Friday, March 30, 2012

Booty: Bravest of the Brave

We've talked a lot about heroes lately; David Porter, Thomas Truxtun, USS Constellation; when dealing with our ancestors at sea the list is endless. Today, the story of a more modern hero whose name I cannot, unfortunately, find (please leave a comment if you know). The handsome gunner pictured above who served in the Royal Navy during World War II.


The picture was taken by Horace Bristol, a member of the RN’s photographers unit. He was in a plane rescuing Allied airman from Rabaul Bay in Papua New Guinea when he took this picture. Here is the brief description from Bristol himself:

we got a call to pick up an airman who was down in the Bay. The Japanese were shooting at him from the island, and when they saw us they started shooting at us. The man who was shot down was temporarily blinded, so one of our crew stripped off his clothes and jumped in to bring him aboard. He couldn’t have swum very well wearing his boots and clothes. As soon as we could, we took off. We weren’t waiting around for anybody to put on formal clothes. We were being shot at and wanted to get the hell out of there. The naked man got back into his position at his gun in the blister of the plane.

When a job needs doing, a guy like this just does it regardless of the circumstances. More often than not, unnamed heroes are the best kind. 

Picture by kind courtesy of Mid-Century via Perpetual Collapse and Miss Folly; many thanks one and all

8 comments:

Timmy! said...

Ahoy, Pauline! Well, I guess that IS a booty post...

Pauline said...

In all honesty I didn't even think about that until about two hours ago. I mean no offense to anyone; this individual and his mates have all my admiration - clothes on or off.

Nichola said...

You have the best stories :) What a fine, heroic man.

Pauline said...

Thank you so much, K! This one gave me goosebumps. I'm indebted to those who previously posted it for bringing this wonderful story to everyone's attention.

Ana said...

Great photo and a great story!

You might want to share this with all the people at My Daguerreotype Boyfriend.

I trust they'll appreciate it :D .

Pauline said...

Thank you, Ana. I'll pop over to MDB some time this week :)

Saralee said...

Great photo and terrific story!

Pauline said...

I'm with you there, Saralee; thank you for stopping by Triple P.