Letters of James Stuart Leslie Ross, 1918-1919 - Part 8

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the flight to Australia. I haven't got

full partics yet, but am going to London

tomorrow to see Col. Williams (of A.F.C.)

& get the details.

No one is allowed to start before

Septr 8^th as they say at present there's

not a reasonable prospect of success -

the monsoon season prevailing in India.

Another stipulation is, I believe, that

every machine must have a qualified

aerial navigator. This is just into

our hand, as I expect to be fully

qualified when I leave here. And

besides Doug & myself, only 2 A.F.C.

pilots have been through here. One

is a Major & is not going to fly. I

believe. No more pilots will be able

to get this course so we should have

a good chance of getting a bus.

of course there are a lot of Austlns

in the Royal Air Force but not too

many who know anything about Aerial

Navs.

Hope you are all very well.

I'm feeling splendid.

Much love from

Les.

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE,
ANDOVER,
HANTS.
27^th July 1919.

Dear Mum,

Have just

received yours of the 22^nd

May. As you see, I'm

still at Andover. Our

course finishes in about

3 weeks now. Still nothing

definite about the Australian

Flights & I'm afraid nothing

will come of it.

Doug & I thought we had

the Martinsyde machine,

but some R.A.F. Major

2

with financial pull in Australia

has talked his way in. You

see, the firms want some

prospects in Australia after

the flight so that appeals

to them. There's a possibility

that they may start a

second machine however,

We are on the lists at

a couple of other places too.

If nothing definite turns

up soon we'll go back

on the boat. We leave

here in 3 weeks, then

get a fortnight's leave

& then most probably
embark for Australia which

3

should be early in Septr.

I've done pretty well on

the course here. As a

matter of fact I've been

the one selected from our

class to stay on for an

advanced course in astronomiae

navigation & wireless etc but

as it lasts 5 months, I

don't think its any good

to me as I can't make

up my mind whether I

ought to stay in the Flying

Corps or not. The pay is

alright while it lasts,

4

but one would have to live

up to it. As far I can

make out a Lieut will

draw ₤550 a year all told &

be engaged for 5 years.

In 5 years I will be 29

which is a bit late to

look for a new job.

I like this work & would

like to go through the

next course but 5 months

is too long. That would

make it January before I

left & if I didn't stay

in the A.F.C. it would

be so much time lost.

5.
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
ANDOVER,
HANTS.
I sent a cable for some

more money the other day. I

hope it wont inconvenience

you & that you wont think

I'm very extravagant. xxx

I want to get some clothes

to go home in & also to

fly round a bit during

the last fortnight in this

country. Believe me 13/-a

day doesn't go very far

these days. A prominent

man states the other day

that the purchasing value

of ₤100 in 1914 for clothes

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boots etc is ₤25 to ₤30 now.

I believe suits are very

expensive in Austla now too.

Food is terribly dear & I

don't know how the poor

people live at all.

The country is in a

dreadful state at the present

moment, the miners are out

^on strike again & the whole transport

of the Kingdom is xxx

threatened. Coal is now

56/- a ton which is almost

prohibitive to the poorer

people. It's the Bolshevik

spirit. They are striking

just now to try & force

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the Govt to withdraw the

troops from Russia & to

abolish conscription etc.

I fail to see why the

average Yorkshire miner should

worry whether we have one or

a million troops in Russia,

but of course its just an

excuse to try & upset the

country & is of course 

the work of foreign influence.

Australia seems to be in

a bit of mess too. I see

Melbourne was practically in

darkness for Peace celebrations.

I went up to town that

8

day & have never seen such

crowds. It's supposed to be

the biggest day London has

ever had. I was mixed up

in the Trafalgar Square crowd

but managed to get pretty

close to the front. It

was some procession. I

suppose you read all about

it & will have seen some

of the pictures. Pershing, Jock,

Haig, Beatty etc were all

out.

At the same time, I'm

disappointed in the way

London decorates.

Martin Place on a

similar occasion would

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ROYAL AIR FORCE,
ANDOVER,
HANTS.
knock them into a cocked

hat. Of course there were

millions of flags but, very

little outside that.

It was a terrible scramble

trying to get any food as

the tables in every restaurant

were booked days before.

Doug & I managed to get

a bed by great luck at

an officer's Y.M.C.A. It

was full of French officers

over for the procession,

& we wouldn't have got

in if we hadn't been

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Australians. The manageress

took pity on us as we who

hadn't a home in this

country. That night we went

up to Hyde Park to see

the fire works & it was

a magnificent display. It is

estimated that there were

well over a million people

in the park alone.

I had a nice little

trip to Bournemouth the

other day. The Colonel

of here this school  had a slight crash

down there & I had to

take another machine

down to him. I flew

11

down & had to stay till

next day to see his

machine dismantled &

bring it home by motor.

It's a very fine town

& a great seaside resort.

Bathing was in full swing

& the pierrots shows that

on the beach that we

used to hear about were

going strong.

Have been doing a 

bit of night flying

lately. We had a

very fine trip down to

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Weymouth & along the

coast to Portsmouth

& back to Andover by

moonlight. It was magnificent

It was a beautifully cool

night. Doug was flying

the old Handley & I was

in the rear cockpit with

an old Naval Commander.

He had a great time

picking out all the different

lighthouses & things that

he knew. 

I've just got time to

catch the mail so will

close with much love

from Les.