It wasn’t all bad

A WWII fighter pilot has taken to the skies for the final time, at the age of 94. Dr Sandy Saunders suffered 40% burns when his plane crashed in 1945. He was given a skin graft by the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald Mcindoe, joining a group of patients known as the “Guinea Pig Club”. Saunders, who has terminal cancer, donned a flying jacket and scarf to fly a vintage Tiger Moth for a new BBC documentary. “It just brings it all back,” he said. “I wish I were young again.”

Elephants in northern India have been sporting colourful woollen jumpers knitted by local women. Staff at the Wildlife SOS elephant sanctuary in Mathura were worried that the animals might not survive the freezing winter nights. All 20 animals there were rescued from abusive owners, and some remain physically frail. When the village women heard of the elephants’ plight, they knitted a bulk load of huge, pyjama-like garments to keep them warm.

A Syrian refugee family is to be offered a home inside a London synagogue. The South London Liberal Synagogue, in Streatham, is raising £50,000 to convert part of the building into a two-bedroom family home. “This is a very personal issue for a lot of our members,” said Alice Alphandary, the synagogue’s chairwoman. “There is a sense that we as Jews have benefited from sanctuary in the past. For example, my father was a refugee in the 1950s. Now we want to repay that welcome to a new generation.”