In "those days" the Staish and his more senior officers were typically ex WW2 and had been conditioned into being terrified of the SWO. We also had a MPBW depot on each station, complete with a Superintendent of Works.
We also had the SWOs working party where each Cpl and below were placed at the disposal of the SWO for the first 2 weeks after arriving at a new station. They were used for such jobs as painting kerbstones, sweeping roads and paths, painting white lines on car parking spaces etc. I too believe that compared to today, the station of yesteryear was a much smarter establishment. But I doubt that many people care about that today. The manpower situation has long gone where bods could be spared for 2 weeks to work on the SWOs gang.
'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.'