Tales of heroism enthral Sidmouth pupils
Battle of Britain hero is guest speaker at Sidmouth St John’s School speech day
HIGHLIGHT of the annual St John’s School speech day at Sidmouth, was a talk given by Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC, guest speaker for the prize giving.
He captivated an audience of nearly 500, aged from two to 98, with tales of extraordinary heroism from the Battle of Britain.
Deputy head, Mike Burgess, said: “Being shot out of the sky and crashing into the freezing north Atlantic on one occasion, but still managing to steer his falling plane close enough to be noticed by a merchant ship who subsequently pulled him from the sea, was one of these tales.”
Following the Battle of Britain, Mr Iveson spoke of how he retrained as a Lancaster pilot and recounted the story of again being attacked by Messerschmitts, this time over Norway.
You may also want to watch:
Three of the seven crew bailed out to take their chances in Scandinavia while the remaining four nursed the severely damaged plane back to Scotland where it was deemed unfit to ever fly again.
Mr Burgess said: “Having him as our guest was a real treat…He is one of six remaining Battle of Britain pilots.
Most Read
- 1 'Battered and shattered' traders start to reopen their shops
- 2 Former Ottery science technician celebrates her seventieth year
- 3 Folk festival boosted by £97K grant from Culture Recovery Fund
- 4 Different species of deer are part of our wildlife inheritance
- 5 Confidence grows for return of traditional high street
- 6 Sidmouth Youth Centre on a mission to help feed families
- 7 Around the sitting room in 80 days with the amazing Diana, 98
- 8 Hayman's Butchers 'had been my life' - Stewart Hayman
- 9 It's our time to share our fortune and 'do our bit' as we start to re-open
- 10 We're open again! Town's traders welcome back shoppers
“He is even more unusual, having also been one of the few survivors of Bomber Command where 55,000 of his peers were killed in action.”
So revered by the RAF is Mr Iveson, that he was invited to fly the last remaining Lancaster at the age of 90.
Entertainment for speech day was provided by the music and drama departments at St John’s, punctuating various categories of awards and prizes with some spectacular performances.
These ranged from Kyra Stout (Y1) singing solo, through a French and Saunders sketch, to a raucous version of Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water from the senior school band.