More interesting to Shirley were the young RAF officers who were also part of the unit, skilled linguists with expertise in Chinese languages, who worked alongside local Chinese teachers, translators, and administrators. She was struck by the knowledgeability and social ease of these officers, “people who had had what used to be called a classical education, and who displayed this knowledge in the most marvellous, natural way.” One of these, not British but an officer in the British Army, was Alexis Vedeniapine, who would feature significantly in her life; two others, Christopher Cooper and Alan Green, also became important friends. Shirley was delighted at the willingness of Cooper and Vedeniapine in particular to recite and discuss poetry, as well as by her own ability to join them in this—“proof,” as she reflected later, that she was “not alone in the world,” that she was “not dreaming.” It seems that Vedeniapine could match Shirley’s extraordinary memory for poetry, and it is remarkable that almost as soon as she had left Australia, she had met others with whom she was so profoundly aligned. Chris Cooper later described Shirley as impressively cultivated and precociously well-read, and Alan Green recalled her sociability, lively manner, and “lovely face.”