Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II

[Danny42C]

BEaegle,

I've read somewhere that there has been more inflation in this country post WW2 than in the previous six hundred years. When I was in the good old U.S of A. in '41, we got $ 4.08; this lasted till Harold Wilson got his fingers in the pie and it dropped to $ 2.8 - or was it 2.4 ? ("but of course, this will make no difference to the pound in your pocket !" - how can politicians lie so smoothly with such straight faces ?)

They are at it still: in our benighted medieval past they called it: "Debasing the Currency", and they hanged you for it, and quite right, too. Inflation is the cruellest form of tax. Now we churn out paper with nothing to back it and call it: "Quantitative Easing" (President Reagan had a better name for it: "Voodoo Economics"), and then use it to buy up our own Government debt. This strikes me as the equivalent of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, and likely to be as successful, but then what do I know ? (Rant over, sorry Mr Moderator, but it was fun).

I'm sure you're quite right about the Franc rate. Fr 975 in '53, applying my old (sterling) inflation tables (and assuming that both currencies were going down the pan at the same rate) would indicate about 1060 in '51. Memory is unreliable, but a factor of error of 2¼ is a bit over the top ! Thanks for putting me right......D.

Union Jack.

Jack,

Thanks for the link ! Followed it up, turns out to be something to do with a train on the Paris - Lyon - Mediterranian line. (hadn't they all been nationalised as the SNCF by then ?) "Bubble" ? - Wild guess, might refer to the loops in the line that appear on the map..........D.

Geriaviator,

Congratulations on the gripping first instalment of your experiences in the days when you were a "service brat". The mere thought of your steerable bomb trolley hurtling down to Binbrook village with a couple of ten-year olds on board makes the blood run cold ('elf'nsafety would have a fit of the vapours !) What's well begun is half done ! Welcome aboard ! Keep up the good work !..........D.

My thanks to all for the "follow-ups" which are what give life to this Prince of Threads.

Cheers, Danny.