"Jimmy" James

There have been som fine obituaries of Bertram "Jimmy" James in The Times and The Telegraph. One of his fellow retired airmen referred to him as the greatest hero of WW2. I knew him as a gentle, good natured, genial gentleman "of the old school". We attended a writers weekend together and I got to know him and like him greatly. I never thought him a hero because he never profesed to be one.
He was the second pilot in a plane that was shot down. He told me he had never jumped with a parachute before then; he landed in a field and twisted his ankle. Then he was captured and incarcerated in a POW prison. From where he esaped. Then captured again and another prison. Then the same thing again. He was one of the escapees from the prison camp featured in the film "The Great Escape" for which he acted as advisor as he did for other films and TV plays.
He was a lovely man, not in any way conceited, proud possibly but he never showed pride.
He was an exceptionally good writer. When I knew him, about ten or so years ago, he was working on a novel about a Russian soldier, a bit of a blackguard - a sort of Russian Flashman maybe - but I don't think he was successful with it. He had been quite successful with a book based on his war experiences: "Moonless Night". His friend and mine, Michael Davies, playwright, told me it was the best of the escape books he had read.
I was told that he missed my company when I decided not to attend any more of the writing weekends; he was one of the few reasons why I now wish I had continued going.