Ksimboy.
It was heartbreaking some mornings to arrive at the Met Office for an airdrop sortie when the snow had covered the parking bay lines. You knew that the Loadie had been there since 2 a.m. supervising the loading and preparation of the split stick, Auto Gravity Extraction, 1 ton load.
The back of the aircraft resembled a Victorian cotton mill with festoons of lines and various breaking strain ties all dispensed from a loom of different coloured string. Both bomb racks were loaded with extractors and barriers separated the boxes. The army despatchers were like a swarm of ants all over the load, measuring, tying, cutting and lots of shouting as you rightly say.
The Met man raised his eyes from his chart and intoned, " When the snow stops, the temp will rise at dawn and Salisbury Plain will be fogged out".
We asked Eng Ops if we can keep the load on till the fog clears and go direct to the DZ.
No they said "Conversion needs it for MCT this afternoon and they need flat floor"
So the poor old Loadie was told on the radio " Task canx, pack it all up and unload the aircraft, and have a cup of tea cos we're not coming out."
I don't know how they kept their sense of humour.
v