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Old 30th Apr 2011, 19:02
  #7 (permalink)  
BEagle
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
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Not an aviator thing, but my late father told me of a trick with which he and the other young subalterns of the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners used to amuse themselves during WW2....

It seems that many Indian bullock carts (bayl gari) would plod along a road at dead of night, all following the leader. Which was frequently 'driven' by an elderly Indian gentleman who would often be fast asleep...as would all the other drivers...whilst the bayl dutifully trudged along in long line astern. So the RBS&M sublaterns would quietly sneak up to the lead bayl and gently lead it by the halter through a half-circle. All the others would then dutifully follow it back the way it had come.

A few minutes later there would be much Urdu shouting, yelling and cursing, despairing mooing noises from the bayl and all-round chaos as all the drivers woke up and manoeuvred their garis, backing into each other whilst attempting to turn round again. Usually in the pitch dark...

Hearts and minds, eh?
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