Geriaviator (#10663),
How can anyone, who has not had the experience, possibly imagine the ferocity of an Asian Monsoon ? My first was the 1943 one in Chittagong (in present Bangladesh), and I well remember the last few weeks of gradually increasing heat, tension and growing humidity; the black clouds massing, evermore menacing - then "Crash" as the Monsoon "breaks", the rain comes down in a solid wall for a week or so, and there is a blessed coolness as the temperature drops .....
All our "kutcha" strips are flooded and put out of action immediately, but we are on tarmac where we are. 110 has flown its last (and my third) sortie (of the "dry season") on the 14th May (to Bume Radio Stn, Akyab). I see that we flew across the Bay of Bengal to Digri (W.Bengal) on June 4th. Digri was another paved airfield, (I think the Liberators (159) operated from there), to sit out the Monsoon.
I cannot recall the exact date ours "broke", but it would be a day or two later than in Calcutta: there it would've started (promptly, every year, so they said) on May 15th. It is the SW Monsoon, guess 17th would be about right for it to cross the Bay to us.
What an excitement for a small boy ! Snag is, it stirs up all sorts of other things: snakes come out of their holes (not that I saw any); all manner of nasty looking invertrebrates start running around ..... Worst of all, there is standing water all over the place: anopheles (the malaria mossie) has a field day.
We think we had it bad ? How would we like it as a 14th Army lad , fighting in the jungle with no cover, night or day ? Count your blessings !
More, more, chota Sahib !
Danny.