On 13/05/2017 14:19, Savageduck wrote:
On 2017-05-13 09:19:09 +0000, "David B."
said:

On 13/05/2017 09:06, Savageduck wrote:
On 2017-05-13 07:35:59 +0000, "David B."
said:

On 13/05/2017 02:07, Savageduck wrote:
On 2017-05-13 00:18:05 +0000, "David B."
said:
[....]
My apologies for the delay in responding, Savageduck.

You were pretty much spot on! :-)

Basic flying training was, indeed, with the RAF on the Jet Provost
3 and 4 and took us to 'wings' standard. That was at RAF
Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire. I was there for much of 1968.

From there I went to RNAS Brawdy in South West Wales. There were
two separate squadrons - one with the Hunter T8 and the other with
the GA11.

OK. That makes sense.
For those aircraft it wasn't too difficult to narrow my estimate
your active dates.

Were you a detective?!!!

I retired as a Lieutenant and worked with several investigative
teams, mostly dealing with gangs (street and prison gangs) in
California, along with several special assignments which were done as
solo investigations. So I was as close to being a detective in my
agency as you were going to find.

An important fellow - I thought so!

Not that important, but I like to believe that I was respected for the
work I did.

You certainly seem like one of life's 'good guys' to me! :-)

I shall imagine you to be like Columbo! ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZiv8vkxMac

There have been times I was shabbier in appearance, though I never drove
an old Peugeot, or wore a worn out raincoat.

:-) I'm so pleased that you didn't take offense!

Have you been retired for a while now? For me it has been 18 years!

I retired in January 2009.

Ah! So you are getting used to it!

[....]
No, I had no idea that your mother was (is?) British. Quite a blow
for your mum; some girls don't ever get over such a loss. May I ask
where your mother met your father - I believe you said he was flying
in the Far East?

They met and married in 1947 after the war, after my father left the
USAAF.

That I understand. What I was wondering was just HOW did their paths
cross? WHERE did they meet?

My father and another Airforce buddy were partners in an attempted
airfreight enterprise in 1947 using a war surplus C-47 and a C-57. They
made that attempt in South Africa. Unfortunately they butted heads with
South African, and colonial bureaucracy. My mother was working for the
British Trade Commission in South Africa. That is where they met.

Thank you for explaining. That all makes sense.

I also *HAVE* an uncle (married to my mother's sister) who served
in the RAF in North Africa flying Hurricanes and P-40's. He also
survived the war with severe burns received in a ground accident in
North Africa.

Wow! He must be in his nineties now. Does he live in England?

He died some 15 years ago. My mother died in 2003, and her sister in
2007. The lone survivor from that generation in both the UK & USA is
my father. I still have some cousins, and my sister-in-law in the UK.

You being a stickler for detail (!) I had pondered on your use of the
word HAVE above before I asked my question! ;-)

My own mother died at about the same time. Even now I sometimes make
for the 'phone to give her a call! Does your dad live somewhere near
you or is he far away?

We are some 2,500 miles apart (the USA can do that sort of thing).
However, as I have said, we talk daily via FaceTime.

OK. FaceTime is a great facility. :-)

My Grandfather was the family flying pioneer. He was one of the
first RFC pilots trained at Cambridge, and was fortunate to survive
WWI unscathed.

A VERY lucky man! :-)

Astonishingly so.

:-)

--
David B.