An RAF veteran who reputedly introduced the French to fried eggs on toast after being shot down by the Nazis has died aged 94.
Tom Maxwell was one of the last surviving rear gunners of the Second World War. In 1944, he and his crew had to parachute out of their Lancaster bomber after it was hit by flak over German-occupied France.
Five airmen were captured but Tom and two others escaped.
A family found Tom and hid him at their farm in Bazancourt for 10 days.
They gave him bread, cheese and red wine for breakfast, but one day, using sign language, asked for fried egg on toast.
The farmer’s wife burst out laughing, thinking it sounded “ridiculous”.
But next morning she gave Tom the meal he wanted, and it later became a delicacy in the area.
It was several decades later that Tom discovered his request sparked a French revolution. Crash site researchers visited the farm and spoke to the wife’s son.
Belfast-born Tom said: “His mother shared the story [about fried eggs on toast] with friends, who laughed at this crazy Irishman.
“It then ended up in all the local cafes.”
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Tom, who served with No 622 Squadron based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, escaped France thanks to the French Resistance, returned to the UK and resumed the dangerous flying missions.
After the war, he was a teacher but rejoined the RAF in Air Traffic Control, retiring in 1978. He then spent 10 years with the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force before settling near Exeter in Devon.
The grandad, whose wife Katherine died in 2007, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion d’honneur for his bravery in the war.
