Where did Theo Griffiths got his advanced training?
In the U.S.
On April 24th, 1942, Theodore Griffiths received his diploma at Craig Field, Alabama.
This is a picture of the airfield in 1945 that I found on the Internet.
RAF training in the U.S.?
By Jove… There is the proof.
So LAC (Leading Aircraftman) Theodore Griffiths got his wings there.
Craig Fields?
From reliable Wikipedia…
World War II
Craig Air Force Base – 16 February 1950
With the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 training was accelerated to speed the flow of pilots into combat.
In total Craig Field graduated more than 9,000 pilots before the end of the war. Craig Field also saw a number of British Royal Air Force cadets through their training. By 1943, 1,392 RAF cadets had earned their wings at Craig Field. In addition, French and Dutch pilots were trained at Craig Field.
What happened later only Rich knows since he has all of Theo’s memories stashed away in his logbook. Rich started sharing first with Peter Smith and now he is sharing it all with me on this blog.
My father-in-law is Theodore Griffiths DFC. He was a Mosquito pilot with 23 Squadron and his navigator was a Rick Maude. Any memories copies of photographs would be much appreciated. Theo suffers from Alzeimers and vascular dementia but is still able to recall his time with the squadron.
Richard Cooper
Here is another precious artefact. Theo first mission over Rennes in France on April 16/17.
It has to be in 1943 with what we know about Theo’s training days in Alabama.
Another photo where Theo is a young man.
Theo is now 92 and he lost most of his memory, but Rich told me Theo can still recall something about WWII.
It appears even such an awful disease cannot wipe out the memories. A wonderful story, Pierre. We appear to be educating each other.
Every time someone wants to share something about that squadron I post it on the blog.
You never know how it will touch someone else’s life in the future.
I will talk about Rick Maude in my posts.
So someone Googling his name will find the blog and will relive part of this man’s career with Theo.
I know that these pilots and navigators deserve all the homage I can give them just like you are doing with your father.
Every one who served in the war deserve some kind of tribute.
One day people will stop wars… but that’s not in the near future.
Do you really think it will ever stop? Or, is the violence and greed for more been engrained into the human psych?
I was just giving us some hope…
Meantime I will keep writing about those who lost so much by trying to end all wars.
WW I was supposed to be the last War after people saw the carnage it brought.
Wishfull thinking…
In French, WW I was said to be la der des ders… the last of the lasts.
On Wikipedia…
« La Der des Ders » est une expression qui s’est forgée à la suite de la Première Guerre mondiale, qui signifie la « dernière des dernières (guerres) ». « Le der des ders » désigne, par extension, le soldat, le poilu qui a participé à cette guerre1.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Der_des_Ders
Another source here…
http://www.wordreference.com/fren/la%20der%20des%20ders