Thank you for confirming Chalky's story, LS. You might also recall another one that he told about training glider pilots. An important part of their training was to practice the launching of concentrated formations, and such an exercise was in progress (at RAF Fairford?). Way towards the rear of the dense mass of gliders waiting in turn to be connected to a tow rope and a tug was a GPR pilot who suddenly felt the call of nature. Seeing just how many aircraft there were ahead of him before it would be his turn, he reasoned he would have enough time to exit his glider, nip across to the boundary hedge, answer the call, and then nip back again. Sadly his reasoning was greatly in error as, while adjusting his clothing, he was horrified to see that events had moved apace and his now empty glider was being hooked up to a Stirling tug, the slack taken up, and the take-off initiated. His warning cries were drowned out by a cacophony of radial engines.
Things went well at first as the glider gained flying speed, but then it began ever increasing and wilder gyrations until, in an understandable act of self preservation, the tug cast it loose and to its doom. No doubt the legal eagles could have had a field day, and one can imagine the many offences under Military Law that could have been invoked, but I prefer to think that a more benevolent attitude would have prevailed. Gliders were ten-a-penny and their pilots badly needed. If nothing else, he had shown himself to be an officer and a gentleman in his actions, as any other course of action would have been unthinkable, wouldn't it?