"When Mabel Joll opened the front door to see her son Ian she fainted, believing she must have seen a ghost. Ten minutes earlier Mrs Joll had received a telegram telling her that her son, Squadron Leader Joll, was 'missing believed killed' after he crash-landed his plane on a Dutch beach during a strafing attack on a German aircraft in 1940. However Sq Ldr Joll had survived the crash and after trekking miles along a beach and persuading a ship to take him back to England, he had dropped in on his parents to say hello. His incredible story came to light as his medals - including the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) - were put up for auction and his background was revealed. Sq Ldr Joll had been involved in a strafing attack on German aircraft on May 10, 1940, when his plane was hit by ground fire and he was forced to crash land his Bristol Blenheim light bomber. At an earlier briefing all crew had been told that under no circumstances should they allow the plane's secret interception radar to fall into enemy hands. After several unsuccessful attempts to set his Blenheim on fire, Sq Ldr Joll decided the only thing to do was to shoot into the plane's fuel tank. Sq Ldr Joll and his gunner then trekked for miles where they met a Dutch fisherman, who they persuaded to take them to England. Their journey to England took place just 16 days before the start of the evacuation of 300,000 Allied troops a few miles down the coast at Dunkirk. The vessel docked in Harwich, Essex, and Sq Ldr Joll travelled to his parents' house in Gravesend in Kent. Oliver Pepys, of Spinks auctioneers which is now selling Sq Ldr Joll's medals, said: 'His mother answered the door and promptly fainted. 'Not ten minutes before she had received a telegram from the Air Ministry stating that they regretted to have to inform her Pilot Officer Joll was missing believed killed. 'She must have thought she had opened the door to a ghost of her son." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3030766/Incredible-story-WW2-fighter-ace-turned-mother-s-house-ten-minutes-received-telegram-saying-missing-believed-killed.html#ixzz3WlY3rSwE
it was all in the timing, i suppose. and this was early in the war. many presumed dead managed to come back. i sometimes envy britons for their knack for adventure.
