More from Nkosi
Hello again Danny,
Regarding my fathers war service in Burma;
Trailing through my ever diminishing memory bank I can remember a mounted shield my father had been presented to by his troops at war end. The shield had various named places where his troops/workshops were located during the Burma campaign including, Imphal, Chittagong, Shwebo and on to the Mandalay front.
I have also come across an extract from the East African Standard of March 1945 written by a reporter named George Kinnear in which my father is featured and which a paragraph says;
"In an attractive Burmese house,which the skill of a clean tablecloth and a couple of old car seats covered with mauve material and a homemade cabinet gramophone had made comfortable, I found the East African big game hunter and farmer, Major William Bird, of Rongai, now commanding the only infantry workshop on the Mandalay front".........
The locations mentioned may be familiar to you Danny but my father had the linguistic ability to converse with his artisans from various tribes of East Africa, namely. Nyasia's, Jaluo, Kikuyu and Kamba.
Stories to tell, I have had a terrific life and have enjoyed all parts of it. Scared myself witless at times, but learned from them also. Perhaps one day a book will emerge - better to put it all down in black and ink before it is gone forever I suppose.
Regarding the Military aircraft side of things, the first aircraft that I was qualified to maintain (QM) in navy speak was the Westland Wyvern, a great big beast of a machine. Then on to DH Venom 22's, then DH 110's (Sea Vixen Mk I), then Supermarine Scimitars, then Hunters followed by small helicopters(Sioux, or Bell 47 G3B1's). I served on four aircraft carriers with various squadrons before moving to the rotary wing side of things with the Royal Marines. Did the business in In Borneo during Confrontation and then stepped into the civilian world after demob.
Then the start of the next adventure - back to Africa but this time South Africa.
Perhaps more later.
Nkosi