‘A good incident took place when the strike was on; all coal issues were stopped and “B” Flight had only a lot of coal dust and slack.
‘S.’s sheer cheek got to work, and calmly filling a huge bucket with dust he inquired the name of a Big officer who had stopped the issue. Walking point blank to his office, he found that the officer had not stopped his own coal ration, so he exchanged his load for some wonderful pieces of coal as big as himself. No one has found out who changed the dust yet. His comments were a broad grin and silence.
CIVIL POLICE
‘He was held up on three separate occasions by the same “copper” on point duty in a traffic muddle in Town (Sleaford) and reported the matter to the Superintendent. He pointed out that police were the servants of the public, paid by the public, and he did not think that the “copper” on point duty knew his job, that he was decidedly inefficient and a “Swede” (Airman’s term for villager). The Super, and S. had a grand argument, but S.’s eloquence floored the Super, and left him wondering what the R.A.F. had enlisted. That “copper” is now permanently excused traffic-control.[8]
[8] The point of this story may be lost on most of my readers who are unaware of the cavalier treatment that men in uniform usually get at the hands of jacks-in-office. The Cranwell fellows were astonished that Shaw was not arrested for making a protest against the inefficiency of a police-constable.—R. G.
AIR DISPLAY
‘He took all the flight and wives to Hendon by charabanc although I personally know that his ambition was to charter an Imperial Airways machine and “do” it by air, but he was let down for a “Kite” at the last minute.
‘Both going and coming he did not sit down for more than an hour, continually watching traffic and direction, and never turned a hair while the remainder slept or curled up, tired.
JOBS
‘On the summer holidays coming round he told us he had got the offer of a job as a Steward aboard a liner going to U.S.A., but finally turned it down owing to work on his book. (Wish this had come off.)