Three weeks later he was sent to the sub depot at Henlow and arrived on the 24th April. He spent nearly three months at Henlow before moving to 3 School of Technical Training which was situated at Blackpool. He arrived on the 9th July 1937 just in time for Summer!. Ron spent the summer of 1937 at Blackpool so we can only guess that he must have had some fun in between the training. After two months he was posted to 2 Wing at Henlow arriving on the 10th September 1937. Few could guess that in almost exactly two years Britain would be thrust into another world conflict.

Ron arrives in Aden on the 28th September 1941. During 1941 he is promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Within this posting he is assigned to 117 MU (still part of 73 OTU) on the 12th February 1942. It is during his assignment to 73 OTU that he is trained in the maintenance (I assume maintenance) of the following aircraft:

• Hurricane I
• Harvard II
• Mohawk VI
• Hudson III & IV
• Blenheim IV & V
• Avro Anson
• Beaufighter V

On the 20th March 1943 he leaves Aden. Five days later on the 25th March 1943 he disembarks in Egypt and is assigned to 267 Squadron (Middle East). During this time he is stationed in the Sudan, Egypt, Tunis, Sicily and Italy. In 1944 Ron is trained on the Dakota aircraft and makes the rank of Flight Sergeant. On the 6th February 1945 his squadron is assigned to Air Command South East Asia (ACSEA) and the squadron fly out to Burma.

During his posting to Burma Ron is mentioned in despatches.

The local newspaper (probably the Derbyshire Times) proudly reports on this and a copy of the article is shown on the right.

After the Japanese sign the surrender on 2nd September 1945 he is quickly recalled on the 4th September 1945 arriving back in England around the 8th September 1945.

He may then have been on leave for two months since his record doesn't show anything until he is transferred to Dishforth, England on the 11th November 1945.

He is finally released from service on the 19th December 1945.