A Story of War

Follow one man's war day by day, 70 years on, from Waziristan and the North West Frontier, Habbaniya, the Burma campaign, India & the Rhine.

November 14, 2014

November 14th 1944

I go and spend the night with the Pauls, with the usual results, and say goodbye all round the breakfast table and get the bus home. Barbara sees me to the door. Then after clearance, down to town on the 2.30 train, after a drink in the Mess with the Group Captain and “Jumbo” Mazunder, who had suddenly appeared. In the train Mihalski, Plewcynzynski, Shirey and me and one or two others, and we play pontoon, myself retiring before it got too tough. I spend the night at Nuffield House and it’s boiling hot at night, and I wake up to a couple of loud bangs about 1am.

Next day down to St Ives and have bed and breakfast in Curnows and other meals out or in the flat with Ma. I reorganise the baggage and have a good kit bag of Daddy’s. I am not too well, some common fever apparent in one’s first winter in England, says Ma, so that’s that. Some beer in the “Sloop” and I see Vivian but no more joy than before. After Larkhill I have to come back and wait for a posting which will be pretty bloody, as I don’t like this joint. I am fast getting a cold, despite much gargling.

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CDC Dunford Wood

3 responses to “November 14th 1944”

a gray

November 14, 2014 at 3:42 pm

“. . . we play pontoon” What is “pontoon”?

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1. James Dunford Wood
  
  November 14, 2014 at 3:59 pm
  
  It’s a UK name for Blackjack, or 21 – Vingt-et-un
  
  Reply
Jagan Pillarisetti

December 31, 2020 at 3:49 pm

“Group Captain and “Jumbo” Mazunder, who had suddenly appeared”

That would be Wg Cdr K K “Jumbo” Majumdar – who was already mentioned in a couple of earlier posts. Namely he was the Sqn Ldr / CO of No.1 Squadron during the first Burma Tour in Feb 1942. Both the indian officers of No.1 and the british officers of No.28 probably knew each other well at that time.

Majumdar was later Wg Cdr with the Inspectorate General and was part of the team that came down to ‘inspect’ your dad’s command of No.2 Squadron IAF – the post where he writes about the inspection not going well. After his Inspectorate General job – Majumdar volunteered and was sent to UK and he flew on attachment with 268 Squadron just after D-Day. Earned a bar to his DFC. He shipped back to India in December 44, but was lost in a crash at Lahore in Feb 1945.

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