After six straight days of bombing the Group caught a stand-down today. It was a welcome respite. Many took off for Taranto and Bari. Captain Nugent takes full advantage of stand-downs. His bombing classes are held as regularly as there are stand-downs. To stimulate interest in bombing, Captain Nugent has instituted a bombing pool. It costs fifty lire to guess the percentage of hits on the target. The idea is catching on for an average of twenty dollars per day goes into the empty bomb case used as a receptacle for bets. Considerable prognostication now takes place on such matters as whether the leader is a “fast track horse” or a “mudder.”
