During the Covid winter lockdown of 2020, Barry Cawston noticed the corner of a  letter 'hidden' on a book shelf in The Old Drugstore, his C15th home in Axbridge. A few months later he 'found' a small box hidden away under the stairs, that contained photographic prints and negatives, some of them damaged by mould, as well as a bundle of letters that had been burnt, all dating back to 1945-1946.

 

The letters and prints were made by Flight Lieutenant Oscar Waits who lived in The Old Drugstore during the final year of the war after he had sustained serious injury after his Spitfire crash landed above the town in the Mendip Hills.

 

Over the ensuing years Cawston has 'uncovered' some of the pilots' story from newspaper clippings and local archives.

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Part truth, part fiction, the tale 'The Dark Side of the Moon' has emerged from the ashes.

 

The letters and 'keepsakes' will form part of an exhibition alongside prints to recreate the 'bubble' that was Oscars' world.

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