Letter of the Month Tea with Richard Todd

摘要

Sir, With the anniversary of the Dams raid almost upon us, I thought it would be a perfect time to share my memories of a day I shall never forget, the afternoon that actor Richard Todd, who is universally remembered for his role as Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters film, made me a cup of tea. The exact date evades me, but it must have been around 2001 and I had just been commissioned by Stuart Stephenson of Kestrel Publishing to paint an oil painting of a Sunderland of 88 Sqn racing past HMS Amethyst. The composition, which was being reproduced as a print, had been inspired by a scene from Richard's 1957 film The Yangtse Incident. This reunited him with The Dam Busters director, Michael Anderson.