It is possible that the main use of the knife was for stabbing the dinghy if it was accidentally inflated. When you have a dinghy securely strapped between you and the parachute, and you are securely strapped to an aeroplane you desperately need to deflate said dinghy if it inflates when not required.
Was the cause of some panic for a few people when it happened during takeoff LOL.

I find it very difficult to enter this thread, but would refer people to Shakespeare
“Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” William Shakespeare.
I guess most come under the third category and it is a very difficult burden to bear. Very fortunately for me I was never put to the test.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but is also bears no relation to the circumstances.

This is a super collection, many thanks.
I looked at the night flight piece showing a Stirling crew and was most intrigued to see the NCO aircrew wearing their stripes on only one arm, definitely not Queens or Kings Regulations. One had a NEW ZEALAND shoulder flash, they were mostly navs with a strange mixture of the old observer type brevet and the normal nav type. Were these people actors?

Surely this all means that if you get your fingers nipped in a Spitfires undercart you must sue Maclaren, or at least get a ride in their racing car.

Has to be Frank Wootton for me, because I was given his little book “How to draw planes” when I was a kid. How I wish that I had kept it.

Andy wrote “There must be a local “likely” Pikey camp. I think we should all go round there.”
Start looking in West Meadows on the North edge of Ipswich. We are stupid enough to provide them with places to live with all mod cons thrown in.
Words fail me, this country has gone right down the drain and no amount of wittering by our dozy politicians is going to change it.
We need a revolution.
Calm down boy, it does your heart no good.

We call them “dids” short for didicoi. There has been a plague of these stealing metal in this area.
Luckily, or unluckily in his case, a man was electrocuted in Ipswich recently while attempting to steal cable from an electricity sub station. Pity it doesn’t happen to more of them.
Just sick, like this country is becoming.

Done
How about finding the sunken ship with the Highball Mossies on ?????