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“Yes, Ashley was quite the\u00a0Ladies’ man<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0– and not just with his ‘cousin’\u00a0Melanie Hamilton<\/a>…”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n It’s that time of year to look back and<\/strong> <\/em>look forward. To look back at the past year, and look forward to a new beginning in 2021<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0But first, here’s a look back at “The mysterious death of Ashley Wilkes<\/a>.” I posted that in September 2015, and followed that with Introduction to \u201cAshley Wilkes<\/a>,” announcing that\u00a0I’d just published an\u00a0E-book<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, a collection of posts from this blog. The title came from my post earlier in 2015, and subtitled:\u00a0 “And other tales from the \u2018Georgia Wasp.’\u201d<\/p>\n More recently, this past November\u00a0I published a newer<\/em>\u00a0E-book<\/a>,\u00a0(Some of) My Adventures in Old Age<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em>(Subtitled \u201cOr\u00a0\u2018<\/em><\/span>How NICE it was to travel, before COVID<\/a>.\u2019\u201d) I published that one under a\u00a0nom de plume<\/a>, \u201cJames B. Ford.\u201d Then I went back and<\/span>\u00a0re<\/em><\/strong>-published\u00a0Ashley Wilkes<\/a>, also under “James B. Ford.” (Available at Amazon Kindle Books.)<\/p>\n So here’s a look back at that mysterious death, “re-visited.” You can read the whole story in the original post. But since it clocked in at over 3,000 words, here are the highlights. First of all, “Wilkes” –\u00a0Leslie Howard<\/a>\u00a0– was both a hit with the ladies of the time and<\/em><\/strong> a suspected British spy. At least the Germans seemed to think so, which is arguably why they shot down BOAC Flight 777<\/a>, with Howard as a passenger.\u00a0(From Lisbon to London, \u201con or about<\/a>‘\u00a0June 1, 1943.”)<\/p>\n Not to mention his affairs with\u00a0Tallulah Bankhead<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Merle Oberon<\/a>, two other\u00a0leading ladies<\/a>. And while he was said<\/em><\/strong> to be something of a\u00a0ladies\u2019 man<\/a>, Howard once quipped that he \u201cdidn\u2019t\u00a0chase<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0women but \u2026 couldn\u2019t always be bothered to run away\u201d from them either. And by the way, “Conchita” later claimed that she “used her husband’s<\/em><\/strong> influence” to secure a meeting between Howard and Franco’s “caudillo<\/a><\/i>\u00a0while Howard was in Spain on a lecture tour to promote film in May, 1943.” (Talk about broad-minded…)<\/p>\n Another theory had it that the Germans were really<\/em> <\/strong>after Winston Churchill. He was flying back to London via the same or a similar route about the same time. Churchill had just spent a month in North Africa.\u00a0The\u00a0North Africa Campaign<\/a>\u00a0was just ending, and Allied leaders were planning the invasion of Sicily and Italy. The normal\u00a0stop-over<\/a>\u00a0for such trips from North Africa to London was\u00a0Lisbon<\/a>, in ostensibly-neutral Portugal. (Often via\u00a0Gibraltar<\/a>.)<\/p>\n And during the war, Lisbon was a\u00a0hotbed<\/a>\u00a0of \u201ctrade, conspiracy, and subterfuge.\u201d (Lisbon was the destination of refugees in the movie\u00a0Casablanca<\/a>.) And German spies saw two men who looked<\/em><\/strong> like Churchill and his bodyguard at the Lisbon airport. But by a strange coincidence, Lesley Howard was said to resemble Churchill’s lone bodyguard. At the same time, Howard’s “close friend and business manager,\u00a0Alfred Chenhalls<\/a>,”\u00a0was said to resemble Churchill<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n A long-standing hypothesis states that the Germans believed that\u00a0Prime Minister<\/a>\u00a0Winston Churchill<\/a>, was on board the flight. Churchill, in his autobiography, expressed sorrow that a mistake about his activities might have cost Howard his life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The British title alluded to\u00a0Winston Churchill<\/a>\u2018s speech attributing victory in the\u00a0Battle of Britain<\/a>\u00a0to \u201cthe few.\u201d \u00a0(That is,\u00a0the few<\/em>\u00a0men who piloted British fighters in the battle, and especially those who flew the Spitfire.) \u00a0As Churchill put it,\u00a0\u201cNever in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few<\/a><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Less than nine months later after “Spitfire’s” release,\u00a0Howard\u2019s airliner was attacked by eight\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a><\/i>\u00a0Junkers Ju 88C6<\/a>\u00a0fighter aircraft. The airliner \u2013 with 16 other passengers and crew \u2013 was attacked some 500 miles west of\u00a0Bordeaux<\/a>. The plane \u2013 or parts of it \u2013 came down in the\u00a0Bay of Biscay<\/a>, 200 miles north of\u00a0La Coru\u00f1a<\/a>, on the far northwestern tip of Spain.<\/p>\n As to\u00a0why<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the Luftwaffe shot down the airliner, here\u2019s what\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0said of Howard:<\/p>\n He was active in anti-German propaganda and reputedly involved with British or Allied Intelligence, which may have led to his death in 1943[.\u00a0 He] was shot down over the\u00a0Bay of Biscay<\/a>, sparking conspiracy theories regarding his death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile, Churchill and his plane may have been saved because of bad weather. His original plan was to change planes in Gibraltar. Instead of transferring to a more-comfortable Pan American\u00a0Boeing 314 Clipper<\/a>\u00a0– also known as the Pan Am “Flying Boat” – he had to continue his flight to London on a bomber. That plane was the definitely un<\/em><\/strong>comfortable\u00a0B-24 Liberator<\/a>.<\/p>\n So there may be a lesson there. As the old proverb goes: “Better to continue on in discomfort, rather than getting your ass shot down<\/em> <\/strong>by eight\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a><\/i>\u00a0Junkers Ju 88C6<\/a>\u00a0fighter aircraft!”<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7142\/6800584321_ba38eea0d2.jpg\")
One theory for the shoot-down was that\u00a0Howard was on a top-secret mission \u2013 on behalf of Winston Churchill \u2013 to persuade Spain\u2019s\u00a0Francisco Franco<\/a>\u00a0not<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0to join the\u00a0Axis powers<\/a>. (Germany and Italy. Spain was officially neutral at the time.) Howard\u2019s go-between was said to be\u00a0Conchita Montenegro<\/a>\u00a0(at right), with whom he\u2019d ostensibly had a torrid love affair.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/76\/Spitfire-Poster-1943.jpg\/270px-Spitfire-Poster-1943.jpg\")
Another note:\u00a0His airliner\u00a0was shot down some nine months after the release of his 1942 movie\u00a0Spitfire<\/em><\/strong>. That came three years after Howard starred in 1939\u2019s\u00a0Gone with the Wind<\/a>. (A poster for “Spitfire” is at left.) That 1942 movie was originally called\u00a0The First of the Few<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in Britain. (The name was changed to \u201cSpitfire\u201d for American audiences.) Howard played \u201cR.J. Mitchell<\/a>, who\u00a0designed<\/em>\u00a0the\u00a0Supermarine Spitfire<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/images6.fanpop.com\/image\/polls\/1531000\/1531575_1450782082804_full.png?v=1450782263\")
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