Talk:Alan Smith (RAF officer)

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Reason for Smith's absence when Bader was shot down

The Daily Mail obituary says that Smith was absent because of illness; however Johnnie Johnson's memoir Wing Leader says very clearly that Smith was away in London getting his uniform fitted for commissioning that day. (p.110 of the Reprint Society edition). Of course both things could be true - he might have been stood down because of illness and gone to London for his fitting... But personally I'd regard Johnson as the more reliable source as the Daily Mail doesn't say where the illness story comes from. If anyone can find a source that clears this up (or thinks we should show both hypotheses) then by all means revert or amend my edit. Kim Dent-Brown ^(Talk) 22:50, 6 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]