This photo of the five RAF men, in prayer with heads solemnly bowed, had been sent to the next-of-kin in 1945 or 1946. The RAF padre, front right, reads from his prayer book open as he conducts the service for the fallen airmen. Alexander's crew is listed on the right-hand cross, and his name is the bottom name on the left.

I found one of the five RAF men in the photo, who, with the help of Indians, gathered and buried the remains. He has a number of photos from the long, arduous trek to the remote crash site. His caption for the photo is: "The funeral service. It could not have been more reverent if it had been Westminster Abbey." He emphasized to me over the phone that all present, including the Indians, were intensely moved by the service.

There is a slight discrepancy in Alexander's service number and his rank. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has him listed as F/Lt with the service number 186421. The cross's inscription plus wartime documents list his rank as Pilot Officer and his service number as 186422. I assume that his promotion to F/Lt had not reached RAF authorities in India at the time of his death. The F/Lt rank, then, must be accurate. The one-digit difference in service number is a bureaucratic blunder somewhere, but I don't know which is correct.