Taphappy, if your experience is anything to go by then staying in the UK for aircrew training was a rather worse bet than going overseas for it. I suppose that the response to any outspoken dissatisfaction would be, "There is a war on you know!".
Now at least you are learning your trade, and with the help of the "Harwell Box" too. Could you describe that a little? We have already been told of simulators for the Air Engineers and Air Gunners, as well as of course the Pilots' Link Trainer. Presumably it simulated not only inflight noises but poor R/T and W/T conditions as well.
In the modern era of VHF/UHF/SAT Comms, it is perhaps not fully appreciated what a key man the W/Op was on a crew. Having flown the Hastings, which admittedly had upgraded its fit from the 1154/55 to the STR18B, his skill with the key was often the only way to send and receive ATC and Wx info when out of V/UHF range. If that didn't work you were indeed both deaf and dumb, with no idea at a Crit Point what the Wx was doing ahead of, or behind you. In Bomber Command of course he had additional duties, but I'll leave that to the better qualified than I...