It was a Sunday in June, 1942. Sunday 28th of June, to be exact. And RAF Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping was taking off in a Kittyhawk fighter 'plane for a very short flight across Egypt. But unfortunately he never arrived at his destination.
No more was known about the fate of Flight Sergeant Copping, at 24 an experienced fighter pilot or his aircraft for 70 years when oil exploration worker Jakub Perka found the virtually intact plane a hundred miles west of Farafra Oasis in central Egypt, three hundred miles south-west of Alexandria.
Evidence was found that established that Flight Sergeant Copping had been able to make a controlled emergency landing and that not only did he survive the landing, he stayed with the downed aircraft for a considerable period of time afterward. But his remains have, at least to date, never been found.
Why was the plane on the ground in the location it was found in? And what had happened to Dennis Copping?
Aviation enthusiast and licensed pilot Jonathan Nicholas has extensively researched the discovery of the downed plane, interviewing those who discovered it and talked with surviving relatives of Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping.
He has taken historical facts and information and used them to weave an interesting and moving account of what might have happened on Sunday 28th June, 1942.
It is published by the Book Guild at £9.99 and will make a very good gift for people who are interested in the history of military actions and real life mysteries.
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