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ably assisted by Fg.Off. 'Jumbo' Cuthill. They shared the bulk of our ground school instruction. I was to meet Jumbo again later in my RAF career.
1px-trans.gif, 43 bytesCorporal Brown was in charge of us, taught us drill, and showed us how to prepare and properly to lay out kit for inspection, and other barrack duties. He also marched us between the old Bellman hangars and hutted class-rooms. After a fortnight of being in the wooden huts we were transferred into more comfortable permanent pre-war brick barrack blocks. Bull nights and kit inspections took place weekly. We quickly learned to get things right - that is precisely right, no less - so as to avoid adverse comments being written in our personal course assessments.
1px-trans.gif, 43 bytesWe had to buy our own Blanco, Brasso, and shoe polish from the NAAFI, and we paid for our own haircuts.4 This drained our scant finances, especially when, occasionally, we were still hungry after a strenuous day and the meal in the Mess hadn't satisfied us. A helping of beans on toast, mugs of NAAFI tea, and occasional phone calls home, or the cost of writing paper, envelopes and stamps, left us with little or nothing by next Pay Parade.
1px-trans.gif, 43 bytesIf you were slow eating in the Mess, or a late arrival, the shout "Last five" would go out and there would be a rush to gobble your food so as not to be one of the last five Cadets in the room, and thus have to clean-up after everyone else.
1px-trans.gif, 43 bytesPhone calls home were made in the evening from a Public Call Box outside the local shop and Post Office some couple of hundred yards outside the main gate. There were no lights, and the kiosk was unlit. Usually there would be a queue waiting to use the phone, all standing there patiently, shivering in the pitch black December night air. It wasn't unusual to have to wait an hour or more to be given the chance to ask the operator to connect you to the number you wanted, and having done that, having to keep the call short because you were parting with valuable pennies as you spoke.
1px-trans.gif, 43 bytesNot long after arriving at Digby we were taken by truck one afternoon to somewhere near Metheringham airfield and told to find our own way back, on foot. Not one of us was familiar with the area which was criss-crossed by drainage channels. Some of us were given maps, so we formed ourselves into groups, each having a map. The wide ditches posed a problem. Had they not been there we would have been able to get back to Digby within an hour. The maps were clear enough to show footpaths and probable bridges over the watercourses. Any attempt to find these bridges was doomed to failure because they had fallen into disrepair, collapsed, or been removed. We walked seemingly miles trying to find the shortest way, but with the bridges gone, we found we had to keep to the roads. We were actually further away from Digby than when we started out and it took us hours to get back. In fact we missed tea and didn't return until well after dark. Our feet were covered with blisters from our new boots and, next morning, we sought permission to be 'excused boots' and were excused marching for three days as well.5
1px-trans.gif, 43 bytesWe were only shown and allowed to watch the aircraft during the first weeks because the course ahead of us was doing its flying while we concentrated on ground school work, all the time making sure that we passed the regular progress tests so that we would have the chance to fly ourselves. Those who failed were 'chopped' from the course and were posted away at the same time as we were given a few days leave, our first, over the Christmas period. We were issued with Travel Warrants to get home and back by rail. My own journey took me from Digby station to Lincoln, then to Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool, changing trains at each place. I had to save hard to pay for my own fare from Liverpool (Mersey Ferry and Corporation Bus) to home on the Wirral. We were undergoing initiative tests,
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4 NAAFI = Navy Army Air Force Institute.
5 We all had RAF issue black shoes which we wore instead.
7
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