22991 George Flounders Royal Air Force My father George Flounders, served at Thornaby from around 1938 to 41, at which time I was born. From there he was posted to Balley Kelly Northern Ireland. We returned to Thornaby about 1944. I remember very little of this time, but I will always remember the first time I went up in a plane. Dad had arranged to take me for a flight in a Mosquito, but that went u/s at the last minute and we went in a Airspeed Oxford instead. I sat on dads lap in the right hand seat and all went well until we ran into heavy rain with a bit of hail thrown in, this made a tremendous din! by now we were over the Tees Bridge and I was screaming take me back! take me back! I created such a fuss that we had to return to Thornaby. The pilot, bless his heart was not amused went I went quiet and enjoyed the return home happy as Larry once we were out of the rain! I joined the RAF myself many years later as an a/f mech and flew many hours through rough weather in Hastings, Vallettas, Varsitys and Pembrokes.
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