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Date: May 26th 1942
To
Mother and Father
From
James
Letter

Edmonton
26-5-42

Dear Folks:

Here I go again. Everything about our course seems to be revised and we are now going to be just plain navigators or something. Bombing has been washed out entirely for sometime and it was the only flight where we had nothing to do some of the time. Some of the boys didn't even get to dropping a bomb. We don't drop any flour puffs though, they are the real McCoy except they are only eleven pounders but can mow you down if you get a bit close. The safest place being on the target.

We took photographs of Edmonton on Sunday; our class mapped the whole town and part of the surrounding country for a map to put on the bombing teacher and now bombing is done away with.

The course will now be eighteen weeks and we will complete everything here, astro and all, but nothing happened. I was too busy to notice them anyway. I have had two night flights. It's sort of dull at night. I don't get much kick out of it myself, but when we start using nothing but Astas and D./F. Loop I guess it will be fun. We have only three more day exercises left. Had a lovely one today. Climb on track to 9000, came down to 6000, play around for awhile and set course for a turning point, then repeat same on the way back. I hit both places dead centre but measured wrong on one and my time was out about five minutes. I was in real high spirits about the whole thing until that last E.T.A. It makes you mad when you make a stupid mistake like that on such a good flight.

Three more of the old gang are almost finished I.T.S.; some more (20) R.D. boys are supposed to be coming up right away. Guys are remustering by the dozens now. I guess the remusters must be doing alright in Air crew or they wouldn't have thrown the gate wide open the way they have.

I may go to Calgary next weekend as I am expecting a 48. I have had two 48s and a thirty-six since I came here as well as a couple of afternoons off. I don't get this about A.O.S. being so darn hard on a fellow. Maybe I am getting behind or something but it seems to me we covered everything in I.T.S. and are just putting it into practice over here. However we shall see and if I am no good as a navigator I'll make a darn good flight engineer.

Say, would you mind sending back my green pants and sports shirt. I was at a dance last night and almost cooked and I got a notion I should keep cool. I don't know why I sent them home but I figured I wouldn't have time to do much dancing but I do more than ever now. I went to see that movie star show that is being put on for the air cadets. It wasn't worth two bits let alone two bucks.

Well so long folks. I'll be seeing you around September I expect.

Love JB