Flick you ask for ''bites'' well all I can say is you must have been very unhappy with your posting for some reason that you do not elude to. I served 4 tours on 72, including the time you were there. At no time during those times do I recall the feeling that you have and never received anything but true friendship and respect between those of us that flew and those who didn't whether engineers, stores or admin. I served with both of the two venerable gentlemen mentioned both in UK and Hong Kong and although I could not attend Wally's funeral I was certainly at Paul's which was attend by aircrew and groundcrew alike, such was the respect he commanded.
Your comment about SAR also doesn't ring true as the majority of the aircrew were SH through and through, SAR was our secondary role although it did demand a priority when called for. As for elderly Warrant Officers, I was a Master when I departed before Christmas 91 to set up 60 Sqn at Benson at the grand old age of 38. If you truly did find it bad well maybe if you join the 72 Association, you might find it is one of the most successful of the Sqn associations consisting as it does of both aircrew and groundcrew alike.