John Elkington

Rough-and-ready scoops of the BBC Breakfast Programme’s coverage this morning of the portrait being done of several of the precariously few surviving pilots from the Battle Britain.

Artist is Jeremy Houghton – and the main pilot featured in the 3.52 minute sequence is my father Tim Elkington. Part of a sequence that are being worked together, but I think this captures the man today wonderfully well.

As Tim says in the interview, this should be less about the pilots and more about the RAF. And, as it happens, I’m part-way through The Birth of the RAF, 1918 by Richard Overy, with Patrick Bishop’s Air Force Blue: The RAF in World War Two – Spearhead of Victory in my to-read stack.

Delightful visit to Leighton House Museum with Will Rosenzweig, followed by Design Museum and then back to Barnes for lunch at Sonny’s. In total, spent nine hours together – and it felt too short.

On Saturday, I ducked into Barnes Books and picked up a copy of Philip Kerr‘s latest Bernie Gunther novel, Greeks Bearing Gifts – having read his obituaries in recent days. Have bought in hardback, read and adored all 12 previous Gunther books.

Wondered whether 13 was indeed an unlucky number, though a silver lining in the gloom was the news that he had recently handed in a fourteenth Gunther novel.

More on Kerr here.

Having spotted a Financial Times review of the new Light L16 camera last year, I ordered one – and it arrived a few days back. Bigger and heavier than I had expected, but am very much enjoying testing it out – with its 16 lenses. It looks like the compound eye of some form of alien spider. An algorithm combines 10 or more images to produce the final one. More anon.

Very much enjoying The Durrells. Only met Gerry Durrell once, but loved him. This series very much in his spirit, as far as I can see.

Otherwise have spent the Easter break developing the new book – and keeping track of developments at Hill House, where things seem to be on a slightly more even keel.

Spotted the image at top of Lizzie Long Wolf via a link on Hania’s Facebook page today. Long Wolf image surfaced in further browsing. Struck by the lower photo, too, of a Kiowa girl in 1892. Grim to recall what their peoples had been through – and still faced.

The photo of Lizzie Long Wolf brought to mind a happier memory from 1977, when I went to visit the Hammersmith Registrar of Birth & Deaths, to record Gaia’s birth.

He was intrigued by her third name, Onawa, which I explained was Choctaw. He said that he could recall only one other Native American Indian (or maybe First Peoples) name in the register. Long Wolf.

The Sioux leader and his daughter had been travelling with Buffalo Bill’s Travelling Circus when he died in Hammersmith, also in 1892. The story of his death, long stay in a London cemetery and then repatriation to the Plains is told here.

Long Wolf’s body was apparently covered in battle scars. He was said to have been at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. And earlier this week I had seen and tweeted a link to this extraordinary account of the destruction of Custer’s command based on accounts from some of those who were there, on the other side. It has the ring of truth to it.

One aspect of the encounter that I hadn’t heard of before was the role played by the Suicide Boys in Custer’s troopers falling back to join Major Reno’s force – which would largely survive the battle.