WW I Flying Ace: He overcame crippling nerves to shoot down planes (UK)
The air aces of World War I - like the Red Baron - left a rich mythology that persists to the present day. But the man who was, perhaps, Britain's best pilot, remains little known.
A 90-year-old photo album discovered recently in northern France, reveals possibly the last picture of Britain's "highest scoring" fighter pilot from World War I.
It's an innocent photograph. A highly decorated RAF pilot poses for the camera, his arm gently resting on the shoulder of a local French child standing in front of him.
And yet look into the face of the airman and you see the drawn expression of a man haunted by his experience of battle.
Within days of this picture being taken the pilot - Major Edward "Mick" Mannock VC - would be dead.
Read entire article at BBC News
A 90-year-old photo album discovered recently in northern France, reveals possibly the last picture of Britain's "highest scoring" fighter pilot from World War I.
It's an innocent photograph. A highly decorated RAF pilot poses for the camera, his arm gently resting on the shoulder of a local French child standing in front of him.
And yet look into the face of the airman and you see the drawn expression of a man haunted by his experience of battle.
Within days of this picture being taken the pilot - Major Edward "Mick" Mannock VC - would be dead.