Thank You
Clffnemo and bravolima80
It is so wonderful to read your reminiscences, as my dad was one of your contemporaries. He also was at Cambridge 2 ITW, Fairoaks, 18 EFTS and Heaton Park ACDC between Mar 43 and June 43; Monkton, Regina, Yorkton and Monkton July 43 to Mar 44, and was also pushed into gliders, much to his chagrin at the time, but his relief later in life. He talked of his pals who were lost during the crossing of the Rhine only once, and that was when he visited me when I was stationed at RAF Laarbruch and we visited the War Cemetery where he found their graves and wept. However, I still have his log-book and diary from Apr 44, which covers PRC, and ACOS training at Harrogate, Credenhill, and then his Glider training at Croughton in Nov 44 and Seighford in Dec 44. He then goes on to cover his time in Burma flying Dakotas on 668 and 194 Sqns and other delights such as the Aircrew Mountain Centre, Calcutta, Rangoon etc until his demob in Feb 47. Unfortunately, he passed on in 2000, but reading your words sounds exactly like him saying it. He was also reticent about sharing his experiences, always saying that no-one would be interested. I disagreed and this thread proves the interest is immense; I wish he could have been aware of the respect, interest and admiration in which your generation is held.
Thank you for making the effort to tell your story, we do appreciate it.