Reason No. 4,234 to dislike golfers
Over the years, I have read in several places, the Battle of Britain story about a wounded RAF aircrew that incurred the ire of golf club members having been carried bleeding into their bar. I suppose that I put it down to hearsay & whilst registering it, never really gave it a second thought. However spending some time over the weekend to catch up on the obits, it would seem that not only is the story true, but it can be attributed to one Squadron Leader 'Hawkeye' Lee
… who was wounded in the leg and forced to bale out of his burning aircraft. He was "captured" by an armed elderly civilian who refused to believe that Lee was British; some soldiers retrieved the situation, taking him to the local golf course for a brandy while they waited for an ambulance.
Heavily bloodstained, Lee stood at the bar, where he overheard a man complaining: "The machine-gunning made me miss my putt. And who's that chap at the bar? Bad show, all that blood - I don't believe he's even a member."
It’s a good job that the late Squadron Leader Lee was made of sterner stuff than your humble correspondent because if the same had happened to me, as soon as I had recovered, there would have been a bit more machine-gunnery … & missing a put would have been the very least of the club’s members complaints.
Mind you, when you consider how the current government treats our wounded service personnel, it just goes to show that times don’t change.
Comments
Given this was in the war the venerable member must have been a labour supporter/communist cos any decent bloke would have bought the brandy.
Posted by: chris Edwards | March 4, 2008 8:20 PM