In the morning, Carolyn herded Martin away for his day of rehabilitation; so Douglas was left with Karl and Dirk. "Sterling company these chaps, aren't they," Douglas nodded towards the two unconscious sailors they share a ward with.

"Dr Knapp-Shappey says they'll be wakin' up soon. Enjoy the peace; you know what they say about sailors…" Karl advised.

"The only things I've heard about sailors come from the rather liberal girls I knew in London. All of them don't apply to us… Or at least I hope not…"

"Nah! I mean they're loud –"

"The girls said that too…"

"Filthy."

"Says the man singing 'My little snapshot album' in the shower…"

"Now, listen Douglas –!"

"What's all this noise…?" Rasped a voice by the side of them. Karl and Douglas jumped.

"Oh, thought you'd be waking up soon," Douglas commented, "Douglas Richardson; RAF officer, well, former RAF officer. I'm going back to Blighty soon. That's Karl and that's Dirk; regular privates. Dirk doesn't speak, he isn't being rude, and Karl talks too much; so it's a nice balance…"

"Hey! You're the one who talks too much, Douglas!" Karl sniffed.

"Anyway, there's another chap too, Captain Martin Crieff; he's a war hero, but don't call him a war hero," Douglas explained.

"Why not?" The sailor frowned.

"'E really doesn't like it…" Karl sighed.

"Fine. My name's Phillip, by the way," the sailor informed.

"Splendid. Now, as I'm sure you don't know, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the day after that we are putting on the traditional Christmas Day music hall performance. You don't have to join in, but it's a bit of fun. Crieff's going to be the drag act this year; looks surprisingly like a girl in that dress…" Douglas informed.

"That's nice; think I'll do something by George Formby…" Phillip contemplated.

"Just don't touch 'Cleaning Windows' Karl huffed.

"Alright… So, what do you boys do for fun?"