Friends of Stony Stratford Library: A Personal Story: Writing No Ordinary Pilot - A WW2 Memoir

Suzanne Campbell-Jones will speak on the subject 'A Personal Story: Writing No Ordinary Pilot, a WW2 Memoir'.

Suzanne writes: 'In 1940, as the Battle of Britain was being fought, my father left his job as a research chemist and joined the RAF. He was transformed by war into a fighter pilot. His memoir is the principal source for No Ordinary Pilot. He flew with No. 1 Squadron, spent almost two years in West Africa, was one of the first to fly over Normandy on D-Day, was shot down, captured, and imprisoned in the notorious Stalag Luft 3. His story is thrilling and belongs to historical events that are in danger of being forgotten. It was my job to set the context for his exploits - to see the wider picture. It took me into the archives and out to France, Germany and Poland. There were plenty of surprises.'

Dr Suzanne Campbell-Jones started out as an anthropologist. In Habit: A Study of Roman Catholic Nuns, the book of her PhD thesis, was published by Faber & Faber. For most of her working life she was a film director, making documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and international broadcasters. She spent two years with the BBC Open University, based in Milton Keynes. While making a 75-minute film for ITV to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain she began to appreciate her father's wartime exploits. She jumped at an opportunity to fly aerobatics. Her most recent film, 'Of Oozies and Elephants', followed a group of scientists working with timber elephants in Myanmar.

Tickets for the talk will be available at the Library (tel. 01908-562562) from Wednesday 13th February. There is no charge for tickets, but FoSSL is grateful for donations to cover costs and to support activities at the Library.

As always, wine, fruit juice and home-made cake will be served after the talk.