Danny,
Never a truer word spoken. My father in law was an "hostilities only" airman of the airframe persuasion. He spent his war on 75 Squadron at Mepal. Stirlings initially and then Lancasters. Towards the end of the war he spent some time on 617 Squadron, I think at Woodhall Spa. He passed a few years ago, but I will never forget his pride at having done an air test with 617, locked in the bomb bay. It was my honour to give him a private look over PA474 when we did a big overhaul on it at Abingdon years ago. He, like many of his contempories, seemed to always be happy with his lot, and grateful that he had gone through that bloody war, contributed something, and survived. I suppose that many servicemen both current and ex will identify with your feeling of "better treatment" compared to less fortunate souls. I suspect that the myth of RAF people being better treated should remain exactly that, a myth. I believe all who took part were true exemplars for our nation. Anyway, as I age I digress more, back to reality and the origins of Air Traffic Control.
Smudge