For those, like me, unfamiliar with the size and nature of RAF Bridgnorth, an excellent site showing all aspects of it is here:
RAF Bridgnorth. 1,000 photographs and memories of RAF basic training at the No.7 School of Recruit Training Bridgnorth.
Unfortunately the bulk of the pictures seem to date from the immediate Post-War period. Nonetheless, the "deadful" nature of it is clear!
Danny, I can quite imagine the talk of getting rid of "all these old wartime people" in the shiny new silver jet age of post war Britain. As an ex Sleaford Tech Grad myself I can do no more than dissociate myself entirely from such talk. That period is marked in my mind as having some of the best Very Senior Officers leading the RAF that it has ever had. Every one, whether at Group, Command, or MOD, had served in WWII and had the gongs to prove it. They also had the humanity and sense of selfless duty that came with it. I remember the one armed (lost when attempting in vain to rescue aircrew from a burning aircraft crashed on take off from the RAF Station he commanded) RAF Inspector-General, Gus Walker. A more affable and loved VSO it is hard to imagine.