Danny, what an inspiring story of action well beyond the call of duty! Could it be that the very novelty of early post war civil aviation meant that the fate of Shoestring and their stranded pax was very much a one off situation, almost as though you were the victims of a ship-wreck or railway accident? Perhaps the later bonding of airline companies made the resolution of their failure more certain, but surely not more uplifting? As you say bully for His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Paris, and three cheers for our man in the Consulate. Now they are as likely as a US Hospital to require your Bank and Credit Card details before advancing so much as a sou. The tax payer is now the victim to be defended, and those who find themselves abandoned and penniless in far off places seen as part culpable in their own misfortune.
Geriaviator, I must say that Aden never was on my "must see" short list, and it seems from what you tell us that I had got it about right. What a gamble Service life has always been! Winters spent in the cold wind swept wilds of Lincolnshire, the sweltering heat of the desert, or a tropical paradise in the Far East? "Faites vos jeux, Mesdames et Messieurs, ....rien ne va plus!" Where will the bouncing ball finish up? What will fate decree? You need to ask yourself if you feel lucky, well do you?