45 Sqn and 58 Sqn of Wittering's Hunter Wing were operational Hunter squadrons in every sense of the word. Pilots were posted there pending the availability of an OCU slot on other types.
IIRC, they won a prestigious NATO low-level attack competition with their map-and-stopwatch Hunters, much to the chagrin of the Pussycat people with their gucci new toy...
I was posted to 58 Sqn as the last pilot ever posted to an operational RAF Hunter squadron, then went on leave. When I came back the Boss had been told that the Wing's disbandment had been brought forward in order to provide more Hunters to RAF Brawdy, who couldn't mange to generate enough serviceable jets on a daily basis to meet the TWU's needs.
So I piled all my worldly belongings back into my car and returned to Brawdy; when 45/58's jets arrived they were in showroom condition compared to the scruffy things 63 (
), 234 (
) and 79 (
) normally had to fly. That was the difference between having well-motivated groundcrew with a sense of squadron identity at Wittering and a bunch of pi$$ed-off teddies who hated being stuck in the bottom left hand corner of Wales miles from anywhere.
Hunter flying in the summer of 1976 - ****ing brilliant!