...never saw a fairy getting his hands dirty!!!
On first posting to Waddington from Halton Brats I was put in the "Gin Palace, working in the generator servicing shop. The Vulcan B1A had 112Vdc Starter/Generators and the brush gear covered the whole of the insides in fine graphite dust. It was impossible to clean your hands after a day's work as the graphite went deep into the pores. The lanolin protection didn't work and it was long before the Safety Elf insisted on latex surgical gloves. We were known as the "Black Hand Gang". After moving out onto Line Servicing it took weeks before the last effects of the graphite wore off.