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The unit tried to give everybody a 2-week break annually. I had an aunt (my mother’s sister) and her two girls in Kashmir. Her husband was a prisoner of the Japs, but at the time was ‘posted missing’, so her money was stopped until the powers that be knew what had happened. No money, so of course she had to take a job. In the winter she had become deputy to the job of running a hotel in Rawalpindi. It had a summer subsidiary in Kashmir and she asked me to go there which was wonderful.
I travelled by train right across India. Unfortunately I couldn’t get to see any of the places we passed through and got to Rawalpindi. The hotel there organised a taxi for 3 other officers and myself to go to Gulmarg for this was the way to get there. It was the end of the monsoon season so we had to go the long way round as the usual road had disappeared into the river.
There were DAK bungalows on route for us to over-night in that provided shelter and someone to provide food - at a price. One part of the road, even on this route, had disappeared down the hill. We had to wait in the hot sun while it was made safe for us to walk over and then the taxi slowly inched over safely too.
On arrival in Gulmarg, we found it was only a Summer Resort and had only a footpath to it. All our luggage had to be carried up by porters and any small children were carried up in baskets on the backs of porters. The only wheeled traffic in Gulmarg were bicycles and wheelbarrows. Everybody who didn’t want to walk had to ride horses!
I had a wonderful reception from my Aunt Taff and her two daughters, who had spent most of their lives in India. Their brother was left in England at boarding school. He spent most of his holidays with friends and with my mother. They now knew that their father was a P.O.W. with the Japs and had their allowances restored, but had become used to having a job at the hotel and organised riding picnics at hidden valleys in the area around Gulmarg. I had never ridden a horse in my life and was scared, so one of the girls always escorted me at the tail of the group.
The time went very fast. We had a trip on the local lake and saw all the water plants and tomatoes grown on floating islands. There were also some houses half buried in the side of the hill with a grass field for a roof, sloping to throw off the winter snows.
The trip back had no hitches. I stopped in Calcutta long enough to get a dress ordered for a future wedding. The unit gave me good welcome. This takes the dates to autumn and the war was beginning to go our way.

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