Episode 9 - Battle of Britain Memories of Spitfire ace Jack Stokoe DFC

[@Postpunk-cx1ph]

Great content, love hearing about the interactions you had with so many pilots.

[@eric-wb7gj]

TY 🙏🙏, they could brush off both horrendous & amazing circumstances so easily. A different breed, & we were so fortunate to have them defending us.

[@alanruyten8226]

Great that you went to the RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre, Dilip. It is well worth a visit and as you say, manned by volunteers/enthusiasts on weekends. I was particularly impressed with the collection of Brendan “Paddy” Finucane’s uniforms and artefacts, including (I think) his medals. I was fortunate enough to fly over the old airfield in a Mark 9 Spitfire a couple of years ago and gain an aerial impression of that important Section station which is now a local community country park. The pub used by RAF personnel over the decades, ‘The Good Intent’, is just walking distance from both sites. Thanks for all the fab work you do with this channel 👏

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@alanruyten8226 yes, a great place overflowing with wonderful enthusiasm. The Finucane collection is now at Bentley Priory Museum.

[@alanruyten8226]

@@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar Thank you Dilipp, that’s good to know as it’s such a great collection and deserves to be seen by more people. Also a reminder to me to revisit the Hornchurch display 👍

[@patrickrose1221]

What a character! Good as gold 🤗👍❤️

[@neilconlon1298]

As always a fascinating informative episode thank you

[@RowanvanTonder]

Thank you Dilip, your Podcast series is a real treasure, it’s wonderful to give these heroes we didn’t know about a voice which they rightly deserve. I had just read that part in Letters from the Few so it was interesting to hear your podcast on Jack just afterwards.

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@RowanvanTonder brilliant! Thanks so much!

[@gregbolitho9775]

Thanks m8, haven't run into this bloke before. Nice goin, done well.

[@britishamerican4321]

So interesting, thank you!

[@jasonstagg2745]

Interesting Keep up the great work

[@GhostRider247]

hi Dilip , just quick one , i pricked my ears when you mentioned Richard Hilary as that name rang a bell with me , there is a memorial near the scotish border town of Greenlaw , just over the border , i passed it nearly every day and wondered who this was , i researched it and found out the info i was gobsmaked at what i was reading , anyway you state that he was killed at East Fortune which is actually miles away from Greenlaw and Crunklaw where his Blenheim came down , just thought i'd point this out and thank you again for your series !!!!

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@GhostRider247 yes, quite right, and I know full well where Hillary crashed, just a slip - difficult to remember everything sometimes as all of my pods and videos are unscripted and I never use notes - well spotted!

[@GhostRider247]

@@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar didnt mean to be picky mind , and thank you so much for all your hard work and content its facinating !!!!

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@GhostRider247 not about being picky, it’s about getting it right, which i should have, so thanks for pointing it out - in fact one day I must do a video about Hillary!

[@GhostRider247]

@@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar that would be fantastick Dilip !!! thank you ever so much !!!

[@RowanvanTonder]

Thanks to Letters from the Few I learnt about and then found a documentary here on KZbin covering Richard Hillary’s story which in a way summarises his book and boy does that give one a whole different and raw idea of what we often see as glorious and heroic. There is a part where he describes being shot down into the sea, a must watch / read to understand the thoughts and feelings they went through.

[@stevestannard6004]

Jack related to Bob Stokoe the football manager of the '73 Sunderland FA cup winning team?

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@stevestannard6004 can’t answer that, he never mentioned it, but as Jack was from the NE and it isn’t a common surname, I wouldn’t be surprised if so.

[@briancopson266]

David ross's biography of Richard Hillary is also a very good read

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@briancopson266 The 1950 biography by Lovat Dickson is much better, and subsequent authors’ prime source of information.

[@briancopson266]

@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar thanks for that I'll search out for it

[@mikecook4926]

Always appreciate the great info. Thank you! Do you have any content on eagle squadron pilots?

[@mikecook4926]

Guess it would actually be Americans who fought in the battle, but later joined the eagle squadrons

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@mikecook4926 I do, have a watch if the Tommy Thomas video, who once commanded one of the Eagle squadrons.

[@battleofbritain_DilipSarkar]

@@mikecook4926 not necessarily, because the first Eagle COs were British, Walter Churchill and Tommy Thomas, for example.