大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People鈥檚 War site by CSV storygatherer Lucy Thomas of U3A Callington on behalf of Ronald Baldry. They fully understand the terms and conditions of the site.

Joe takes to the air and lands in India

A day in mid-September 1945, the SRR (Special Repair Rating) group were told to be ready for transit but with no idea of where they were going. Assembling at the main gate they were taken to Plymouth Station and boarded the midnight train for London, arriving at Paddington at 7.30 the next morning.

Later that afternoon they were on a coach heading westwards out of London, in the reverse direction to that taken earlier, travelling further towards the West country. At last the vehicle stopped in front of a stately home and they discovered that next day they would fly from the RAF station in Lyneham, Wiltshire landing in Malta.

After a three hour refuelling stop, the York was once again airborne, this time the destination was Heliopolis, a few miles from Cairo. After a stop of short duration, the journey was resumed in a twin engined Dakota.

Next stop Shaibah, a RAF station surrounded by desert at the head of the Persian Gulf then off again to Karachi. Not having had any proper sleep for two nights, it was a relief to be taken to an army camp, fed and then provided with a bed. The next day they were taken back to the airport where, for the first time, they were told exactly where they were going 鈥� Colombo in Ceylon. It was also the first time that they failed to get to their destination.

Some hours after take-off the navigator informed the passengers that the airfield at Colombo was out of action and that, instead of going to the south of Ceylon, they would be landing at Bangalore, a town roughly halfway down the western side of India. This time they were dropped off outside an hotel instead of the usual service camp.

At some stage of the journey the group had changed from their regulation uniforms into tropical kit 鈥� white shirts and shorts 鈥� and Joe鈥檚 was beginning to look decidedly grubby. On the fourth morning a dhobi wallah knocked at the door and would wash Joe鈥檚 soiled apparel for 鈥榦ne rupee, sahib鈥�. This needed some consideration 鈥� suppose the truck arrived before the clothing was returned? Off to reception; would they be leaving today? Definitely not, the clerk had just received the information. Carry on, dhobi wallah.

Half an hour later someone burst into Joe鈥檚 room. 鈥淨uick, bring your gear, the truck鈥檚 at the entrance.鈥� Panic stations, the driver agreed to wait for ten minutes and not a minute longer. Reception pointed towards the back of the hotel where the dhobi wallah could be found. Joe ran in that direction, up a slight rise and then saw a shallow stream ahead of him; standing knee deep in the stream was the fellow he was looking for engaged in dipping Joe鈥檚 shirt in the water and then thrashing a large rock with it. Hurrying over, Joe first grabbed his shorts, which were spread to dry on another rock and attempted to retrieve the shirt. This action was resisted strenuously and a tug of war took place, with Joe in imminent danger of being dragged into the stream. After a few seconds, Joe saw what a ridiculous situation he was involved in, let go of the shirt and reached in his pocket for some money, whereupon the atmosphere lightened, the shirt was given up and Joe raced back to the truck, leaving a trail of water behind him.

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