Let’s start with the WAAF story. Based on information received during my research, the following is a summary of what seems to be the story I remember:

 

A nineteen year old Leading Aircraftswoman (LAC) had originally been sentenced to eight strokes of the birch by the Aden Protectorate Court. This appears then to have been altered to eight or twelve strokes of the cane and some accounts suggest this was because of a shortage of birches in Aden at the time. If the story I remember was true and a cane had to be specially flown out, you might wonder why they didn’t fly some birch rods out instead.