Letter: Ring of truth

When I proudly announced to my father news of my engagement, he immediately advised me not to wear a wedding ring. My dad was convinced that I would, in the future, find myself immersed in machinery such as car engines and a wedding-ringed finger would be at risk.

He illustrated his point by telling me and my fiance that during the Second World War when he was a mechanic on aero engines, one of his colleagues jumped down from a Merlin engine caught his wedding ring on a rivet, the aircraft kept going whilst his finger was ripped off.

The flight sergeant observed the incident, removed the finger, and then proceeded to nail it to the nearby hangar door. While all the mechanics working on the aeroplane winced at the ringed digit on the door, the flight sergeant gathered them all in and shouted: "What have I told you lot - never wear your wedding rings while working on a Lancaster. All passes for going into town tonight are cancelled and remember they are frying tonight!"

So one mechanic was missing a finger and they all missed out on a fish supper!

DOUGLAS S BRUCE

Portree

Isle of Skye