- Contributed byÌý
- Genevieve
- People in story:Ìý
- Russell Billson
- Location of story:Ìý
- London
- Background to story:Ìý
- Royal Navy
- Article ID:Ìý
- A8078448
- Contributed on:Ìý
- 28 December 2005
...Then the Commander told me I was leaving because I was badly needed back home. There was a boat sailing the next morning and I must be on it. When I got back to London I was to report to the Admiralty immediately.
I got my kit together and went down to the boat. Suddenly a message came from the Squadron Commander. Could I do him a favour before I left? Their first twin-engined aircraft had just arrived and no one knew how to fly it except me. He wanted me to get it airborne and show them how to fly it. They also wanted to be sure that it could fly. I took off in it, flew past them a few times, did a few aerobatics with it, landed it and returned to my boat. When I checked my diary for the day I left, I found that it was 12 months to the very day from the day I’d met the Indian man who’d told me my future. And yes, I have been married twice. That’s a separate, spooky little story, and I still have to wait to find out if the third thing comes true.
I came back home in a hurry, with no one telling me why. Then the Admiralty told me to join 701 Squadron, which was called ‘The Admiralty Flight’. It operated from an airfield just outside London, and was exclusively available for anything the Admiralty wanted done. In the end, I was qualified to fly 28 different kinds of aircraft, which included a really extraordinary assortment of planes. That’s why I was the one they wanted. I ended the war as CO of Admiralty Flight, and that’s the end of the story as far as the Navy is concerned.
This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh and Graham Brown of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Russell Billson and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Billson fully understands the site's terms and conditions.
See more of Russell's stories and photographs:
- 1) I was so fascinated that I enrolled on the spot!
- 2) I had the time of my life
- 3) Flying Walruses
- 4) A Jack-of-all-trades
- 5) A lucky escape
- 6) Extra careful
- 8) Shocking statistics
- Aircraft qualified to fly as first pilot
- Operational Airfields and Bases
- World War Two Key Dates
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