大象传媒

In 1940 I joined the RAF and was sent away from home for the first time.I went to Blackpool for training. We all had to receive innoculations and I was standing in line when the Medical Officer started working his way along with the needle. Men started collapsing. Next day, complete with stiff arms we had to practice saluting!
I also recall that we were practicing drill along the front at Blackpool and the commands must have been carried away on the wind because half the group turned one way and half turned the opposite way, so that they were getting further and further apart.
After 2 weeks I was posted to RAF Lindholme, near Doncaster. We did not receive any training on machine guns but one day two airmen were cleaning the gun-one cleaning and one inspecting. One of the airmen looked down the barrel and the gun went off. He lost his eye.
At one point I was engaged in perimeter patrol guarding the planes in the airfield. The shift was 2 hours on and 4 hours off.I was lying on my bed in full kit,with some army blokes playing cards nearby. I took my boots off and went to sleep.I was woken by a shot and found a hole through one of my boots. One of the soldiers was unloading his rifle and it went off.
One evening I went with my mate for a drink in the mess. 2 pints of beer were poured by the chap behind the bar-Toggy Hunt- but no money was asked for. A short time later 2 more beers were given to us free by Toggy. This time my mate explained that earlier he had found Toggy recirculating beer from the drip trays and his reward for not telling was free beer!

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