I have a few ex para's who live near me. We often meet during the morning bimble and exchange pleasantries. What a fine bunch they all are, I often admired their grit getting on and departing a perfectly serviceable aircraft. Seriously, I've heard a lot of stories around the lads in purple, and I'm sure Alberts loadmaster fraternity at least must have a few they could share with us. I can only offer a tale of a trip to Deelen for a drop to commemorate Arnhem, with a night stop. As we approached the DZ the troops were still seated and a para at the front end in the LH centre seats did not have his skid lid on. The stanchion that supports the seats was not fitted correctly and collapsed, hitting the unfortunate para on the head. There was a lot of blood, and we removed him to the lower bunk, where he insisted he was fit to go with the rest. Thankfully the drop was aborted due to high winds. Thankfully, the seating was fitted by the roly squippers back at Lyneham, I would have hated to have caused that.
Smudge