Page 80 - The Cormorant Issue 14

As if to make up for the discomfort of our flights to Cairo, those to Karachi were pure luxury in an Imperial Airways ‘C’ Class flying boat, several of which were still plying their peacetime routes. The route was fascinating, involving landings (or should I say ‘splash-downs’) at Kallia on the Dead Sea, Lake Habbanya, Basrah, Sharjah, Bandar Abbas and finally Karachi. Then we travelled northwards by train for two days to Rawalpindi and finally by the ubiquitous three-ton truck, along dusty roads, to the airfield at Fathejang.
Having settled into our EPIP (Egyptian Pattern Indian Produce) four-sleeper square tents, which we had to erect ourselves, we were briefed by the wing commander. He informed us that there were now 6 joint RAF/GPR squadrons in India: three of them based in Dumdum airfield just outside Calcutta and 3 here at Fathejang. The overall strategic plan was that three airborne assaults had been planned in various places in Burma in support of the 14th Army which was re-assembling in northeast India and was expecting to begin fighting its way down the Arakan Peninsula very soon. That was encouraging but the bad news was that the Dakota squadrons which were to tow our Hadrian gliders were all flying ‘over the hump’ to supply the US-aided Chinese forces fighting the Japanese in China, so we could not keep our hands in flying our gliders. However, HQ Air India, real- ising our frustration, made available a number of Tiger Moth air- craft for recreational flying. I took full advantage of this and on one memorable occasion I flew through the Khyber Pass at low level. Little did I think that, having been shot at by Afghan tribes- men, that would be the nearest I would get to any war-like action during World War II!
The first planned operation in the Meiktila area was cancelled because the 14th Army had started to advance rapidly south- wards. This was possible because the Japanese had over- stretched their lines of communication which were now being harassed by the RAF. The second operation, which was to have been an airborne assault halfway down the Arakan Peninsula,
was also cancelled. We had already sent an advance party to Cox’s Bazaar from where the attack was to be mounted, when Fathejang was hit by a freak tornado which tore our light-weight Hadrian gliders from their tethering stakes and hurled them across the airfield, smashing them almost beyond repair. To add to our frustrations we learned that our contemporary RAF glider pilots who had remained in the UK had taken part in Operation Varsity (The Rhine Crossing) on 24th March, the success of which made a significant contribution to the Victory in Europe of May 1945.
But all was not lost in the Far East. Air HQ India acted with unex- pected swiftness and our three squadrons were deployed by train to Raipur airfield in central India where we found Horsa glid- ers being assembled from their crates and prepared for our use. The Halifax squadron which was to tow us on the next operation was already based there and we immediately started a series of training and familiarisation flights. At last we thought we were getting really close to the action when some careless American aircrew dropped a couple of atom bombs and the war was over on 8th August 1945. Thus frustration was heaped upon frustra- tion, especially when we found that the pilots of the three glider squadrons based at Calcutta had become entitled to both the 1939-1945 Star and the Burma Star medals by dint of having flown at least once across the Brahmaputra River into the combat zone as supernumery crew on a mission to drop supplies.
After the war I applied for and was granted a permanent com- mission and achieved my ambition by flying Spitfires and Tem- pests and most of the early jet fighters up to and including my favourite ever – the beautiful Hawker Hunter. I was never aware of any air force anywhere retaining a glider capability, so it might seem that my glider-flying did little to enhance my experience or career. Maybe! However, in the subsequent thirty-plus years of service, I had three total engine failures, all of which I man- aged to land safely and undamaged on various active or disused airfields. My engine-less experience was obviously not wasted.
An International’s Guide to Pantomime
By Lt Col Todd Sharp CF
Having arrived in the UK two years ago from Canada, we began hearing about ‘Pantos’ in the run-up to Christmas. After asking a few Brits on ACSC what this was all about, we came away with a jumbled impression of pantomime being musical theatre with lots of laughs and lots of heckling. It turns out that this is exactly what it is!
The first Pantomime my wife and I saw was the Defence Acad- emy Players version of ‘King Arthur’. It was during this show that some very unique (and confusing) qualities of pantos began to emerge. First, the king was played by woman, there was a ‘Dame’ played by a man – judging from the impossibly large bosom and five o’clock shadow, and there was lots of booing and hissing at the lead villain. From the very first scene we were hooked! We liked it so much that I decided to talk my daughter into trying out with me for parts in the 2011 Panto – Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
My daughter Jenna immediately impressed the directors with her exuberance and charm and snagged a key role as ‘Brainy’ the Dwarf. I gratefully took a role in the chorus (which provides the group singing and dancing) despite having two left feet! It turns out that there is an enormous amount of work that goes into a small amateur production like this. Under the watchful eyes of directors
Michelle Addison and Richard Bartle the cast took shape. Karlis Atvars was the producer, who put together a production team of over 50 volunteers. Some were actors one night and set designers the next. The cast of over 30 ‘thespians’ were transformed from an awkward rabble into a finely honed crew who could recite their lines, sings their songs and even dance a bit in their sleep!
The children performers were particularly impressive. The seven dwarfs and junior chorus members were real pros, and brought a sense of fun that was infectious. The dwarfs became real mas- ters of slap-stick humour and never tired too much from all the waiting around for their show-stealing scenes.
Given that panto is a uniquely British phenomenon, I was sur- prised at how many ‘internationals’ participated. We had cast and production team members from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Holland and the United States! It is a wonder that any Brits got to take part at all. If you are new to the UK and JSCSC, be sure to take in a Panto. Better yet, join the production and get a real insiders view of a wonderful British tradition.
Lt Col Todd Sharp is a Canadian Directing Staff on ACSC and has been roped into providing music direction for next year’s pro- duction of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
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