Extract from the diary of Leo O'Connor, 430394, W/O Pilot of Northcote, Vic.
"Thursday 9 March 1944. Our lectures for the morning were PT and swimming. PT went off all right, although no-one was particularly enthusiastic about it. At 10 o'clock we dressed and marched after a fashion up to the Brighton Baths (built in 1870 and still going strong). The term 'swimming' was a bit misleading; it was dinghy drill!
One jumps off the diving tower in flying suit and swims to a one-man dinghy, rights it, drags oneself in, flops out and turns it over again. Then one swims across the baths, rights a massive crew dinghy, climbs up a rope ladder into it and unofficially collapses. Then you stand on the edge, grab a rope running across it and pull the whole thing over on top of you. Then you're supposed to swim out from under it - a physical impossibility.
I don't quite remember how I did it, but eventually I climbed out of the baths and stripped. With ruthless pleasure I watched the efforts of those following!"
(Mrs Ellie O'Connor-Risch of Canberra, widow of Leo, sent us this item after enjoying a browse through our Odd Bods internet site. Thank you, Ellie. It will bring back memories to many airmen, especially those who ditched in unpleasant circumstances.)