CINEMA CLASSICS The War Lover
Assembling a fleet of three Boeing B-17s to film 1962’s The War Lover was, in itself, a great achievement. Crossing the Atlantic in them, and flying the trio for the cameras, became the stu_ of legend
At the age of 19, in 1946, John Crewdson joined the British Army and became an accomplished light aircraft pilot, on Austers, with the Glider Pilot Regiment. A little later he moved to Canada, transferring to its armed forces. He expected to _ y with the country’s projected army air corps, but in the event it was never formed. Instead he worked as an instructor and as a glider tug pilot, of which he soon grew tired. He therefore travelled south, down to the USA, where he took up cropdusting. This he enjoyed greatly, and soon afterwards he gained his helicopter ratings.
Constantly on the move, Crewdson went to East African Airways in 1950, and then British European Airways. By now he had just about every licence and rating in the book. He flew one of two BEA Sikorsky S-51 helicopters that rescued 76 people from the severe Dutch floods of February 1953. In his spare time and at weekends, he piloted Meteors with a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron. It was during a busy period …
