Chivenor 1981. OO turns up a couple of minutes early to salute the flag one morning, only to find neither ensign nor Ord Sgt were present. Knowing that the Stn Cdr was a zealot for such things, he goes off to look for the missing Sgt.
A few minutes later, a little after the appointed hour for ensign hoisting, Ord Sgt rushes up with flag. On seeing no trace of the OO, he decides to blow whistle, hoist ensign, step back and salute it, then blow the whistle again.
All this is observed by an incandescent Stn Cdr, whose temper is raised further when the OO returns. "YOU, MY OFFICE, YOUR HAT NOW!"
Mate attempts to explain, but words fall on deaf ears and he is invited to volunteer for another 7 days of OO...
Later the Stn Cdr's office was moved to the new location in the posh new Handbrake House - and it overlooks the flag pole. I knew that it took exactly 10 sec to walk from the car parking spot to the saluting point and had seen the Stn Cdr peering out of his window, obviously hoping to catch another victim. But with 12 sec to go, I casually got out of my car, marched over to the saluting point and called "3...2...1...NOW" to the Ord Sgt. Ensign lowered exactly on time, but I could feel the Stn Cdr's glare on the back of my neck as I went back to the car...
