I must take you to task, Beagle, because I too went through 237 OCU back in the very early 70's. (And sorry to go so off-topic).
The staff were hard on you but I always found their criticism to be realistic and fair. If you weren't up to scratch you were given a roasting. A certain BWI could (and did) bring tears to grown men's eyes!
I always thought that this was perfectly fair as the Buccaneer maritime role was bloody well dangerous and they had to make certain you were up to scratch before you continued with the next part of the course.
I remember Night MDSL (Dive Bombing) at Theddlethorpe Range was particularly challenging and had only total admiration for the Staff Navs who sat in the back without an artificial horizon and only a minuscule altimeter to call out the dive heights and release point.