Taphappy, I am constantly amazed by the depth of recall of all those who tell their stories here, yourself included. The accounts are told as if it were but yesterday and we have constantly to remind ourselves that all this was happening some 70 years ago to very young men, indeed some could describe them as boys, though fated to become men very very quickly.
Where you were, what it was like, what you wore, what you did, how you were treated, all described in fascinating detail from a distant world so remote from the present.
As has been said so often, it is the detail that is so vital and so captivating. Thus money spent on promotion could be saved by issuing a "bonus" within existing rank, and further clawed back by modifying that bonus according to "trade". Come to think of it, not so remote a wheeze after all, perhaps!
Quite how a poor swimmer "persuades" a PTI that he is a proficient one I would have no idea. I suspect though that it was yourself that you persuaded, the same driving force that lies at the root of all these tales. Failure (to coin a modern phrase) was not an option. You all had a burning ambition to fly. That at least most of us can relate to!
Last edited by Chugalug2; 8th Jul 2012 at 09:52.