Boxing Day always brings the late Sid Wickens to my mind. After failing a pilot's eye test he trained as a fitter, joining 272 Squadron RAF in November 1940. It was a critical period of the desert war and Sid experienced sad times when they were regularly losing aircraft and crews. With the war over in Italy, 272 Squadron RAF disbanded on 30th April 1945. After the war Sid worked on the estate of Lord Rupert Neville at Little Horsted near Uckfield.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 29, 2017 06:00 UTC