Bother! Just lost my post... so to re-write in short, Danny... thanks for your comments. The airstrip that 84 went to was 'Chharra', not 'Chiharra'... misread it... cheap reading glasses, not my eyes. So I guess it was the 'Chaara' that you knew of.
Yes I have my doubts about that being Gongala rock... magnificent view though that photo presents. I think what's in the photo would more properly be called an 'island' rather than a 'rock'. However, despite the hundreds of online pictures of Colombo's coastline, I could spot no offshore 'rock'. Possibly there was one... as I say...these damned glasses.
To move on.. and to continue from my post 374 on the previous page, some more of Arthur's photos of 84 Squadron in the Western Desert, where they were participating in Operation Crusader in 1941, against the Italians and the Afrika Korps.
Below: Crews debriefing outside the Ops Room at LG 75, on return from an operation.
Below: the crewroom dugout.. CO Wg Cdr Boyce in the foreground on the left.
Below: one of many attacks on the defences at Bardia
Below: 84 were withdrawn from the desert in order to re-equip with new Blenheim IVs in Egypt and then fly down to Sumatra, in the Far East, to help counter the Japanese offensive. This shot was taken at Sharjah, Iran, during an overnight stop on that nine-leg journey. Only 18 out of 24 aircraft completed the journey. Within a month, all aircraft had been lost either to accidents or to the Japanese. A haunting photograph.
