Woking Pilot's "Tough" Holiday
Title
Woking Pilot's "Tough" Holiday
Description
Item 1 is a newspaper cutting about Ron Mathers' trip to the United States.
Item 2 is a photograph of a Lancaster 'TL-C' on the ground.
Item 2 is a photograph of a Lancaster 'TL-C' on the ground.
Creator
Date
1946
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One newspaper cutting and one b/w photograph on a scrapbook page
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SMathersRW55201v10049
Transcription
WOKING PILOT’S “TOUGH” HOLIDAY
HE MET AMERICA’S NOTABILITIES
A “Review” Interview with Flt-Lt R.W. Mather
Generals, politicians, film stars and ambassadors all helped give a Woking man the “toughest holiday” he has ever had. The man is Flt-Lt R.W. Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] of 143, Maybury Road, and his “holiday” consisted of piloting one of the aircraft in the famous 35 Squadron which went on a goodwill tour of America.
He said that before he went he expected the trip to be a glorified party, but he found it was the toughest time he had ever had. During the trip which started in July, he met many of the famous people on the other side of the Atlantic, British film stars in Hollywood came to Los Angeles to greet the men from the “Home Country”. Among them were Sir C Ambery Smith, Nigel Bruce, Herbert Marshall and Merle Oberon.
General Spaatz was there, the British Ambassador, and another screen lovely “Ginger” Rogers. In every state the Flt-Lt. Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] and his co-pilots visited they were given a really royal reception. Dinners, lunches parties and night clubs, and in Texas, a full scale rodeo for their special benefit.
The Texans really put themselves out to show Western hospitality to the British pilots. The Group Captain in charge of the Squadron was made a Deputy Sheriff and Flt-Lt Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] was made an Hon. Texan. An old time barbecue was staged and feasting, dancing and riding went on until a late hour.
The trip, however, was not all partied, for there was plenty of serious fling in between times. The Lancasters of the Squadron has to fly in formation, not an easy task for a heavy aircraft, but after V-Day celebration practice they gave a very creditable show to the Americans.
It was 1938 that Flt-Lt Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] joined the R.A.F. He wanted to be a pilot, but started in the ranks of an armourer. During the Battle of Britain he was with 65 Fighter Squadron at Hornchurch, and his experiences with the fighter pilots made him even more keen to fly. He took his pilots course in 1941 and later went to No. 9 Squadron of heavy Bombers. In the ‘Lancs’ he made many flights over enemy territory, including 10 flights over Berlin.
He says he likes the R.A.F. and is determined to stay in the Service, and if possible keep on flying the Lancasters. The people who saw the Battle of Britain fly past saw the aircraft piloted by Flt-Lt Mather for he was in the formation.
HE MET AMERICA’S NOTABILITIES
A “Review” Interview with Flt-Lt R.W. Mather
Generals, politicians, film stars and ambassadors all helped give a Woking man the “toughest holiday” he has ever had. The man is Flt-Lt R.W. Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] of 143, Maybury Road, and his “holiday” consisted of piloting one of the aircraft in the famous 35 Squadron which went on a goodwill tour of America.
He said that before he went he expected the trip to be a glorified party, but he found it was the toughest time he had ever had. During the trip which started in July, he met many of the famous people on the other side of the Atlantic, British film stars in Hollywood came to Los Angeles to greet the men from the “Home Country”. Among them were Sir C Ambery Smith, Nigel Bruce, Herbert Marshall and Merle Oberon.
General Spaatz was there, the British Ambassador, and another screen lovely “Ginger” Rogers. In every state the Flt-Lt. Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] and his co-pilots visited they were given a really royal reception. Dinners, lunches parties and night clubs, and in Texas, a full scale rodeo for their special benefit.
The Texans really put themselves out to show Western hospitality to the British pilots. The Group Captain in charge of the Squadron was made a Deputy Sheriff and Flt-Lt Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] was made an Hon. Texan. An old time barbecue was staged and feasting, dancing and riding went on until a late hour.
The trip, however, was not all partied, for there was plenty of serious fling in between times. The Lancasters of the Squadron has to fly in formation, not an easy task for a heavy aircraft, but after V-Day celebration practice they gave a very creditable show to the Americans.
It was 1938 that Flt-Lt Mather [inserted] s [/inserted] joined the R.A.F. He wanted to be a pilot, but started in the ranks of an armourer. During the Battle of Britain he was with 65 Fighter Squadron at Hornchurch, and his experiences with the fighter pilots made him even more keen to fly. He took his pilots course in 1941 and later went to No. 9 Squadron of heavy Bombers. In the ‘Lancs’ he made many flights over enemy territory, including 10 flights over Berlin.
He says he likes the R.A.F. and is determined to stay in the Service, and if possible keep on flying the Lancasters. The people who saw the Battle of Britain fly past saw the aircraft piloted by Flt-Lt Mather for he was in the formation.
Collection
Citation
Woking Review, “Woking Pilot's "Tough" Holiday,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 22, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/9651.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.