I've come across a couple of stories that illustrate the pastoral side of Arthur's job when he was 84 Sqn commander in India.
He was once petitioned by a very agitated Corporal. The man had written to both his girlfriend and to his wife and put the respective letters in the wrong envelope. Neither the girlfriend nor the wife knew about the other and the Corporal was certain that his wife would go berserk if she knew about his infidelity. Arthur immediately went in pursuit of the letters, first at unit level then at the Forces Post Office, Calcutta. Unfortunately it was too late. He noted that the Corporal survived the Burma campaign, but rather doubted whether he could have survived his return to the UK!
Despite his gentlemanly disposition, Arthur was in favour of new members of 84 Squadron undergoing an initiation ceremony. The idea being that a bit of collective fun would help the newly-formed unit to gel together... and the new-comer would get the idea that he had joined a 'Squadron with a difference'. An uproarious party would be thrown, at which the costumed ‘Mayor of Shaibah’ would welcome the newcomer, who would then have to kiss the lipsticked ‘Lady Mayoress’. All would sing the ‘Shaibah Blues’, and other ribald songs, the newcomer having the opportunity to demonstrate his talents by singing a verse unaccompanied!
There was insufficient alcohol available for one such party, the beer ration being meager. So Arthur sent an aircraft to pick-up extra supplies from Dumdum. These cases of ‘Lilly’s Gin’ went down well at the party. However, the next day, a third of the squadron’s personnel discovered they were either fully or partially blind... and the squadron was certainly no longer 'operational'. Out of his depth, the Medical Officer consulted an Indian physician who identified the drink as being made from the Tari palm – otherwise known as a local brew called 'Toddy'. After 48 hours the ill-effects wore-off, greatly to Arthur’s relief!
Last edited by NigG; 31st May 2016 at 19:03.