Riga With Pals Tattoo

 Riga With Pals Tattoo

A fitter in the instrument's section was a trained tattooist with his own kit. He tattooed the squadron pilots and those who wanted ink doing. Riga wanted a tattoo. She and three other pilots chose the same design. It was a bird in flight. It was a kind of lark. Sone lived and flew over the forest by the base. To Riga and the others the dark blue coloured bird symbolized something. Not an easy thing to identify but definitely something. A symbol of courage on adversity and freedom being too simple and cliched to describe it. It was similar but different. The blue bird had slightly iridescent feathers so was visible from further than normal in the sunlight. It sparkled a little.

The instruments guy inked them all after a drink on their down time. They were in the squadron bar. Pilots off duty were encouraged to drink to de-stress. Riga was having a vodka and orange with ice. Alison her female squadron mate had brandy. John had beer. Leroy drank beer too. Later the guys would move to spirits.



At this time the instruments inker was doing his work. Riga got her tattoo first. The others watched, drank and talked. It was a relaxed time the opposite from their aggressive combat missions. Alison drew the design for she was skilled in art. The inker improved it slightly and got it ready. A simple yet vivid blue bird with solid black outline. The wigs were outstretched for gliding flight. The image meant freedom independence and flight itself.



Riga had three other tattoos. They were by different tattooists and meant different things. This was her fourth and for a different reason. Some of her friends had others tattoos. Some did not. John and Leroy had never been inked before. Riga told them it only hurt a bit and the drink would help.



They all drank their fill while the inker did his craft. Riga's session took thirty minutes. He worked quickly and accurately. After Riga it was Alison's turn. The others admired Riga's new tattoo. It was an excellent piece, a dark blue lark in flight. A hint of green and purple was in the blue. It looked real. The real bird would be jealous!