When I served on Suffolk's phinest phighter squadron, one of our ploys was to take over as many Mess Committee posts as we could, so that we had the majority voice on the committee....
So I was 'invited' to be the Silver Member. Off to the storeroom with the Property Book and the outgoing 'volunteer' to do an audit...
It was chaos! There were more items than the book had recorded, including models of aeroplanes which neither we nor the Crows had ever flown. Mysterious cups, for example from the Wireless Sports Club from RAF Bircham Newton, weren't registered and other items which were, simply weren't there. So I refused point blank to take over the job until the outgoing 'volunteer' had sorted things out.
That was the last I ever heard of it, so I guess the job was palmed off onto someone else.
Of course the pongoes have loads of regimental plunder, compared with the RAF. Apart from the occasional 'silver auction', all surplus RAF silver used to go to RAF Quedgeley for storage. But since Quedgeley closed 20 years ago, lord knows where the silver is now.
Insurance costs also became astronomic, so most mess silver was locked away rather being left in display cabinets, as was once the case.
When I arrived at one station in the early '80s, I was struggling through the corridors with my luggage when a grumpy old so-and-so appeared from a doorway clutching a silver model aeroplane. "What's that!", he grunted as he thrust it under my nose. "Err, I think it's a Whitley, sir", I replied. He just scowled and turned away. Rather rude, I thought - then later in the bar someone told me that he was a long-time passed-over for promotion Flt Lt and was rather bitter and twisted about the fact. Being relatively young and naïve, I hadn't realised that anyone so seemingly ancient could still be a Flt Lt, hence my 'sir' had probably quite irritated him
