I've almost retired and when I sent my man Carruthers down to stores to check what was on my loan book I found all they wanted back was my gas mask, my tin (OK Kevlar) hat and ....... you guessed it the Aircrew watch which had been languishing (unserviceable) in my sock draw for 10 years.
Happy New Year, old chum! I hope you manage to hang on to your fightergator's tool of the trade - the F4 C/B pulling nose-picker!
My Breitling Aerospace needed a new battery not long before I punched out of the mob, so I hunted around for my 'aircrew' watch. Found it in a drawer, but its battery was tits-up. Off to stores..."New battery please, stout fellow!" "Sorry, sir, we haven't got any - you'll have to have a new watch instead"....
Off to the V&A empire with suitable chit and I received something which was probably first issued to Bader. But it didn't run on batteries and kept pretty good time. Gut genug!!
A few weeks later, doing the station tour with blue card just before I left, I handed it back in. "WTF is that?" quoth the stores-wallah. "It's the same watch you beggars gave me a month ago; it works, it's yours...sign here please!"
S6 - you old so-and-so! It must be well over 20 years since the RAF got rid of those. Don't forget your button stick and collar studs!