I think that we have to face the fact that any questions occasioned by John Dunbar's story are going to remain unanswered. Doesn't mean they shouldn't be asked, they should. It just means that we have to go with the flow of JD's narrative (as recorded by BB) and try to piece in the missing chunks if we can.
It seems to me, Danny, that it is less a case of Hamlet without the Prince and rather vice versa. He's clearly in charge of some 30 odd pilots and aircraft, but with what rank and what is he commanding, a Squadron (you'd think so at that size), a Flight, a Detachment? He doesn't say and so far we can only guess.
I think that we should remember that the tapes (ie the story so far) are verbal and unrehearsed (guessing that though, I admit). So he's going to be less than precise, no doubt egging the pudding at times. When we get to the book (Five into Four Won't Go) I would expect a rather more reliable account. Certainly we cannot hold Box Brownie responsible for any short comings. He is merely the messenger, armed only with his tapes, the book, and soon we hope the logbooks.
That's good enough for me. I'll go along with the flow of this tale, take note of issues raised by those intimately knowledgeable of the time and place (no names, no pack-drill, eh?), and hopefully learn something new about L5's in Burma (which will be everything in my case).
So thank you, Box Brownie. Chaos reigns, people are to be dispersed left right and centre, conditions will be very challenging, so all Ops Normal therefore! Press on Sir, and again, thank you!
