Just finished this book by Damien Lewis. It is the story of a Czech airman who adopted a German Shepherd puppy he found after being shot down in a French Potez 63 during the "Phony War" of 1939-40 . He was the air gunner, having first served in the Foreign Legion after the collapse of the Czechs in WWII.
Escaping, he brought the puppy back to England with him, against all odds and opposition, where he joined one of the Czech squadrons flying for the RAF. The dog was quickly adopted by the Czech airmen as one of them, a survivor of the Nazi occupation and now a fighter for freedom. The dog managed to win over the rigid RAF opposition to pets on air fields and become a symbol of Allied resistance, the mascot of the Squadron.
Eventually, the dog accompanied his master on bombing runs over Germany in a Wellington, outfitted with his own oxygen mask. The dog was wounded by FLAK, shot at by a sheep farmer and generally led one hell of an exciting life. There was even consideration given to outfitting him with a parachute.
Anyway - the Potez 63 was a pretty good looking aircraft with it's slim after fuselage, large "greenhouse" cockpit and plexiglass nose. I think that the H-P Hampden and the DO17 (Flying Pencil) and the ME110, which all shared the slim aft fuselage configuration, were on to a good thing. Why put the material into a fat ass body that served no good purpose?
Escaping, he brought the puppy back to England with him, against all odds and opposition, where he joined one of the Czech squadrons flying for the RAF. The dog was quickly adopted by the Czech airmen as one of them, a survivor of the Nazi occupation and now a fighter for freedom. The dog managed to win over the rigid RAF opposition to pets on air fields and become a symbol of Allied resistance, the mascot of the Squadron.
Eventually, the dog accompanied his master on bombing runs over Germany in a Wellington, outfitted with his own oxygen mask. The dog was wounded by FLAK, shot at by a sheep farmer and generally led one hell of an exciting life. There was even consideration given to outfitting him with a parachute.
Anyway - the Potez 63 was a pretty good looking aircraft with it's slim after fuselage, large "greenhouse" cockpit and plexiglass nose. I think that the H-P Hampden and the DO17 (Flying Pencil) and the ME110, which all shared the slim aft fuselage configuration, were on to a good thing. Why put the material into a fat ass body that served no good purpose?
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