“The nearest air raid warden was most cooperative - for a consideration, of course - and a practice alert was sounded at a predetermined time when I happened to be outside her room. I asked MK when the excitement died down. Just as the sirens stopped, I was flabbergasted to see MK entering the basement, carrying the Lebanese girl in his arms. I dashed out to find panic-stricken guests, in various stage of undress, rushing down to the basement shelters. In the middle of the night, I woke up to the wail of air raid sirens. Half an hour’s labour on my part showed the answer to be a polite regret. The two-page reply was in French and the ‘book’ was a French-English dictionary. An anxious wait later, the bellhop appeared with an envelope and what looked like a book. So we gathered as much information about the person and a suitably worded note was sent to her (lonely Indian officer in a strange city, etc). As the army saying goes, time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted. “Forget about her,” I said, “she probably belongs to the smart set and has a lot of boyfriends.” My comment seemed to stir up MK’s Pathan blood even further and he swore in Pushto and Punjabi that he would make her his special friend. Air Raid Siren is an epic soundboard featuring many high quality stereo sound effects from tornado and air raid sirens. Fascinated, we watched every move of this Lebanese girl as she sat down a few tables away, studied the menu and ordered her meal in French. What a beauty and what a figure,” he exclaimed. For fear of German air raids, there was complete blackout after dark. Somehow, we reached Damascus, changed buses and after crossing two cedar-covered mountain ranges, checked into Beirut’s famous Normandie Hotel. They became an almost daily part of life in the capital a year later during the. With shifting sands and no distinctive landmarks, it was impressive how the driver navigated the route. Air-raid sirens first sounded the warning in London in September 1939. The only means of transportation from Baghdad to Damascus then was a 24-hour ride in a civilian bus across the desert. He was quick tempered and impetuous, but could also turn on his charm, especially with the opposite sex. Not sure how rust affects these sirens, but it is possible the plate where the head attaches to the rotator has potential to fail as they age. MK was a Pathan from Peshawar with rugged good looks and an athletic physique. Good gust of wind probably knocked it loose, finback too. We were both captains and had been selected to attend an Army Staff College course near Tel Aviv. You still needed to work to run the country.The air raid sirens in Beirut that we heard on TV during the present conflict in Lebanon reminded me of an incident in 1943 during World War II. Mansoor Khan - MK for short - and I first met at Army HQ in Baghdad. If you failed the radiation test after more than a few showers, you would still have remained in the Bunker but isolated to the medical centre or medical overflow for the remainder of lockdown.If the levels were acceptably low, you could proceed to the Medical Centre. Finally, a soldier with a Geiger counter would check your radiation levels.You would be given a rough brush, some hot soapy water, and told to rinse your entire body. After this, you would take another shower without your clothes.Your clothing would fall into a lead-lined bag and would later be buried by a soldier.
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