Originally Posted by
Danny42C
Nig G,
No, not really. My last flying entry in April '43 was on 30th. So he could not have signed before that - but we do not know how long after that (the certifying officers do not date their signatures). That much is certain. Flt Lt Don Ritchie (Acting CO) signs at the end of May, so he was probably far away by then.
I was at Madhaiganj (W.Bengal) the whole time (that is a fact, too).
Q: Where was he in the April ? Clearly he was up in Madhaiganj at the end of the month, but why ?
I think we'll never know the answer now. Best forget it.
I was about to agree with you, Danny, that it's all an insurmountable mystery, and the signing of a logbook is a trivial matter anyway... and best that we follow your proposal and knock the matter on the head.
However! I've been in communication with Savimosh, who, of course has written a book on the history of 110 Sqn, and whose Dad was a Nav/WopAG with them, flying Vengeances. Anyway, she came up with some dates from the logbook of someone else in 110 Sqn that indicated that he flew with 'Sqn Ldr Gill' on certain dates. I checked these against Arthur Gill's logbook and they didn't tally.
In the meantime Savimosh, back in Canada, was apparently relaxing with a glass of wine and mulling things over. She got out the book she'd written on 110 Sqn and checked the period in question. Lo and behold... there was a Sqn Ldr
J G Gill who was CO of 110 Sqn from 5 Feb to 20 Sep '43. Thus we have Sqn Ldr A M Gill (my father) commanding 84 Sqn, and Sqn Ldr J G Gill commanding 110 Sqn! Both men in India at the same time and commanding squadrons equipped with the Vengeance... bit of a coincidence, of course.
You said your log book was signed by Sqn Ldr Gill in late April '43... so the big question is.... was this J G Gill or A M Gill? If initials aren't shown, then note that my father's writing was neat and quite elegant. I confess I'm utterly on tenterhooks... trivial though the matter might be!
