RAF Bicester – 1974. There was a national alarm, fuelled by the ‘red top’ newspapers, that terrorists were at large in the UK with man-portable anti-aircraft missiles, intending to target civilian airliners and/or military aircraft. We had, of course, quite a few Chipmunk aircraft based at Bicester although the rather better armed F-111 aircraft a few miles away at Upper Heyford might have been at more risk! One dark night, with the Alert State high, I was the OO and on my night patrol of the airfield perimeter. It was very dark as I entered the old WW II bomb dump area, totally unlit but still accessible with narrow roads between 10ft high mounds. It was overgrown with bushes and scrub and clearly a good lurking place for bad guys. Torch in hand, more than usually alert, I wandered along the tracks when suddenly there was the most almighty noise, crashing about and general mayhem in the bushes immediately to my right. Fearing the worst and preparing to run or fight(!) I was confronted by a ghostly white shape which went very fast right past my head, very close, followed by something bumping into my right leg! It was very nearly a ‘brown underpants moment’ and it took several minutes for my heart rate to fall after I realised that I had disturbed a fox intent on a meal of barn owl. A stiffener in the Mess Bar was required!