Bwana makuba
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He said "That was a split assed landing" I was chagrined. When I taxied back to the flight hut the Instructor was waiting. I came in on the final approach, crossed the boundary fence, flattened out and touched down with a sigh of relief. I then climbed to 1000 feet to do a circuit and quieted down when I realized I had to land this thing and all my buddies would be watching!!
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I vividly remember taking off and when I got to about 300 feet I suddenly realized there was nobody in the rear seat. Then came that fantastic moment when the Instructor got out of the cockpit and said "Take her on your own and do a circuit and landing" This went on for several days until I had done 7 hours and 40 minutes dual instruction. Then "stalling, medium turns, gliding and climbing turns. Next day we practiced "Taxiing, straight and level flight, climbing and descending". If you wanted to use a toilet it got to the point where you practically had to drag someone else off the seat.Īfrican Air Force and consisted of "Familiarization with the cockpit layout, preparation for flight and flying experience" That same day I had another flight "Effect of Controls". The latrines were in the bow of the ship and dozens of men were sitting on the toilets almost continuously. It got so bad that in order to be admitted to the sick bay one had to have a temperature of over 102 degrees. One good thing about working there was the fact that we got a decent meal but it was so hot that while we were having our meal the sweat was running off our brows and on to our plates.Ĭonditions on board got steadily worse and half the troops went down with dysentery. I remember carrying sacks of potatoes from the ship's hold up 4 decks to the galley. We used to bang the biscuits on the mess table to get rid of the weevils in them.Įveryone had to take turns at fatigue duty helping out the ship's cooks. We could take only salt water showers and our cocoa in the evening was made with salt water. We were on that ship for 22 days during which time they ran out of fresh water. I remember hanging over the rail and watching the flying fish skim the surface of the waves. It was painted black and we headed South through the Red Sea and down the Indian Ocean. It was a captured German ship and had originally been called the "Cap Norte". Next day we went by train to Suez and embarked on
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The convoy had actually split up and none were sunk. He was claiming that all 11 ships had been sunk. The following day the ship's Captain put Lord Haw Haw over the Tannoy system. We were all kept below decks with lifejackets on but an RAF Police Corporal was standing at a hatchway to see what was going on and was hit in the stomach by gunfire and died from his wounds. One was shot down and crashed on the bow of a ship to When off the island of Pantaleria which is South of Malta, our escorts had just left as the sun was going down when we were attacked by Heinkel bombers. There were another 10 ships with us and during the day we saw continuous fighter escorts. We were one of the first convoys to go through the Med. I guess the roundabout trip was to avoid U-boats. We approached the Straits of Gibraltar coming from South West. The ship sailed west for several days, we calculated to the middle of the Atlantic, but then it headed South and then North East. I smoked a pipe but remember one could get ship's Woodbine cigs in a round vacuum tin. Our accommodation was below decks with 30 of us at each table and we slept in hammocks strung over the tables. We had not been told our destination but had been issued tropical kit so hopefully we were headed for either Rhodesia or South Africa. #22 Elementary Flying Training School, Cambridge We heard later that two RAF cadets had been killed.įurther along the coast a Spitfire had been chasing a FW 190 and shot its controls away and as a result the FW 190 slammed into the cliffs at Babbacombe The bomb apparently went vertically through three floors and when it hit the street level it went horizontally then exploded. However, some of the planes had single bombs slung underneath and when they dropped their bombs on the harbour at Torquay, just a few miles away, one bomb hit a hotel used as RAF cadet billets. Talk about ostriches burying their heads in the sand! It was a low level surprise attack. One day we were sunbathing on the Paignton beach, along with some local girls, when several German FW 190’s strafed the beach with canon shells. While there we went one night into Torquay and saw Richard Tauber in "Old Chelsea" He was past his best and had a tough time hitting the high notes even with the aid of a stimulant !!
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We also received instruction on Engines, Meteorology, Theory of Flight, Morse Code, Navigation chart work etc. Of square bashing, phys ed, swimming, cross country running etc.