Thank you OD, I've never got round to that but should.
I am familiar with his service number because he scribed it on his shoe cleaning brush - which is still in daily use in my own house, along with his hammer which was used on anything recalcitrant in the aircraft. Now that's wartime quality !
I got the impression that it was actually a highlight of his life otherwise spent in the commercial world, no doubt in subsequent recollection rather than at the time. Heard many a description of the escapades in my younger years - to the extent that I reckon I could go VFR from Mandalay to Rangoon without charts. Actually that sounded straightforward, for he said they just followed the Irrawaddy. Most of their "dicey" moments actually seemed to have happened at the base rather than in the air.