Rainy Days in India

Heroes Remember

Rainy Days in India

Transcript

We lived in tents from January until September in the wettest part of the world. The weather was a big problem, the, anything else was secondary even the enemy. We didn't, we had one air raid but it was the weather. It started raining in May and it rained until we left there in September, you know, it didn't rain every, this is a monsoon, it didn't rain every day but it rained most every day and part of the day and you could schedule events around when you could predict the storm was going to come. In the month of August we had 58 inches of rain, that's almost 2 inches a day, everyday. That's more rain than England, which is considered a wet climate, gets in a year. So it was, it was wet and we were in tents and it wasn't fun. The tents were, somebody, probably the British Army had been in before us and set up the tents. We didn't, at least I didn't have anything to do with that. They were raised about a foot off of the surrounding terrain covered with tarred jute, a bagging material, and so it was, that, the floor itself wasn't a problem. The tents were double-roofed and they were about 12 x 12 with four, for four people so it was kind of cozy but the tents were double-roofed, about eight inches apart there were two roofs on the slope presumably to keep the rain off or the sun off depending on conditions. But that, it was a bit of a problem but it wasn't, wasn't impossible. Shoes, when you put, shoes being sandals, you wore these thong type things where it goes between your big toe and so on, that was, they put them on in the morning, they would get mouldy overnight. Wash towels would be sour, a watch, a leather watchstrap would blue mold on your wrist. It wasn't, the climate wasn't good.

Description

Mr. Duffley talks about the weather in "the wettest part of the world".

Louis Duffley

Louis Duffley was born in Quispamsis, New Brunswick on 14 February, 1920. He and some friends joined the Air Force and in 1941 travelled to Toronto for kitting and elementary discipline. From there, he went to Technical school in Belleville. He finished up in 1942 and was posted in Moncton, New Brunswick. He stayed there for a year and a half before being sent off to Dorval, Quebec for another course. After two months, Mr Duffley joined the 165 Squadron on the West Coast. Eventually, in 1944 he and two Air Force friends were sent overseas.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:24
Person Interviewed:: Louis Duffley
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 436 Squadron
Occupation:: Aircraft Instrument Engineer

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Rainy Days in India

Heroes Remember