harrym, no point made so none to be taken, simply a polite suggestion. You are an absolute natural at this game, believe me. Now that you have let loose that Union Jack is to receive your account of the convoy to NY and the train journey to Assiniboia, might I humbly suggest that might be the first of your 'deviations' to air on thread? That it would then be out of chronological order would merely add to its charm, a case of playing all the right notes, though not necessarily in the right order!
As a veteran poster, Danny has made an art form of incidental detail; kit he was issued, kit he surrendered, sleeping arrangements on active service and his novel variations on same, travel and accommodation in post-war Europe, purchasing cars for overseas postings, OMQs for same, etc , etc. It is the incidental that illustrates the whole. How did the Canadians (who were long at war) and the Americans (who were only recently arrived) differ in their outlook; to the war, to their way of life, to you? Where did you learn the most of a people, in their big cities, or in the very remotest outback? Young men with an urgent desire not to fail at what they are set to become very focused of course, but there are always distractions, impressions, friendships...
Wander as you wish, off piste, back on, and off again. We will avidly follow, for you are our guide in that far off place of which we all know too little - our past!
Hummingfrog, your account of the terrible toll of your father's course cross country navex to Miami reminds us that the powerful combination of weather and terrain claimed very many crews in WW2, mostly in training, but many operational crews as well. In an environment of onboard computers, GPS, VOR, TACAN, etc, we forget how basic were the means then of knowing where you were. Put that into a war-time scenario of black-out, limited transmission time of nav beacons, radio silence, etc, and you soon see what a challenge was the question, "Where the hell are we Nav?".