What a difference we noticed in the discipline, the desire and the purpose. While on duty, there was little chance for swinging the lead! The balloon barrage kept the Jerry planes at a respectable height but H.M.S. Raleigh received daily attention-at least it interrupted squad drills and dry-land boat pulling! Remember the midnight dashes for the shelters, and the Petty Officers chasing up the sleepy heads?
Mouse-over the people in the picture below to see their identities!
On leave from Raleigh we saw Britain for the first time. Plymouth put on a nightly fireworks and aerial display, only palatable if you were sitting up on the hills. The quaint villages of St. Ives, and Agnes of Keates fame were on one side, St. Johns on the other. Over the Devon hills lay Torquay, our favourite week-end retreat. Remember the picturesque villages of Cockinton, Painton, Torbay and Brixton-the Devon cream, the windy walks, and the R.A.F. Recuperation hospital, filled with wounded and burnt Battle of Britain fliers!
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