After a weekend’s leave (happily enough the Queen’s Jubilee Weekend) the fateful day of embarkation arrived. Against all military logic I was allowed to report direct to Brize Norton (45 minutes from home) rather than going to Nottingham (over 2 hours away) and getting a coach to Brize (3 hours back). A worrying note came when the sunshine coach from the North was an hour late: your correspondent had nightmares of being at the wrong airport, or worse a day late. For those unacquainted with Brize, the “Rough Guide” to RAF establishments comments along these lines: “You will arrive at the comfortable departure lounge, where you will be able to buy a wide range of Pot Noodles and drinks from vending machines, but not get any change to operate said machines. Just when you have given
... read more
