Excuse the minor thread-creep here but I was surprised to read the info above and it made me curious to know: was it an on-going thing with the R/W training courses back then for so many people to go on to BA? (or, more accurately, to go to F/W?). Come to think of it; is it still common for people to do that, with all the conversions / additional training / loss of seniority presumably involved?
Cheers, BM