As the course ended we were given a week's leave. I drove down to Lewes for a long weekend with Deirdre where we discovered that we were more in love than ever.
Todd and I were both dispatched to 245 squadron at Aldergrove near Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland where once again we would be joining up with Frank Leveridge. We journeyed by car, hitching a ferry ride with a balloon squadron.

We settled into squadron life, always at a state of readiness, practising formation flying and dogfight practice. Occasionally I visited the operations room, got interested in their work and became very friendly with a chap there. We had a cushy time of it at Aldergrove as far as encounters with the enemy were concerned, but the weather was dreadful. Todd and I both volunteered to a vague circular sent round by HQ, indicating it would involve journeying abroad to warmer climates. In mid-December we heard we had been accepted and were to go home to await a call giving further instructions.

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