One flight was made from Rufforth, by the kind arrangement of the Officer Commanding the Communications Flight, No. 64 (N) Group. New members of the Section flew on this occasion.
A FLIGHT TO IRAQ I set off from Lyneham Airport, near Swindon at the unsavoury hour of 12-15 a.m. on the 20th of April. The first leg of the flight was to Castel Benito, near Tripoli, where the plane duly arrived later in the morning. Castel Benito air station is situated only 15 miles from Tripoli which is on the sea coast. Tripoli is quite a large town with a huge harbour. There are still a few signs of the battering it received in the last war, when it was one of the main battlegrounds of North Africa. The town is dominated by a large castle, which rises nearly 200 feet above the harbour. This castle used to guard Tripoli against the marauding bands of pirates which roamed the Mediterrananean hundreds of years ago. It is now the British N.A.A.F.I. From Castel Benito I went on to my destination, the camp of Habbamya in Iraq. 'Habbamya is situated 60 miles S.W. of Baghdad, on the banks of the Euphrates. It is a very large camp, with modern buildings which include an air-conditioned cinema and a swimming pool about six times as large as the School baths. Outside the camp, however, there is just sand, sand, and more sand, the only noteworthy piece of scenery being Lake Habbamya, a huge lake in the desert near the camp. It has an area of about 150 sq. miles, and in stormy weather the waves on it reach a height of 30 feet. The temperature at Habbamya is usually about 85 deg; once or twice it reach over 100 deg. in the shade. As on the outward journey, I flew back to England via El Adem, in Lybia, and Castle Benito, and again stayed two days at the latter camp. I arrived at Lyneham with 34 more flying hours to my credit, and very conscious of the fact that I had only 3/6 in my pocket to pay customs duty. The customs officer was in a good mood, however, and I got through without trouble. I reached home at 3 o'clock in the morning on the 30th April. D. K. Timms.
SCOUTING SENIOR SCHOOL PATROLS Work for Second and First Class tests again occupied a large part of troop meetings, with a few wide games for variety. The Beavers won the patrol competition, closely followed by the Seals. Bob-a-Job week this year was during the Easter Holidays. The average earned was over ten shillings per boy, which is very satisfactory.
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