[Dave Lefurgey]

Martin: Can't help much with whether it was fantasy or not about Cotton selling Eire a single anti-aircraft gun, as I learned about it from Cotton's biography, 'Aviator Extraordinary'. My interest has been in the photo reconnaissance aspects. All the principals who may have been involved are dead, or are likely so. Re: Cotton's flight to Belast. Jill was quite sure it was there and not antwhere else. It's also possible, and maybe even likely, that Cotton left his daughter with friends in Belfast and did other things. He had done similar things before. This is only a vague memory for her, as she was a teenager at the time. There isn't more to tell, because from past experience with Jill, she tells me all she knows on a particular topic. If there was more she recalled, she would have told me. Sorry we can't clear it up any more for you. You may find other information if you research Ian Fleming, who was with the Director of Naval Intelligence and it was his idea to do the 1939 flights. Churchill was 1st Lord of the Admiralty at the time and was endorsing an Admiralty take over of their photo recon spy unit. It aroused hackles in the RAF and there was a bit of a political battle between the RAF & the Admiralty at the time. The Irish flights were also a ploy by Fleming to 'get a foot in the door', or take over the photo recon unit. Some info is in Cotton's biography and Fred Winterbotham talks about it a bit in his books entitled "Secret and Personal" and "The Nazi Connection". Can find them on the Abe Books website, too. If I come across anything in my research I'll let you know. Do you have an e-mail address you're willing to give me in case I find something? I believe I sent you mine in one of these forum messages. Let me know what you find out in your research. I'd be interested. Are you writing a book or perhaps doing other research?