On the bright side, Mrs F.O.D had a letter from HMRC yesterday approving her request for NI credits for her time overseas accompanying me on posting to Germany and Belgium decades ago - result!
Just to remind everyone that you can backdate claims for wives NI credit whilst on accompanied tours overseas as far back as the 1970s so it is a good way to build up state pension entitlement for wives who weren't working or claiming child benefit at the time.