It seems we are of the same generation, NR, for I was commissioned in 1962. At that time nearly all senior officers, and many of their juniors, had served in WW2. There was a quality about them that being young one took for granted, but in retrospect was probably unique to its time. For they knew the real value of dedication to duty, of moral as well as of physical courage, of the importance of "we" rather than "me". It all seemed to suffuse into a kind of tranquillity, that no matter what the challenges or problems, it was as nothing compared to what they had faced in the past. I do not simply refer to ex BoB nor even Fighter Command types, as being a Transport pilot we perhaps saw more of the ex-heavies of Bomber Command. Mickey Martin, Gus Walker, Lewis Hodges and many others exemplified the Air Officers of my day. I count myself blessed that I served in a substantial and well led RAF back then.