Agreed, Danny42C ... but was he 'in theatre' in Rawalpindi? Wiki provided geographic limits, which do not appear to cover that location 1,000+ miles to the North-west. That's why I was musing about the possibility of participating in air operations over [but not in] the qualifying areas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Star
Note [2] in the Wiki does lead to:

Daks were used for dropping stores to agents in Burma - see my post with photos here:
https://www.pprune.org/aviation-hist...ml#post7773459

When I was browsing the paper to report the drifting balloon (#12430 above), another item on the same page caught my eye concerning a crash at RAF Driffield the same day - see below and bottom the cutting reporting details of the two RAF men who were killed in the crash (last paragraph).
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8f64249516.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e0c32819df.jpg


WT

My father visited the BBMF about 6 years ago to see the Dakota they have there. He ( and I ) were royally entertained, and shown round and inside the Dakota, while a present day Army dispatcher compared notes with my father. It brought out a stream of hair-raising stories about the Chindits and his work with them that he had never shared with us before (though little about his experiences actually fighting the enemy: he would never talk about that). Dad was also responsible for making and erecting the memorial to Wingate after he died in an American bomber crash.

The skills of the Dakota crews always amazed my father: navigating 1000's of miles over enemy jungle often in monsoon weather with less than detailed maps, and manouvering at low level around cloudy tree covered hills to get the drops where they were needed. Very unsung heroes.

MPN11 (#12442),

You are right: "The Burma Star was instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to those who had served in operations in the Burma Campaign from 11 December 1941 to 2 September 1945. [Wiki]

Rawalpindi would be a thousand miles from operations !

Danny,

Many thanks to all who have contributed so far. It is very difficult, as all I have to go on are a copy of his service records, which contain very little information and the few entries that they contain are difficult to read. His wife is no longer with us, and his two daughters know very little about his RAF career. Ironically, his son has the most information, but we can't ask him as we are doing the research for his birthday!

On joining up, on New Years Eve 1943, he had been placed in Medical Category Grade 2 F.167a 'Not suitable for training at present', and appears to have served at RAF Feltwell for about a year, immediately after his basic training - logged as HH, which I understand means 'Headquarters Holding'. This was immediately before being posted to ACSEA in June 1945 and on to Chaklala in April 1946. While he was at Feltwell, No. 20 Glider Maintenance Unit (equipped with Horsa gliders) was also there, so perhaps there is a glider connection, although that Unit left Feltwell almost a year before he arrived at Chaklala - so that could also be irrelevant. I realize that this isn't much to go on but my wife and I are really appreciating the help being given by you guys in our quest. Thanks again, Andrew

A Vampire for Danny (& others)
 

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ebb275a097.jpg

Found this on FB and posting (with Neil Hutchinson's permission) for Danny (& others)

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

Late to this but, for the record, Andrew can delete 10 Sqn Dakotas from his consideration. The unit was Mauripur-based and carried out a Para training detachment at Chaklala from 21 November - 23 December 1946, so all over before his Dad got there.

The window of opportunity for AndrewClark's father-in-law to earn a Burma Star is extremely small - a matter of a couple of months, really. In his case, ? June 1945 - 2 September 1945. So his time at Chaklala [1,000 miles from Burma!] would have had to entail "3 landings" in the relevant 'zones of conflict' for the award of the Burma Star. How he achieved that remains a mystery so far.

Found a couple of photographs of India of my late father's from late '45/46 and though I'd add them to the thread. I remember I found the negatives at home some years ago and printed them, they were not in great condition.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5b0abf4b4f.jpg

Railway bridge between Raipur and Vizagapatam (October '45 -March '46)
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e30e89b5c0.jpg

"Whilst stationed at Dum Dum, Calcutta, we used to have access to trips down the Hoogly to the Tropical Gardens. This photo was taken on one of those trips." (March - October 1946)
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c259cb8daf.jpg

Probably Calcutta.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d35aeb68b4.jpg

F/O Bill Whittle and a FS out of passenger handling at RAF Vizagapatam (Oct '45 - Mar '46)

Best cure for that is to learn how to do it yourself.

Lessons on Kurrent (taught up until 1914) https://script.byu.edu/Pages/German/en/kurrent.aspx I suggest you start there, you will appreciate how much easier Sutterlin (taught until 1941) is to read. Watch out for sch which is written as a single letter.

http://www.suetterlinschrift.de/Englisch/Sutterlin.htm

Malta Story was on TV the other afternoon. Apart from Mk XIV Spitfires used in ground shots, apparently the only ones they could find, they used archival footage, including this shot of a Mk Vb(trop)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...y_Spitfire.jpg
Is there a reason why the undersides of a tropical Spitfire are painted in such a dark colour?

As to the why's, I leave it to those better informed than I. As to the what's, here is a pic of the undersides of the tropical paint scheme from Britmodeller.com . Perhaps vivid rather than dark better describes the blue, as per tropical skies?

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d5d518c047.jpg

I'd forgotten completely that Desert Air Force aircraft had blue undersides.
I wouldn't mind quite so much if I hadn't seen a Spitfire V at Duxford a few years ago temporarily fitted with a tropical filter and in that scheme, and if I hadn't got an unmade plastic kit of one in a cupboard upstairs.

I can't find a picture online after a brief search but this is a video of the one at Duxford.

Some of the photographic film types of that era did not respond evenly to certain colours of the spectrum, giving a false impression of the actual shade.