MPN11 (#12300),
Not at all - and Seco huts were a step up from half a Nissen hut (and centrally heated, too, if you were lucky) !
Bamboo "basha" in Burma best of all. No mod cons !
re: (#12303), some points:
(from the IWM pics put in by FED below). Never knew Karachi, up in NW, It gets cold there in winter, blues still worn a lot. Noted A.M. Arjan Singh DFC; as a Sqn Ldr he had a Hurricane squadron of the IAF near us in the Arakan.
The strange (well known) pic of a VV pilot cockpit panel (certainly not a Mk.I-III, must be a Mk.IV, but it is weird). Peter C. Scott's "Vengeance!" uses a line drawing of this as his illustration of a VV panel in one of the Appendices.
Two chaps have got lucky (there were no British women's forces in India - WRNS were in Ceylon only). But there were Q.A.s as here (and of course P.M.R.A.F Nursing Services), but they were rare and much sought after.
esa-aardvark (#12302),
Think the original batch of CKD Vengeances were assembled at Mauripur, maybe later at Drigh Road. Could be wrong. Did your Dad ever you tell the tale of the first batches having to be assembled like giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles, as all the paperwork had been lost ? (we'd been flying the things for quite a while before we found that out).
I'd love to have had a chat with him. But back to the magnifying glass now !
roving (#12304)
Lawrence of Arabia; resigned his Colonel's Commission in disgust after WWI because the British Government welshed on the undertakings he had given (on their behalf) to the Arab kings in return for their support against the Turks and Germans (the consequences of that betrayal linger to this day).
Enlisted as a private soldier ("Gentleman Ranker") in the Army, they soon discharged him (too hot a potato ?). Joined the RAF as A/C T.E Shaw. Killed in a motorbike crash in 1935, riding his beloved Brough "Superior". Strangely enough, his wrist watch (with provenance in the form of a repair invoice to a "T.E.Shaw" at the "living out" address he then used) turned up on an "Antiques Roadshow" a few years ago.
Danny.
Last edited by Danny42C; 21st Sep 2018 at 17:27.
Reason: Spelling Error