Our posting notices came through and we discovered, much to our dismay, that there would be no end of course leave. My room-mate, John Smith, was particularly disappointed as he had been looking forward to sharing a few days with his new wife. In fact, we were posted en-bloc to the Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Pembrey in South Wales. A group Travel Warrant was issued and those of us who had successfully passed the course left Merryfield to travel by train to South Wales on the morning of Sunday July 12th. We took bottles of beer with us for sustenance.

The instrument panel of a Vampire FB5.

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