Ah,the dreaded Shift Change! How many otherwise sound plans have come awry as a result? I'm much relieved that yours at least survived it, Danny (though not half as much as you, I suspect).
From Ernest K Gann (as previously discussed) onwards it has struck without warning, not least of all in the RAF. My experience though was a happy one. Having recently left the Service, I arranged for my wife to be booked into the RAF Hospital, Halton for the birth of our eldest son. Being a "Thoroughly Modern Man" I witnessed his birth, as well as the Shift Change of attendant Doctors and Nurses in the middle of it. Happily, the changeover happened seamlessly, and mother and son spent a restful week with the patients outnumbered by staff, despite the right of any NHS patient to be treated there.
All swept away now, of course, in this Brave New World...
Last edited by Chugalug2; 24th Jun 2013 at 13:12.