Deferred Service and Hill Railways.
My virtual Crewroom is busy again ! Good to see you all back ! Adam first,
When I was on Deferred Service (Jan-May 1941) I got absolutely nothing from the Secretary of State (or anybody else), and in later years I never heard mention of any such letters or offers of a Correspondence Course. So I'm not much use to you, I'm afraid. This seems to be a RAAF thing, and a good idea, too. Sharpening up your Maths and Physics would be very useful indeed.
The Training Manual that Pete has found seems to wrap it up. The Letter of Welcome (Pete again) is very nice as far as it goes. I would go along with it except for the bit about "The Royal Air Force is a highly organised Service". We-el, "up to a point, Lord Copper !"
(Some may recall that the writer, Sir Archibald Sinclair had a son, F/O Robin Sinclair, flying in Burma on Mossies at the time they were falling apart).
Viola, thank you for the kind words, and for pointing me to the iPlayer tonight. It was an interesting series (I think the only one I caught was "Ooty". I never went to Simla (not Shimla - that's just another sneaky change they've slipped in), as it is the Hill Station for Delhi, and I spent my time far East in Bengal and Assam.
angels, it seems that I was right in saying Darjeeling was the line with the "switchback" system. I went up there at least once on leave; you got the night train from Calcutta (Sealdah) and changed onto narrow gauge in the morning at Siliguri.
I am a bit concerned about your Dad having Yellow Fever. We all had a jab for that, and it was supposed to be 100% effective. I never heard of another case, but Jaundice was not all that rare, and that makes you yellow, too. (Could there have been some confusion ?) Of course he could have missed his jab one way or another, but the medics were pretty hot on the paperwork.
There wouldn't have been any "blagging" involved; recuperative leave was an official attachment, a Service duty, so he would have travelled on warrant and had his accommodation laid on. (I had the same thing at Chakrata).
Taphappy, let's be hearing a bit more of your adventures, please. We've been getting a bit anxious about you lately ! - and also DFCP and 26er. We are all "well stricken in years" now, and things happen.
Please keep the questions and comment coming, chaps. It's the lifeblood of this great Thread, and helps to keep it in pole position on Page 1 where it belongs.
I'll put a bit more into my railway Post by way of an Edit soon, and I'm back in (or rather struggling out of) Cannanore in the Monsoon next time,
Goodnight, all,
Danny.