Tim Vigors in Malaya

We have learned about Tim Vigors.
He was from Fethard which is a town near Mullinahone. He flew for the RAF in World War Two. We have read extracts from his book: 'Life's too short to cry', that was lent to the school by Fethard pilot, Vincent Murphy. This is my reading of one of these extracts.
Written by Matilda


Tim Vigors was in World War Two and went through a terrible experience.He was flying over Malaya in his Brewster Buffalo. he got it from the Churchill / Roosevelt Lend/Lease agreement in America. Tim was fighting against the Japanese and the Germans. The Japanese were flying Army 97 fighters which were slower than the Messerschmitt 109's being flown by the Germans. The Japanese were shooting at Tim's plane and hit the fuel tanks and the plane went on fire. Tim had to think fast and he kicked the throttle and was ejected out of the plane. He pulled the parachute and next thing he saw a plane coming against him and he went to salute him but the plane fired.He thought to himself that if you are going to die the past is what you see but instead of seeing family and things that he had done he remembered a captain that he met at a parachute training course. "If you climb up one side of the parachute then to canopy will collapse and you will drop like a stone." So Tim did this every time the Japs went to shoot at him and finally he reached the ground and had to oped the knob but he saw all the skin gone off his hands and the knob was really tight so it was sore.He finally got out but they were still shooting at him.



Tim Vigors went to Beaudesert boarding school when he was a boy and after a week going there he did not really have any friends and he hated it there. The only good thing was that when you could play out on a large green field and a forest. Tim didn/t play with anyone at break and he didn't want to ask anyone of he could play wih them. One day Tim was sitting up against a tree and a few metres away there was a boy around the same age as Tim playing with a plane tied onto a wound up elastic band flying around in cicrles and asked the boy what was it and the boy said a model Warnford Monoplane. Tim asked the boy what was his name and he said Henry Maudsly so Tim said his name and Henry asked Tim was he new and Tim said "yeah". Tim said he hated the place and Henry said, "not if you have friends". So they both became very close friends. One summer Tim went to his Godmother and she had a plane and brought Tim out every day and flew around and she taught Tim how to fly and when Tim was older, he joined the R.A.F.
By: Red Barron