There you are, buying a second hand book

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Member for

24 years 3 months

Posts: 2,598

called "Parachutes for Airmen' by Charles Dixon in 1931

It has a signature and an ownership stamp

The Ownership stamp says "F D Paul 1931"

The signature though difficult to read says "Frank Dnnnnn Paul"

Anyway, must be a Pilot methinks so I google "F D Paul" Pilot and up comes London Gazette with him in RAF and later RNVR

It turns out the Dnnnnn is Dawson and I find this Francis 'Frank' Dawson Paul a BoB pilot and the first RN Ace of WW2 who was sadly killed in the BOB and grandson of founder of Boulton-Paul company

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Dawson-Paul

Photo of him here

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tkjB9PCkTukC&pg=PT106&lpg=PT106&dq=Frank+Dawson+Paul&source=bl&ots=xI8eSgkELp&sig=3uB0i8dhC0nGGx-FAxO4bFGVr4Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1PqzVI7lDK3IsQTs_4GoBQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Frank%20Dawson%20Paul&f=false

He must of got it as a aviation mad teenager

Original post

Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 9,739

How much was the book? :)

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 245

Wow,when I read something like this, I makes you wonder what else is out there...

Member for

24 years 3 months

Posts: 2,598

It cost £18

However, I bought it because it was cheapest price for book title I could find (I wanted to read the actual book, not the signature (didn't even ask what is said) - that was a bonus) .. I did not ask what the signature was it was bought 'blind' over the internet

Paul

Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 9,739

Quite an amazing thing really, when you think about it.

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 6,044

What a great find Paul : )

Member for

24 years 3 months

Posts: 646

Nice one.

I found this inside the cover of a copy of "The Fledgling" by Arch Whitehouse. I'd already got a few of Arthur Gould Lee's books so I was quite chuffed.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5224/5592217058_49ba088889_b.jpgThe Fledgling - Arch Whitehouse by shuttleworthpix, on Flickr

Member for

14 years 6 months

Posts: 2,172

Interesting. Years ago while visiting Foyles in London I spotted several paperbacks of the famous book " the wooden horse"
They all were signed by Eric Williams. Did not buy any of them, as I had already read the book. Hmmmm....
Missed opportunity here?
Cees

Member for

19 years 4 months

Posts: 376

A wonderful find, Paul.

For pennies, I once purchased a signed copy of an obscure book, "From Father to Son: the letters of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker to his son William, from boyhood to manhood". Inside was Rickenbacker's business card...from 1970, but, still, an unexpected bonus.

At the same second-hand bookshop on another occasion I mulled over purchasing a signed Billy Bishop book -- also greatly undervalued -- probably because the bookseller in Washington DC didn't know of this Canadian's legacy. But I hesitated. When I returned a day later, it was gone.

And I've been burned, too -- once with a fake Ploesti Raid B-24 senior commander's signature. There was no "Jack Woods", only "Jack Wood" on that raid. His widow later confirmed that I'd been had, and the signature wasn't even close to the real thing.

I won't be buying anything signed "Tiger Wood", "Keith Richard", "John F. Kennedy 1964", or "Pete Townsend". Won't get fooled again!

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19 years 4 months

Posts: 805

I bought Flight of the Mew Gull, by Alex Henshaw over the inter web and happily found his dated signature inside it. Very pleased with that :-)

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13 years 7 months

Posts: 629

removed

Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 217

Recent cleanup down our way elicited Guy Gibson's #2 logbook. Amazing!

G'day ;)