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244The Canadians came to unveil the memorial at Tholthorpe on 7 June 1986. I had persuaded the Station Commander that we would hold a Meet and Greet in the officers Mess at Linton. He left this up to me and it took the form of a sort of cocktail party. I have no idea how it was paid for. The Canadians, many of whom had come with their wiveswere a great bunch. Their view on life was that they had survived the war when so many of their friends had not and they were going to enjoy it to the full. They all had fascinating tales to tell. One of the organisers recalled how as he taxied out for a raid; a light swept over his aircraft from somewhere. This convinced him that he would be shot down and was scared for the whole trip. Another explained that when they went home it was by troop ship. They were to be demobbed once they got off and this took some time. He had to spend another night on board and got involved in a Craps game. He lost all his money and so finally got off the ship and met his girlfriend, who also had had to spend the night somewhere, completely broke and had to borrow money to get home. She married him anyway. On the Saturday after a visit to the old airfield sites they all marched around the green as did our scouts, led by the band of the RAF Regiment from Catterick. Air Marshal Don Bennet then unveiled the monument. I met him in Mr Lancaster%u2019s kitchen which was the closest house to the green. It was not very tidy, and I doubt whether the Air Marshal had been in such a place for many years. He told me to tell him what to do and we went out for the unveiling. He was an extraordinary man. He had so much charisma that I think the ducks stopped quacking when he spoke. He remarked that the Canadians had had the heaviest casualties in Bomber Command and went on to praise them all. That evening we all went to the Cairn Hydro Hotel in Harrogate for a ball. The hotel had a lovely sprung floored ballroom which was great to dance on. However, our French-Canadian guests with their accents quickly snapped up our wives and proved to be great dancers. During the meal, I sat opposite to the Air Marshal who was