大象传媒

Through family research, I have met with a distant relation in Canada, Terry Ford, his grandfather Frederick Ford, emigrated from Long Melford to Canada with his family in 1913 after failing a medical for the Army. After a lot of correspondence Terry Ford eventually came to England and told me an interesting story. His aunt Evelyn, his father鈥檚 sister who had also emigrated with the family to Canada, came to England during WWII as a Canadian Red Cross nurse; during her stay here she nursed an American Pilot, Sam Junkin. Terry went on to tell me that his aunt Evelyn and Sam Junkin eventually married, he also told me that Sam flew Spitfires and claimed to be the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, I treated this as a bit of Americanism. On visiting one of the local USAAF base museums I mentioned this to one of the attendants who produced a book, he thumbed through the pages and there sure enough was a photograph of Sam Junkin being presented with the DFC, Sam had to get out of his hospital bed and get dressed in uniform for the photo to be taken. I sent a copy of the photo and the write up to Terry but our letters must have crossed in the post, I received from Terry a large envelope containing some cuttings from American newspapers, which also contained the above information.The papers also continued with the following story. After Sam and Evelyn were married they lived in a house owned by Sam鈥檚 parents who lived next door. Sam died at the age of only forty. Evelyn continued to live in the same house. Sam鈥檚 parents eventually died and Evelyn inherited both properties, she rented out her In-laws house, in her eightieth year Evelyn鈥檚 neighbours came to her with an envelope addressed to Sam鈥檚 parents. The letter was from two children who had moved into a new house on the site of the old Biggin Hill airfield, they had been scratching about in their new garden and had found Sam Junkin鈥檚 dog tags (identity discs) and forwarded them on to the address on the identity discs, i.e.: Sam鈥檚 parents. Along with all the newspaper cuttings, Terry has inherited Sam鈥檚 dog tags, one of his favourite family treasures

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