...delivered in large quantities by regular Transall which brought the odd bit of uniform or mail as well to keep it all legit...
The Revenue obviously got wind of the number of items arriving at TTTE in such a manner. So now and again, a German F-4 would arrive at Wattisham on Friday and the crew would dutifully declare their bottle and 200 to the customs folk....who would wish them well and promptly poke off.
The Luftwaffe mates would then stand around looking innocent....until some German MT wagon bowled up from Cottesmore. Whereupon the F-4's 4000lb centre drop tank would reveal its true function in life as a side panel was removed and all manner of 'imports' would be transferred to the MT wagon. I'm told that a complete Mercedes-Benz exhaust system arrived once....
This freight service worked fine until the unfortunate groundcrew managed to ding the stabilator one Friday afternoon when putting the jet away in a hangar. Despite offers to fix it, regrettably officialdom in Germany had no option but to put an end to this clever little venture.