Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By PaulB
#1555945
Flymember1 wrote:Paul I have just come across your post so do not know where you are 6 months on but I can tell you what I know


Wow.... thank you. I'll tell my Mum this when I next see her.
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By Rob P
#1555972
What a result!

The Internet isn't all kittens and keyboard warriors.

Rob P
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By Jo Firbank
#1625324
Jack Netherwood was my mum's (Joan Beaumont, then Netherwood, then Mann, 1924 to 2015) first husband. They came from Mirfield. Married in 1944 and she wore a utility suit and had the crew all around her including Harry (I think) mentioned below. She spoke fondly of Harry. I have photos. Jack was a war hero who did more bombing raids in his Lancaster than most and earned the DFC for piloting a hit and disabled Lancaster home and saving his crew. After the war he did airshows and died looping the loop, hitting an airpocket, when mum was only 29 and their son Glen was 9. Glen now lives in Switzerland and his son Andrew also earned the DFC and is an RAF Officer.
Jack had a sister, Peggy? and both were extrovert and popular characters. Mum and Jack started married life in a converted bus in Stow on the Wold, Cotswolds.
Mum had a mystical experience. At the very moment Jack died (and she knew this belatedly as her routine was always the same) she saw his disembodied face float across the room in front of her. Mum didn't lie. She recovered and remarried and had three more children but always grieved. When she was 77 and still fit, a memorial bench was placed for Jack at a military museum but obviously the remaining crew could not trace her. We found out about it years later after Mum had had a stroke and could not feel as proud as she would have. But we who are left are proud.
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By PaulB
#1625890
I was only thinking about this post yesterday. How strange that Jo added to it only a day earlier!

As I said in the OP, Jack Netherwood was a relation of my Mum's through marriage. If Jo's reading this, my Mum was born (and still lives) in Mirfield. Her paternal uncle was Edward Colbeck who married one Minnie Steadman. Minnie had a sister called Evelyn who married one Joe Netherwood and had a son called Jack.

Fab story... Doesn't the Internet make the world a small place.
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By Jo Firbank
#1626940
Give my regards to your Mum. I went on a nostalgia trip to Mirfield recently to see 4 Armoury Avenue where Mum's parents Walter and Verlie Beaumont lived. Also the high street where Mann's Outfitters had a shop for a century or so till 1960. My other Grandparents Eric George and Mary Mann (Milly) ran that shop. As I said I have a wedding pic from 1944 with the Lancaster Crew on it but Harry's son who was on here has not seen my reply yet. Can you let him know PaulB? His name is Flymaster I think. Dad, John Mann is still alive and okay at 88.
By PaulB
#1627103
Jo Firbank wrote:Can you let him know PaulB? His name is Flymaster I think.


I don't know him :-(

Dad, John Mann is still alive and okay at 88.


My Mum thinks that she may have been in the same class as your dad at MGS and she remembers Mann's outfitters well.
By Benson384
#1698085
cockney steve wrote:I nearly fell foul of "that " site, as well ! They were expecting me to upload all that I knew, for free, then sell it to others for about£30 a pop......Yea! I should coco!. likewise, the "monthly subscription "racket.

My enquiry at the time was my father's WW1 involvement in the Merchant Navy, where ,apparently, he lost his sight. (no pension, AFAIK) and a WW11 Recce pilot who was very offhand about his DFC. a great and unassuming character. Wing Commander E.J. Milne DFC. RIP the bravest "coward" I 've ever known.

Eric claimed his cowardice kept him alive ! his schtic was, "I knew the war wasn't going to be over in 5 minutes. - the brave lads took their photo-pass, waking up Jerry in the process.....then they did a second pass and the Ack Ack got a lot......I did the run, scooted for home and waited to see what i'd got.....If I had to go back, usually several weeks later, Jerry was usually asleep again. repeat as needed."

I'm sure he was more than a little economical with the truth . Locals said he'd roar down the valley in his Mustang, and whizz up over the family's hillside house before disappearing back to base.
Eventually he was stopped....never got the full story.



Hi, Eric was my stepfather. Flying up the valley from Stalybridge, Tameside over his fathers house doing a victory roll was reported by locals and a complaint made :oops: He was grounded for a weekend !!! Which never happened Spits and latterly Mustangs his kites.
Photo evidence attacking a u boat over N Sea a brave memory ....
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By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1698189
Hi, Benson, small world !
I owned the garage, directly opposite Eric's house. he lost his driving-licence for a while, so his then- ladyfriend , Eileen, would have the car. Eric would wander down the drive and make a brew, we'd chew the cud until the Oldham bus was due. I believe he married Eileen , I've seen her there. Lost touch with them when the garage was burnt down early 1990's .

I remember him stating he still had his childhood Hornby railway, in original boxes,along with other toys and he proudly showed me a full-hunter pocket-watch with chimes. An absolute work of art.

One day, close to Mother's day, two ruffians in a pickup-truck took a wrong turning up his drive and emerged, laughing, some time later. It transpired they had thieved a huge load of daffodils which covered the floor of the long-gone greenhouse!