ukali1066
Practically Family
- Messages
- 514
- Location
- West Yorkshire
I've always thought Robert Stanford Tuck typified the quintessential R.A.F gentleman pilot of WW2, he was also rather deadly with 27 confirmed aerial kills.
I was surprised to learn that he was actually Jewish, I like this part of an interview with him by Bob Cunningham where he recalled being shot down and meeting German ace Adolf Galland..
CUNNINGHAM: You put some shots into the flak battery that shot you down didn't you? How were you treated when they captured you?
TUCK: Yes. I knew that the Spit had bought it and I was going down. I made (me last pass at the flak truck - because they were still shooting at me - and I hit it good just before going in. It was a pretty rough landing and I got out with a nasty bump on the head and a bleeding nose. And the Germans came up and grabbed me and pushed and shoved me back to the wreck of the flak truck. I thought they were going to show me what I'd done to their comrades and then string me up or something of that sort. But when we got there - the thing was still smoking and bodies laying around - they began to laugh and point to the guns, and they were telling me "Good shot, Englander!" You see, by some fluke one of my shells had gone directly down the barrel of one of their guns and exploded. And they thought that was funny. And a good thing it was that they did!
CUNNINGHAM: And after that you met General Adolf Galland...
TUCK: Before I was taken off to prison in Germany, Galland and his pilots of the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons based at St. Omer gave a dinner for me. He was, and is, quite a grand gentleman. He was an Oberstleutnant [Lieutenant Colonel] at that time, but later commanded the entire German fighter corps. We had a very nice evening, and I was amazed at the feeling of comradeship we seemed to have. But then, of course, they had to send me off to prison.......
Note:
Before sending Tuck off to prison, Galland told him, “ I'm glad you're not badly injured, and that now you will not have to risk your life any more.” After the war they met again and have since become very close friends. Tuck's luck seemed to desert him for awhile, and he remained a prisoner until January of 1945. Then he and a Polish pilot escaped and walked to the Russian lines, and finally to Odessa where Tuck and his comrade smuggled themselves and the wife of another Polish pilot (who was fighting in Britain) aboard a British merchantman bound for Southampton. After an absence of more than three years, 'Lucky Tuck'. made his way back home again!
I was surprised to learn that he was actually Jewish, I like this part of an interview with him by Bob Cunningham where he recalled being shot down and meeting German ace Adolf Galland..
CUNNINGHAM: You put some shots into the flak battery that shot you down didn't you? How were you treated when they captured you?
TUCK: Yes. I knew that the Spit had bought it and I was going down. I made (me last pass at the flak truck - because they were still shooting at me - and I hit it good just before going in. It was a pretty rough landing and I got out with a nasty bump on the head and a bleeding nose. And the Germans came up and grabbed me and pushed and shoved me back to the wreck of the flak truck. I thought they were going to show me what I'd done to their comrades and then string me up or something of that sort. But when we got there - the thing was still smoking and bodies laying around - they began to laugh and point to the guns, and they were telling me "Good shot, Englander!" You see, by some fluke one of my shells had gone directly down the barrel of one of their guns and exploded. And they thought that was funny. And a good thing it was that they did!
CUNNINGHAM: And after that you met General Adolf Galland...
TUCK: Before I was taken off to prison in Germany, Galland and his pilots of the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons based at St. Omer gave a dinner for me. He was, and is, quite a grand gentleman. He was an Oberstleutnant [Lieutenant Colonel] at that time, but later commanded the entire German fighter corps. We had a very nice evening, and I was amazed at the feeling of comradeship we seemed to have. But then, of course, they had to send me off to prison.......
Note:
Before sending Tuck off to prison, Galland told him, “ I'm glad you're not badly injured, and that now you will not have to risk your life any more.” After the war they met again and have since become very close friends. Tuck's luck seemed to desert him for awhile, and he remained a prisoner until January of 1945. Then he and a Polish pilot escaped and walked to the Russian lines, and finally to Odessa where Tuck and his comrade smuggled themselves and the wife of another Polish pilot (who was fighting in Britain) aboard a British merchantman bound for Southampton. After an absence of more than three years, 'Lucky Tuck'. made his way back home again!
