Flt Lt John Dunbar DFC (RIP) Five into four won't go
Taken from two tapes
The Air Commodre bade me sit down and came straight to the point. " I understand you have been pushing to go onto the Mosquito. Not a hope. The Empire Training Scheme is now at a stage where we will soon have a surplus of aircrew. By the time you get to a squadron the war will be over. There is a job you can take on that will mean ops. You will have to select a group of thirty pilots to form a squadron about which I can tell you nothing. They must have the following qualifications- be under 25 years of age, have 750 hour as pilots and be ex - EFTS instructors." I accepted the challenge but it was one hell of a job recruiting the thirty bods. I could tell them nothing. One chap, Dave Proctor, came up to me and said he had heard I was recruiting and why hadn't I asked him? What had I got against him However he was twenty nine. and I said no - he was past it. " " I'm begging you. There's only one place they will want us and that is Burma. My brother was lost on the retreat and if I can get out there may be a chance of finding him" I managed to arrange for him to join us. By the end of May 1944 we were on a short commando course and on July 17th began a n intensive short landing programme at No 6 EFTS. On November 23rd 1944 we left Lyneham on board two Liberators for India. Because of the urgency we were routed across Europe via El Adam, Shaiba and Karachi. from there we received a signal to go to Bombay"
To be continued.