Swinderby Senior Man
As an ex Swinderby Flt Cdr: Senior Man was the most important appointment! A good one could get everyone on parade before my Drill Corporal arrived at 0730. A bad one did not survive for long before we replaced him. We had an entirely free hand in identifying a likely candidate. Big, tall and ex ATC was a good start. Or just gut instinct when we had a look at them. One such was the best we ever had, until three weeks in the plod arrived to reclaim him as a fugitive from some establishment! When we went camping in Sherwood Forest the first job was to dig a pit six feet deep and six feet square. A good senior man just asked who had been with Wimpey or the like and handed them the spades. It was the first thing some of them had understood since joining up. We could usually find good ex caterers for the kitchen the same way; some really first class curries could be produced. Not a bad job - with a free Landrover thrown in. My Sergeant and I managed to lose it one day out in the Forest looking for new camp sites (don't want to hit that pit again). No problem says Sarge as I am thinking up how to explain things. Walked back to camp (damn!) and assembled 150 recruits. "We have hidden a Landrover out in the area. Teams of four out now; first to find it gets double rations". Result in under 40 minutes. Happy Days - until it rained.