cflyer, good sleuthing, well done! The known unknown here is when did he gain his wings, and where? Danny informed us that it was general practice for the best performing students to become instructors, having gained their own wings. I wonder if that was the case here? Having blotted his copybook and done his penance, he moves onto OTU (as deemed to be a bad influence on student pilots?), gets a crew, and goes to war...
I'm sure that most crews had individual members coming and going, due to medical, personal, or a hundred other reasons. The fact remains though that for better or worse having selected one another on the most spurious and random basis, Bomber Crews lived or died together thereafter. But just as others stepped in to fill the voids, so crew members could temporarily do the same for other crews, including the pilots.
Geriaviator, welcome back from the hols. Hope you enjoyed them! Educated as we all are now in the arcane practices of the wartime RAF thanks to Danny, it is fascinating to see it come to life in the unrolling story of this Greek Cypriot RAF pilot. The exceptions to rules are the most fascinating aspects to my mind. The essential dynamic was to recruit, train, and put into the fray ever more replacements for the toll among operational aircrews. At the same time discipline and morale (opposite sides of the same coin?) had to be maintained. All illustrated in cyflyer's informative posts.
Vzlet, thanks for the link. The vital part played by the USA in the training of Allied aircrew was front and centre of Danny42C's story on this very thread. Thank you for posting a link to one part of that enormous contribution. It paved a 'Special Relationship' between our respective Armed Forces that pertains to this day, no matter the vicissitudes of political comings and goings.