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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Elizabeth Perez of Stockport Libraries on behalf of Dr W.D.Cockbain and has been added to the site with his permission. He fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

ATC Trained as a Navigator.
Joined R.A.F. in 1943 Warrant Officer 301127 W.D. Cockbain.
Initial training at R.A.F. Cardington.
Trained in Instruments at Melksham.
Joined a Squadron at Fairwood Common, South Wales.
Posted overseas December 1944.
When the war in Europe ended, I retrained as an Education Officer in Simla (North West India).
Served in India until 1946.
On return to the U.K. in 1946 was posted to R.A.F. Wilmslow.

December 1944 overseas posting Far East.
We left Liverpool Docks, but unfortunately the boat the Queen of Bermuda crashed into the Dock Gates — holing the ship below the water line. We headed west until half-way across the Atlantic in convoy. Then headed south in severe storms, until we turned east and entered the Mediterranean Sea at Gibralter.
It became evident that the food store had been flooded, so for the best part of a month we had no food. We did take on water at Port Tarfick (at the bottom of the Suez Canal). This was contaminated and we ended up with no food and a bad case of dysentery.
I had a posting to Baracogh, which was near Bhopal. I was told to catch a troop train going to the North West Frontier. Halfway up India I was told to get off this train at a small halt and await a train going east. They provided me with a petrol can with the lid cut off, some tea, a lump of rock salt and a tin of bully beef. If I wanted a drink, I was told to flag a train down and they would blow steam into the can. Two days later a train going east stopped and I got a lift to Bhopal arriving at 3.00am.
On reaching the R.A.F. camp, I reported sick with dysentery. The young doctor, just out of university, apologised and said all he had was cod liver oil, which I was encouraged to take.
Having served at Bhopal for a few months, I was posted to Nagpun, by which time the supply ships had been sunk on their way to India, so all we had was anything that we could shoot in the jungle. After a while we became too weak to drag any carcass out of the jungle! Fortunately I met an Englishman, who had been in the Royal Flying Corps, but was now an engineer on the India Railways. He took me to his home and gave me food. This friendship lasted until he died only a couple of years ago.
When Japan was made to surrender, the R.A.F. asked for suitable people to take a teacher’s training course in Simla in North West India. The object of this was to train aircrew people, who had joined up during the war and had not obtained Matriculation so they could get into a university on their return to the U.K. This turned out to be an excellent scheme.
After two years in India, I was picked for mid term leave — a month back home. My professor asked what I was doing on paying him a visit and unknown to me contacted the Air Ministry and suggested that I should have a home posting so I could complete my degree. Hence I was posted to R.A.F. Wilmslow as Education Officer, where I remained until I was invalided out with T.B. as by that time I was under 8 stone. It took two stays in hospital to put me on the path to recovery.

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