Thread by @TODreamsProject

1. They say that one night, just a couple of weeks after the liberation of Paris, two Canadians — an air force pilot & his navigator — were getting drunk across the street from the Eiffel Tower.

2. They were at a hotel bar, which had a fine view of the tower, and started talking to a couple of Americans who were drinking there too — all of them celebrating the liberation of the City of Light.

3. Turns out the Americans were members of the press: a reporter and photographer who worked for The Stars & Stripes, the U.S. military newspaper. And they had a crazy, drunken idea.

4. The Canadians were scheduled to patrol the skies above Paris the next day. What an incredible photo it would make, the Americans suggested, if they flew their plane between the legs of the Eiffel Tower.

The Canadians were drunk enough to agree.

5. The next morning, hungover, pilot Bob Boorman and navigator Bill Bryant took off as planned.

They were flying a de Havilland Mosquito. Nicknamed “The Wooden Wonder”, the Mosquito was a bomber made of wood — more than a thousand were built here in Toronto, at Downsview.

6. At first, their hazy promise from the night before seemed like an insane thing to actually do. The bomber was big. But as they circled the tower, they decided there really was enough room for them to squeeze through.

So they went for it.

7. The American photographer was waiting on the balcony of the hotel across the street, ready to snap this photo as the plane roared through the tower… and then pulled up desperately to avoid crashing into the hotel.

8. They say that when the photo was published, the airmen chose to remain anonymous, fearing they’d get in trouble for the stunt.

So today, there’s not much information about it all. Just what you can cobble together from Flickr comments & message boards: flickr.com/photos/olafthe…

9. Some say the pilot was actually LtCol Robert Fullerton. Some say the image was doctored by Stars & Stripes.

But this is the version of the story I like best: two hungover & daring Canadians risking their lives to make one hell of a crazy photo.