It must have been about
1967, my newspaper was doing a piece on the Soviet Air force and I
was sent along to a military air base near Moscow where I was to meet
a Colonel who was going to go show me some of the new air craft and
describe some of their new techniques as part of the section on the
air force in the modern day. I had another appointment in the
afternoon with a retired pilot who could give me some insight into
flying during war time.
I was already very late
when I arrived, mostly due to their rigorous security protocol, which
I couldn't really criticise due to the nature of the place I was
visiting. So it was that I found myself waiting outside an office,
with only an hour to go before I was due to meet my next appointment.
I was pretty certain by
this point that I would not make the appointment on time and just
hoped that there would be a telephone I could use to call the office
and let them know. Perhaps if we skipped the tour of the new air
craft then I could probably make it within about an hour of when I
was expected, that wouldn't be too bad, my photographer hadn't been
allowed in anyway for security reasons and that was our main reason
for wanting to see them today.
When the door to the
office opened I was greeted by a short man with a huge smile, who
took my hand and shook it firmly, putting me instantly at ease, my
simmering annoyances falling away in an instant.
I followed him back
into the small room, it had a small wooden desk, behind which he sat,
offering me the 2nd chair facing him.
I sat and pulled out my
notebook while looking round the room, it was undecorated and apart
from the 3 pieces of furniture the only other feature other was a
small barred window through which I could see the perimeter fence and
some security personnel standing outside.
I looked up at the
friendly face of the man sat opposite me.
“Thank you for coming
in, do you like what you've seen so far?”
“Oh yes, and thank
you for seeing me it's a great honour to...”
At this the man
appeared to blush. “I take it you recognise me?”
Now was my turn to feel
slightly embarrassed, this man had an air of familiarity about him,
but I just could not place him
“Sorry, I err...”
“I'm Yuri G...”
I interrupt before he
can finish, excited that I may have heard of him after all “Oh are
you that magician guy? The one with the spoons?”
I reach down into my
small bag, certain I have one with my lunch, where is it? where is
it?.
“No! Absolutely
not...”
“Here it is” I sit
back upright brandishing a small silver spoon.
“I said no, I'm Yuri
Gagarin. I'm a very famous astronaut. I was the first man in space!”
“I've never heard of
you, Now bend my spoon!”
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