Series 01 Part 02: Hughes family correspondence, 3 April 1917-22 September 1918 - Page 161
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[Page 161]
4.
leave me to it. Naturally I did not look forward with much joy to coming to a new station among utter strangers, especially when it was out in the country where there was nothing to do but go to the nearest town once in a while. Nowhere that I had been stationed in England had offered any other attractions than theatres or picture shows or something of that sort to pass the time in off hours. It is unfortunately true that in most places where there are R.F.C. stations, especially at Oxford, the decent people will have nothing to do with the R.F.C. people unless of course you have an introduction to them. Thanks to the behavior of some alleged officers the name of the R.F.C. rather stinks in such places. It is a great pity that a few rotters should bring about such a state of affairs but there is no doubt that there is some justification for such an opinion. I do not think there are any more rotters in the R.F.C. than in any other arm but the life of the flying corps has a great deal to do with it. There is'nt the routine of an infantry regiment and in the flying corps there is so often much idle time for those who have no actual job to do, such as pupils. Nowadays especially you get such a mixed crowd & such a lot of young boys fresh from school that a few rotters in the place can do immense harm. A lot of these boys see older men making a dash