Spitfire Paddy (PBS)
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Notable Renovations by George Clarke (C4)
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With his chiseled jaw and pipe clenched manually between his teeth, I always thought pilot of the future Dan Dare was Britain’s answer to Superman.
Spitfire Paddy (PBS) got me thinking again. The wartime ace Brendan “Paddy” Finucane, the most decorated pilot during the early years of World War II, was the living image of comic book hero Dan, and possibly the inspiration behind the character.
RAF ace Brendan ‘Paddy’ Finucane was the living image of comic book hero
Newspaper cartoonists loved Paddy. Never seen without his trusty pipe, unless he actually lunged against the Hun, the Dublin-born Paddy was just 19 years old in the Battle of Britain.
He was brave, taciturn, insanely brave, and engaged to an English girl named Jean. But he could also be a villain, with an eternal twinkle in his eye.
When he received his Distinguished Service Order from George VI, he walked with a cane. † † not from a war injury, but from jumping over a wall on a drunken night out in the West End.
Dublin-born Paddy was just 19 years old during the Battle of Britain Pictured: Vera Lynn with Hughie Green and some of the Battle of Britain pilots (left to right) – Flight Lieutenant James (Ginger) Lacey; Group Captain Wilfred Duncan Smith; Wing Commander Paddy Barthropp; Vera Lynn; Hughie Green; Squadron Leader Drobinsky; Group Captain Hugh (Cocky) Dundas, attending the Battle of Britain 25th Anniversary Ball at the Dorchester Hotel
Paddy was the most decorated pilot during the early years of WWII Pictured: Brendan Finucane holds up his uncle’s RAF tunic
No wonder this young man was a national hero. It was impossible to watch this fast-paced, thoroughly researched documentary – made five years ago, but first broadcast on a British channel – without feeling a wave of admiration.
His story seems almost too moving and noble to be true. After shooting down five enemy planes in two days, he was persuaded to make a radio broadcast and spoke with emotion about the thrill of dogfights — and the lingering guilt he felt at taking life.
He refused to let his leg injury stop him from flying, and paid for it. A German Focke-Wulf 190 ‘butcher’s bird’ brought him down. Paddy released himself from the hospital, climbed back into his Spitfire and shot down two more Luftwaffe planes that day.
Paddy was the RAF’s youngest ever wing commander, but he died at just 21
He was the RAF’s youngest ever wing commander. Still, he maintained that he had no ambitions to continue flying after the war. He hoped to emigrate to Australia – and become an accountant. He never got the chance. In 1942, Paddy was hit by a burst from a German machine-gunner on the coast and dumped in the Channel. His Spitfire was never found. He was 21 years old.
The documentary contained sentimental details, such as the story of how he saved a few shillings from each pay package to pay for his sister’s dance lessons. He had a lucky song, Tangerine from the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, which he played before every mission. On the day he died, he didn’t have time to hear it.
These details, in a less balanced account of such a remarkable life, may seem bland. In Paddy Finucane’s story, they simply illustrated the man’s decency and innocent charm.
Architect George Clarke strikes me as the kind of guy who would give his back teeth to fly a Spitfire.
When Remarkable Renovations (C4) returned, he had to make do with a turn of the wheel of a mechanical excavator, which picked up sandstone slabs in an open quarry.
Architect George Clarke leads Remarkable Renovations where a couple turns a derelict pub and slaughterhouse in Suffolk into a family home. Pictured: George Clarke with Imogen & Paul
This exploit was not linked to the rest of the show, in which a couple turned a run-down Suffolk pub and the adjacent slaughterhouse into a spacious family home. George didn’t have much to do. The man and woman made a fine comic double act on their own.
Paul made it a point to reveal his delays and disasters to Imogen on camera “so she can’t hit me.” And when they went in, Imogen shook off the fact that the kitchen was still an empty shell strewn with rubble. “It doesn’t matter,” she smiled, “because anyone who knows me knows it won’t affect my ability to cook!”