I have been in St. Omer for several days now, at the No. 1 Aircraft depot. What an amazing hub of activity; repair shops and supply buildings bustling with activity and lots of aircraft buzzing in and out on ferry flights and pilot refresher flights.
I am stuck here in what they call the 'Pilot Pool' awaiting assignment to an active squadron. Any day now!
The trip over from Dover was slow, but thankfully I was not stuck on a troop ship with a bunch of regular army sods. The quartermaster at the Dover Marine Station had the good sense to note that a shipment of two Be2c's (in pieces) were on their way to St. Omer accompanied by two mechanics and suggested I travel along. It worked a charm as I had ship and lorry service right to my destination. The one mechanic was a rather dull sort, mostly interested in gambling and booze, but the second chap was quite sharp about aeroplane mechanics and motorcycles so we had some good conversations.
