My memoirs
Chapter 6
Brighton
The aim of this course was to improve our knowledge of Math’s. I have always thought it strange that so much emphasize was placed on this subject and yet I can recall of no situation where such knowledge for a pilot was necessary. The most interesting book I ever had, written by Air Commodore Kermode, was. Flight without formulae. It required no mathematical knowledge...This for flying instructors was almost a bible. It was rather like the myth of timekeeping when related to aircrew. So many people think that to fly an aeroplane, particularly in the Air Force, one requires split second timing. I never found this to be so and certainly I never did manage to synchronise my watch within seconds with everyone else and I rather doubt if anyone ever did manage it. We have all seen the American films where scores of aircrew are assembled and the Boss man say's... Right synchronise you watches. And about two seconds elapse and everyone is happily synchronised. You try it, with just about three people.....Usually so long as you have the day right you are OK. Oh yes! And all take off in the same direction.
I spent six weeks at Brighton and a good portion of the time was spent doing P.T and drill on the seafront. We had a Corporal P.T. instructor, who must have done a Charles Atlas course, because he was built like the film star version of a Tarzan and was bronzed as only you see on the films. Of course there was nothing he liked more than to Lord it over us in front of the civilian onlookers. You can imagine we looked a pretty sorry lot of wimps against him. I think he slept under a sunlamp! But he was good looking and we all did envy him.
At the end of our six weeks we were beginning to look and feel like airmen we were certainly fit and felt very proud of ourselves as we marched around the town. Brighton was a nice place to be, the weather was glorious, and we were the Brylcream boys, getting two and six pence a day, what more could we want? Yes, we wanted to get on with our training and get into an aeroplane. However before that we had the hurdle of Initial Training Wing (ITW) and little did we know the Powers That Be' had a surprise up their sleeves for us. Contrary to our expectations, before going to ITW we were posted to LUDLOW on the Welsh border for, as they said, a toughening up course.