Exascot - I think it was the perceived change in the flying; to get in to the MR role you had to be at or near the top of the Multi engine (Varsity) course, whereas for AEW you didn't. In maritime you learnt to operate with the aircraft and crew- MOTU was considered one of the hardest OCU courses to pass at the time, over 6 months and 180 hours flying - whilst the AEW course taught basic handling (thanks to the 'systems approach to flying training') and duties of a copilot (how to work in the galley!) but very little of how the rest of the crew operated. As an aside, at the end of MOTU I knew how to operate at every crew position if necessary; OK, not very well but we had to know the basics of everything.
PS - I assume you mean Majunga
(which is a whole thread on its own!).