Danny
Re. your comments about the parade at Lakeland details of which I posted in my #6898, here is some clarification about the composition of the parade, the dress rules, that it was an Armistice Day parade and the bagpiper also gets a mention.
It comes from page 251 of “The Arnold Scheme: British Pilots, the American South, and the Allies” by Gilbert Sumter Guinn.
Here:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m...gpipes&f=false
….travelled eastward and southward to Lakeland, from the Lakeland Railway station, they were transported by truck to the huge barracks at the flying school. There, they were assigned three men to a room. Williams had been appointed cadet sergeant at Maxwell Field and his responsibility was essentially disciplinary. Since it would normally have been cold and wet at home in Britain, it took some time for the men to become accustomed to mild weather and daily sunshine.
Their training commenced immediately, and Williams found himself attending ground school in the morning and flying in the afternoons, alternating about weekly. Of course, there was special flying kit, and issue leather jackets were worn with blue uniform trousers for ground school classes. However, since the United States entered the war in December, and U.S. Army regulations had required a changeover to winter uniforms by 1 November, members of Class SE-42-E wore RAF uniforms both on and off station after that date. The classes at Lakeland were also permitted to march to British-style drill. On 11 November, the entire RAF student body at the Lakeland school formed up into two groups for an Armistice Day Parade through downtown Lakeland. The first group of fifty-four men was led by Duncan MacKinnon of SE-42-D, a Scottish cadet playing the bagpipes, and a second echelon of thirty-five men followed. Behind them were American ex-servicemen of 1917-18.
As his dual flying training continued, Williams recalled the “great shock” when, after landing at the auxiliary field near Plant City, his civilian instructor, C. D. Oakley, stepped out of the front cockpit onto the wing of the Stearman, reached back to connect the front seat belts and then climbed down from Stearman No. 28 and sent him solo, to that time, Williams had received only four and a half hours of dual flying instruction, but he soloed successfully. Now his flying instruction really began. During weekends, if there were no demerits to walk off on the ramp during Saturday afternoon, Williams and others usually walked downtown, had a snack or glass of beer and surveyed the town and its environs.
On Sundays, most of them attended church in town. At the Methodist church, Williams and several friends found that they enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and the people. Usually, they were invited to Sunday lunch and/or dinner and were driven about the town and countryside. From his perspective, “Southern hospitality was beyond our comprehension.” During these travels, the British cadets found a genuine friendly welcome everywhere they went….
WT