“Joining the W.A.A.F. aka W.A.A.F. Recruiting in the Middle East” (britishpathe.com) shows recruits exchanging their pretty shoes for sturdy lace-ups as they enroll in the force. For a photograph of some of these new WAAFS learning how to pack parachutes at an operational station in Egypt, go to https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205216431; for local WAAF recruits “dressing up” a line, see CM5166.jpg—Wikimedia Commons. One young woman’s story is related by a family member: “Ginette Shama, daughter of Ezra Shama (a cotton classifier), was born in October 1917 at Alexandria. Gina joined the WAAF in 1942 and was based in Alexandria, she was Aircraft Woman 1st class. In 1944 Ginette married . . . Frederick Charles Rounsley, a British serviceman, at St. Mark’s Church, Alexandria” (https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=659584.0)

On the subject of marriage, another union celebrated at St. Mark’s was between an ex-member of 6 Squadron, Flying Officer M. A. MacDonald, and Mlle. Nadia Khayyat, at 3 p.m. on 1 February 1943. “A large party of officers of the Squadron attended the wedding” (AIR 27-76-3).

Peter Ingram’s Injury, His Hospital, and His Treatment

Peter’s injury was inspired by the pilot Gordon “Mouse” Cleaver, whose experience is recorded in detail in Speed Kings by Andy Bull (Penguin Random House, 2015, pp. 346, 356). Cleaver was injured during the Battle of Britain and treated in England, but it was up to an eye surgeon in Cairo to save Peter’s sight—Hyla Stallard, based at the 15th Scottish General Hospital in Agouza. For more on this talented man, see “Henry [Hyla] Stallard” by John D. Bullock in Doctors of Another Calling (Rowman and Littlefield, 2013). Nurse Selina “Pam” Dunnett of the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service recalls her time at the 15th Scottish General and her admiration of Mr. Stallard in an Imperial War Museum recording, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80017831. For the hospital’s splendidly attired Sudanese waiters, see Part 7 of “Else happened and I was in uniform” by Geoffrey Dent at https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/56/a4585656.shtml.

The Second World War’s Services Guide to Cairo (warlinks.com) gives details of Willcocks’ croquet ground and much more.

James and Archdeacon Frobisher: Their Capture, Imprisonment, and Marches to Liberation

John Carson Wilson’s capture (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80014876) along with the final flight of Paul Brickhill, who was shot down in Tunisia in 1943, gave me ideas for James’s final minutes of combat and ensuing capture. Frobisher’s sea battle is modeled on the encounter between the German cruiser Thor and HMS Voltaire; for details, see Sailors in Cages by R. V. Coward (TBS, 1967). Prisoners from the Voltaire were sent to Lamsdorf and then out into factories and mines: Frobisher’s work party can be found among the lists on this website: https://www.prisonersofwarmuseum.com/lamsdorf-working-parties.html.