When they departed for Nicosia 6 Squadron left things in an organised state, or so they thought. But Messrs King and Barwell laid down instructions for improvement and so for the most of the week the area has been invaded by a large contingent of the Army, wiring, de-wiring and re-wiring the telephones and squawk boxes and moving them so that they are within easy reach of the Ops Officer - next week they may be working too!

The Met Man started Wednesday by prophesying a cold front from Greece, Crete and Tripoli that would not affect us. He was wrong and the front accompanied by low cloud and a storm really upset plans for the morning. With eight aircraft available things looked hopeful and there was a reasonable amount of flying done.

Wicked Tom Sheppard featured on Wednesday when as last man in a form he disappeared upwards from the break in what looked very much like an aerobatic manoeuvre. Somewhere on the Station, 'Sir' witnessed this youthful act and speedily took steps to discover the culprit, for lo he was filled with wrath and saith: "WHO WAS THAT?" - result Tom was banished to the depths of 'C' Flight with no flying for a week.

Flying has been very much of the SOP - battle, doggers, bounce, tailchase type as everyone tries to get into practice; as yet there are no cameras and so quarters and the Craig empire in general have crumbled a bit.

Thursday was a standard day of battle and bounce but made easier by an improvement in the aircraft state. After Tom's 'infringement' and consequent action by 'Sir' caution was the thing but even so the gathering outside the tents saw several young men come near the mark. It is at present irksome having to pay attention to a height limit on the run-in when the Canberras from down the road have no apparent restrictions.

By Friday the aircraft situation was reasonable and a system had been adopted which seemed to work and so there was plenty of SOP battle-and-bounce; the principle seems to be on the forms to have somewhere at the back-end an experienced old sweat who notes the mistakes of the junior hopefuls in the lead and comes in with his comments in the debrief.

Flying Wing Sports were held on Friday afternoon but in general the 208th did not shine as energy was being saved for the evening Dining-In Night which was really quite a peaceful affair with no loss of life or limb.

Ch 2 - Nicosia/Akrotiri 10

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