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

[Danny42C]

ricardian,

Thanks ! My daughter has bought me one of his books, But I have Put It Somewhere and Now I Cannot Find It (happens quite a lot these days).....D

camlobe,

Overstep as much as you like (if you do so as diffidently and as courteously as you've done). We are not thin-skinned here. And if you're marched in front of me in my capacity as your Subordinate Commander, I shall dismiss the charge without hearing evidence, you'll march-out without a (any more) stain(s) on your Conduct Sheet !

As to the matter in hand: I still consider that, for we dwindling few who gained our Brevets in WWII and for the many who did so after it, it is quite acceptable that we hear their extended tales in their later Service lives until the end.

Beyond this, if they remained in the aviation business (particularly aircrew), well and good (who would wish to exclude Captain "regle" DFC of SABENA (RIP) and his hijacking at Tel Aviv ?)

But further than that, it seems to me questionable - where would you draw the line ? (here I am uncomfortably conscious of treading on our Moderator's toes - for it is their decision, and theirs alone: they've been very kind to us: it would be churlish to trade on their good nature by usurping their authority.

I take your point, but what really changed countless lives, (and sadly, shortened many of them), was war itself. How it did it varied from person to person. "We each had to fight the war we were given" is profoundly true - you didn't choose your war - it chose you. Everbody's life was upended to some extent, (Man, woman and child, Forces and civilians). No one has a claim to be heard on the sole ground that this happened to him, or that....D.

Fantom Zorbin,

"Administation", Oh, woe ! (and my C.S. Exam English paper required me to edit someone else's spelling !) Bad case of "Quis custodiet ?", I fear. (Has been corrected, of course) But then, did not even Homer nod ?

I have no idea of how the NHS conducts its affairs on a National scale, but in my neck of the woods, my experience as a patient has been uniformly excellent (on the clinical side, that is - apart from hospital food, and no one has ever been able to get a handle on that, and never will). Of course mistakes are, and will be made, for that is the inescapable human condition.

But from what I reliably hear, when it comes to the "business suit" level(£90k pa and up), the Lunatics are running the Asylum. The Administrative Tail is wagging the Operational Dog (not really unknown to us, that, is it ?). There seems to be no clear Chain of Command, no Organisational Tree; Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors and their Assistants proliferate - the list is endless. All contradicting and countermanding each other in a sort of mad kaleidescope. To paraphase Dr.Johnson and the Bear: "The wonder is not that the NHS functions badly and uneconomically, but that it functions at all". The Trust is millions in debt. But hey, the taxpayer's always there to pick up the tab, isn't he ?

Rant away, my boy. Nothing will happen, but you'll feel the better for it.....D.

Smudge,

Nothing wrong with your Latin - it's just that I'm a bit (well, a lot) rusty....D.

Chugalug,

You're much too kind, Sir, showering all these compliments on my grizzled head ! (particularly when referring to my memory). For memory plays tricks: you may relate, in good faith, every detail of some event, only to find, perhaps decades later, incontrovertible evidence that it simply couldn't have happened in the way you describe (or even at all). Conversely, the: "Carlstrom Syndrome", where all memory of some sight or event long past been totally wiped away; so that even the sight of a compelling photograh or document of that same event cannot convince you that it ever occurred.

For that reason I again put on record a disclaimer from long ago on this Thread: Nobody should consider or quote me as an Authority for anything I may have written.

A hard act to follow ? The churchyards are full of "irreplacable" people - but life goes on somehow without them !

Senex Emeritus in angulo cum aquas acerbas Liffeyarum. (might be better) .....D.


Ian BB,

It's not over till it's over ! (No flight is ever over till the chocks are under the wheels). Who knows, the best may yet be to come (?)....D.

(This has grown, like Topsey, to excessive length).

Salutations to you all, Danny.