Walter,
Once again your experiences chime with mine at several points. Although I was never at Takoradi myself, I understand that a flight of my old (110 Hyderabad) sqdn were equipped, just post-war, with Vultee Vengeance Mk.IV (the only ones who ever got that Mark). This was for the purpose of air-spraying anti-malarial trials at Takoradi. They wouldn't have got them in India, for they didn't have the range to get to Africa themselves; I can only assume that they picked them up somewhere in Africa.
Curiously, at about that time (end of '45), my little unit (1340 Flight) was trying the same idea locally in Cannanore (S. India), using the underwing spray tanks that we'd previously used for spraying mustard gas for the Chemical Defence Research Establishment there. I would assume that 110 were using similar tanks (a type which we'd used the year before to lay smoke screens - but that was before I took over). Never heard the results of the Takoradi trial, but the story was that the Mk.IVs had given a lot of trouble, and they'd have been better off with Mk.IIIs which were readily available in quantity.
You were right about mepacrine, a tablet a day was compulsory, and we also had to take salt tablets to compensate for the loss in sweat. Malaria is no fun at all, I had three doses, two were Benign Tertian (which is bad) and one Malign Tertian (which, as its name suggests, is a damn sight worse). Again, I got each of my three doses in spite of all precautions, whereas a night spent on first arrival at Howrah station (Calcutta), by the river, with only a thin, filthy blanket and no net, caused no cases in our little group of half-a-dozen, although we were in the malaria capital of the Empire. It's just the luck of the the draw.
...Busily, I consumed lots of "Tom Collins", a gin-based drink...
More likely, a "John Collins" (strictly speaking "Tom Collins" is based on "Old Tom" gin [which is rare and expensive], "John" is London dry gin - except in wartime India, when the local "Carew's" gin [not bad at all] was all there was).
...remained for the next two weeks recovering from a severe attack of malaria..
Yes, same with us - five days quinine, two days rest, five days plasmoquine two days mepacrine and a fortnight's sick leave.
... Suddenly a huge vulture swooped down from the nearby roof, and in a very slick action, took up the meat from the moving plate, and was gone in an instant, leaving a dazed soldier with only half his dinner!..
More likely a "sh#tehawk" (cf my Post p.333 #6642 on exactly the same topic !)
Keep it coming, Walter - this is fine !
Cheers, Danny.