I would be fairly certain that SMB probably did hear, and a suitably volcanic eruption followed - which is why it only happened the once! Little escaped him and between him and Jon Wolfe in particular, the grip of the organisation (grasp may be a kinder word?) was near-total. Stuart Balmforth, the third musketeer, was always rather more sociable. That's before you get onto one or two other eclectic characters of the day, including one complete sociopath who was the airline's Commercial Director for a time. He was the type of individual with whom today's world of HR grievances and mental health awareness would [rightly] catch up very quickly.
As you say, it didn't stop the ultimate BA arrival in LBA. The post-Knight Air LBA J31 then J41 base was quite a structure in its day, with a highly respected but nonetheless tough task-master as Base Captain.
The irony of all of this seems to be that LBA's best prospects of rebuilding a domestic network seem to rest with the present-day operator of G-MAJA and its sisterships.