Series 01 Part 02: Hughes family correspondence, 3 April 1917-22 September 1918 - Page 138
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[Page 138]
[Note – Pages 132 to 138 are out of order – page 138 should be numbered page 136]
[This page follows on from Page 135]
to accompany me. He did not know but said he would enquire. A few hours later he rang up the C.O. & said that he had obtained a definite ruling on the subject. An officer is entitled to order the mechanic up. The Colonel gave orders that the man was to be put under arrest and charged with using language likely to cause alarm in the squadron! I did not intend to go that far as the man agreed to come up with me later, but the Colonel insists. I will get the man off if I can as my object is gained because I have shown that I will not have any man talking that rot. So my first encounter with the absurd fear of the machine has ended in a very great victory for me in so far as anyone who is obsessed with utterly groundless fear will now realise that whatever his feelings are he will be wise to keep his mouth shut and not spread senseless panic.
The incident is a rather unpleasant one
[Continued on Page 136]