Movies

What happened to RAF pilot Rory Lomax? The Dig’s real photographers revealed

Eve Edwards

Historical drama The Dig was released to Netflix on 29 January 2021. But what happened to The Dig‘s RAF pilot, Rory Lomax?

The Dig follows the real-life story of Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) and Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) as they excavate the treasure at Sutton Hoo.

One of the film’s major plot points is the relationship between archaeologist Peggy Piggott (Lily James) and Rory Lomax (Johnny Flynn). But what happened to Rory Lomax after the end of the film? Is Rory Lomax a real RAF pilot?

If you have yet to see The Dig, full details of the film and spoilers will be revealed.

what happened to raf pilot rory lomax
Screenshot: Johnny Flynn as Rory Lomax in The Dig – Netflix

Rory Lomax in The Dig

Rory Lomax, played by British actor Johnny Flynn, becomes romantically involved with Peggy Piggott in The Dig. Peggy Piggott was a real archaeologist, who was born in Kent, England on 5 August 1912. Piggott passed away aged 82 on 8 September 1994.

In The Dig, Rory Lomax is the cousin of Edith Pretty.

Lomax is a photographer and pilot in the Royal Air Force.

What happened to RAF pilot Rory Lomax?

At the end of The Dig, Rory Lomax reveals that he has been called up by the Royal Air Force to fight in the Second World War.

Rory Lomax is one of the only fictional characters in The Dig, so we can’t know what happened to him next in the real world.

He first appears as a character in John Preston’s 2007 novel of the same name.

Real photographers of Sutton Hoo

Rory Lomax’s role in The Dig is not just as the love interest of Peggy Piggott. Rory also is the photographer of the Sutton Hoo site.

The real photographers of Sutton Hoo were Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff. Lack and Wagstaff were teachers and friends, who were holidaying in the area at the time of the excavation.

O.G.S. Crawford also was a photographer on site, as a part of Charles Phillips’ team.

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