had treated themselves in the same way. I confined the demands of my thirst to that first cup. What followed after breakfast was equally memorable. The entire intake for that day of hopeful aircrew volunteers was assembled on the barrack square in a long, single line. I found myself somewhere near the end of it as a Warrant Officer, as I presumed him to be from his badges of rank, came along it from the other end, barking out in rather Sergeant Major style: ‘Anyone here been in the Civil Air Guard?’ One or two stepped smartly forward and as he came opposite me I took a hesitant half-step and said: ‘I haven’t been in the Civil Air Guard, but I was in the Oxford University Air Squadron.’ The reaction was swift and positive. ‘Come away from this lot, sir!’ he fairly bellowed. ‘You don’t want to be mixed up with these!’


I followed him and found myself right at the head of a queue which was forming up outside an office door where, presumably, we were to be given the once-over.


Promptly enough I was wheeled into the office to face a Squadron Leader (I knew how many rings these various ranks merited on the tunic sleeve) and a Flying Officer seated behind a desk looking extremely friendly and relaxed. They had my name, age and other personal details in front of them and so seemed to have little need to ask about those. ‘I understand,’ said the Squadron Leader ‘that you are ex-OUAS. Tell me what you flew, what hours you got in and so on.’ I obliged. He did ask me what my present job was. Privately, I used to describe myself somewhat deprecatingly as a steelmaker’s nark, but I had to make it sound as gentlemanly as possible by saying I was a steel company representative. However I had described myself, it was obvious that my job was not exactly essential to maintain Britain’s war effort and that I could be spared, if wanted, for service with the RAF. The panel of two then turned to a subject which was not among my favourites – my education and experience in the science of mathematics. I had to confess that at school I had finished with maths at the age of fourteen when I took School Certificate in that and other subjects (the ‘O’ levels of later days) and since that time I had little experience except of the simple arithmetic needed to check my monthly bank statement. ‘Don’t worry,’ said my questioner, ‘I expect you could pick it up again quickly enough?’.


I hastily agreed, for I had a clear recollection that the maths needed for air navigation and the like was unlikely to demand more than an understanding of elementary stuff like the triangle of forces and the ability to distinguish between track and course. I had done it all before. The rest of the interview was uneventful. The panel decided on the spot that I was aircrew (pilot) potential and told me so, sending me off to have a medical


13


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