Tail dragger
When I joined the Hastings fleet in 1965 I was told that it was a hangover from the last little European disturbance when towing gliders was in vogue. There were still a lot of ex- WW2 top brass around in '65. You could ask a similar question as to why the Hercs originally had an astrodome - in a pressurised aircraft. Many an AQM, sorry, loady, refused to sleep on the top bunk!