At a certain Brigade Headquarters in the East of England in the mid 80's, the Chief Clerk was somewhat irked by the constant disappearance of the useful coloured felt tip "Notewriter" pens from his desk. Being a generous sort, he decided that he would order enough to issue each member of the 32 HQ Staff, (from Brigadier to Corporal) with their own supply - thus ensuring his would not continually go walkies. He thought he'd found just the thing in the catalogue - a box of 12, 2 x Black, 2 x Blue, 2 x Red and 6 other useful colours. Sorted.
When a delivery lorry turned up a couple of weeks later, he received 32 "Boxes", each "Box" contained 4 "Cartons", Each "Carton" contained 36 "Packs" of 12. Over 55,000 felt tip pens.....Oh how we laughed!
What was never understood was why nobody at the Stores end of the chain thought that it was an unusual amount to send out on a single request or even question it.