A. Stewart MacDonald D.F.C., M.D. C..M.

healing effect.

Following my lost opportunity of going to Oxford, we were sent to Sidmouth for a month’s Commando course. In January I was sent to Dumfries for my first real navigational training. Dumfries was the home of Robbie Burns and it had many stories about him. The second ‘day we were there we had to attend the funeral of a crew member who had gone into the side of a mountain a short distance from the airport. It was the only time I attended a funeral, and had to make the dead march where you shuffled along. The experience was good, as I tried to keep away from that hill in landing at the airport. The next day a Pilot took me to show where the plane had landed on the side of the mountain.

Dumfries is in the north of the Irish Sea which meant that on each trip we went over the sea. We were back to different pilots each trip, and to my disgust there was that old yellow Anson plane I thought I had left forever in Toronto. I can recall a few of my trips. One night I had a nervous Pilot. We were flying over Ireland, then to Wales, then to the Isle of Man to the north of Galloway and then home. Coming up to the English coast, the Pilot said ”Give me a course to the Isle of Man." I said, “We are not ready to turn," and he said, ”I already turned," and we struck a snowstorm. I was so disgusted I said, ”Fly south and I will figure out a course.” It was difficult as I did not know where he turned, and where he was going, but before I got a course he said, “I can see the tip of the Isle of Man; get ready to go to the north of Galloway.” After about half an hour, he said, ”I want a fix” and I said, ”Why?” He said, ”I am in a snowstorm and Iwant to send an SOS.” I knew what trouble that would get us in, but before I got the fix, he said, ”OK, I see the north of Galloway.” I was certainly glad to get on the ground. One does not want to

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