Originally Posted by
James Blatch
FOLLOW UP: The dead man's bar bill appears to have been patchy in its tradition. But would there have been a gathering in the bar that night (regardless of this tradition)? Or would people have gone home to their wives/families?
This is probably as patchy too. By curious coincidence I was not on-base when any of the IX Vulcans crashed but there was another tradition you haven't picked up on and that was the dead man's sale. The Effects Officer would recover all Service issue uniforms and kit such as flying kit. The rest of the kit, such as hats and gloves, uniforms and mess kit, would, with NOK permission, be auctioned off people often paying well over the odds. The rationale was that death in service benefits were not generous and a 'wife of' in quarters had 62 days to vacate. She could also become ab outcast as a living reminder of the vulnerability of their men.
There was a 'chick lit' novel written be a British journalist about such fatalities on a USAF F100 Sqn in UK. She got under the skin of the matter and I could read the parallels.