Yesterday I go in a Blenheim with Stonhill down to Basrah. A drink at the airport and then off to see Willie Armstrong at Force HQ, whilst Stony goes to the RAF station. Willie very busy and only able to have a few words with him, but he says 56th still in Wana, Maitland France is with the 59th in Palestine and Abbot’s on a parachutist course at home. Then on to Shaibah, very hot and reminiscent of Manzai.
Lunch with Kenneth Smith in the Mess, and they have a skull on the mantlepiece with a plate on it “The winner of the high diving competition 19 – “
Return after lunch and I drive for a bit, but bloody awful and I can’t keep on a straight course. Today they decide to send us to Egypt, and eventually Rhodesia for an ATS course, so Allan and I fix ourselves up with a Hart each. If we get there I expect I shall be discovered, (JDW: that his eyesight was poor and that he cheated on his medical to join the RAF), but shall have seen a bit of the world beforehand. One can’t take much in the back of a Hart, and I shall most likely be landed with a passenger at the last moment. More kit to lose!
A Story of War 
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