I have been working for quite a while on a fascinating story and I have finally managed to get it on my website - Stories in Welsh Stone. The address is at the foot of this blog. You can find it in the Shorter Tales section because there are too many gaps in my knowledge for me to publish it at present.It is about Robert Everett a fighter pilot who died when his Hurricane crashed on the beach at llanddona in Anglesey in January 1942. He had an eventful life. In 1929 he won the Grand National horserace at Aintree leading home the largest ever field to contest it on Gregalach. He might also have been involved in the great MacRobertson airrace from England to Australia in 1934.However what interested me most was the part he played in the development of the Catapult Aircraft Merchantman, a design born of desperation in an attempt to protect Allied Convoys from U_Boats and long-range German aircraft.Here is an extract from my piece about Robert Everett...Convoys bringing supplies across the Atlantic were vulnerable not only to the U-boats but also to long- distance planes that could attack shipping and act as a spotter for U-boats. It also reported shipping movements and locations to the U boats, so they could intercept in areas where it was not possible for the Allies to provide any air cover. The Focke Wolf 200 Condor was extremely effective and sank nearly one million tonnes of Allied shipping in a few months. It was the first military aircraft capable of flying within range of the East coast of the USA, with a range far in advance of any planes the Allies could use to provide protection.In fact in 1943 a Junkers long distance patrol aircraft flew from Mont de Marsan in occupied France to a point 12 miles north of New York City and was completely undetected before it returned. It was too expensive to produce but it revealed a technological potential the Germans possessed. If they had persisted the plane would have changed the American perception of the war completely.As far as the convoys were concerned they were effectively alone in the Atlantic without the benefit of air cover.Their solution was the Catapult Aircraft Merchantman.Ships were equipped with a single catapult-launched Hurricane fighter a Hurricat or a catafighter. It was essentially the worlds first rocket-propelled fighter. Battleships already had steam powered catapults to launch spotter planes, but these catapults were not powerful enough to launch a fighter. So a rocket sled, using solid fuel rockets was developed at Farnborough.The planes though were not fitted for landings. A bit of a disadvantage you might think. But then there was actually nothing to land on. The pilot would have to ditch in the sea at the end of the flight and the plane would be lost or occasionally recovered and hoisted aboard. It seems to be a desperate rather than a practical measure, a one-way mission in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to land.Everett was the first to test the strategy on 3 August 1941. He was launched from CAM ship Maplin which was part of convoy OG. 70...If you want to find out more about this fascinating story then go to my websites and follow the links to the story.www.storiesinwelshstone.co.uk