Originally Posted by
ancientaviator62
Yes the RAF trade training in those days was second to none. Even our National Service chaps admitted that. Of course some of those called up signed on for an extra year to get better pay. My son in law's father did just that and became an Air Engineer just in time to fly on the Berlin Airlift. Then it was back to Jaguar as a test engineer.
It certainly didn't do my FiL any harm, aside from a rather unpleasant tour at troodos at the height of the EOKA troubles. 2 plus one as a regular in radio com's. Then straight into a job at Marconi and then the Antarctic with BAS. Was with them until he retired.
I've always been fascinated by the National Service period. It appears experiences were almost luck of the draw- some had a fantastic time which set them up for life, others not so. On top of that we mustn't forget those whose lives were lost or changed forever in Korea, Malaya, Cyprus, Suez and many other places.