Summary
Frank Barrett embarks on a poignant mission of remembrance to the scene of the RAF's legendary Dam Busters raid
ASKING for directions to the Gates of Heaven was asking for trouble, I suppose. My question certainly startled the man working at the filling station in Ostonnen, a village 40 minutes' drive east of Dusseldorf-I had translated my question into German with the aid of an internet site so its accuracy may have been less than perfect.See the full content of this document
Extract
Once More Unto the Breach
The garage man adopted a Baffled Man mime, his eyebrows comically raised, an open hand covering mouth. In response, I attempted to jog his memory by performing, with arms stuck out, a crashing aircraft and saying 'Kriegsflache', which I mistakenly thought was German for warplane.
He then became Very Baffled Man, pursing his lips and dramatically shaking his head slowly.If he or anyone else I approached in Ostonnen knew anything about a crippled Lancaster bomber that had fallen to earth there 63 years ago in a field apparently known as the Gates of Heaven, then they were...See the full content of this document