and captured by the Nazis whence he would likely have been singled out for public execution for the sake of Nazi propaganda. I'm reminded of the story about an American commercial pilot some years ago who when queried by German Air Traffic Control if he was familiar with a particular city and its airport whereupon he replied that he was very familiar having flown over it several times during WWII under less friendly circumstances which brought a "moment of silence" from the German controller.
desilu2010
Don Smith 2
When and where is the auction?
jkudlick
Jeremy Kudlick 2
Amazing story. Thanks for sharing. Like James, I believe the medals need to be on permanent display somewhere, not hidden away.
benin
benin 3
No guts, No glory!
commserver
jim lou 1
This is an incredible story. Maybe it can be made into a move.
davis1926a
Maybe even a MOVIE! Read before sending!!
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
I salute you Commander!
jrparcerisa
.. vIii ..
Quedamos a la salida del juzgado.

davis1926a
WW2 produced thousands of 'unsung' heroes....but, that's what we did...just doing our jobs! Yes, Ken was extraordinary!
highlite
highlite 1
The lot sold for £41,000.00.

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