The woolly-pully and cash over the bar were some of the reasons I left the Air Force.
I am pleased that I saw the last years of RAF mess life which would still have been recognisable to someone from pre war years, (suits in the evening, batmen, waiter service at all meals including breakfast etc), and certainly no cash over the bar.
I recall a mess meeting at Catterick when the main item on the agenda was whether the mess should buy a washing machine so that living in officers could do their own dhobi instead of sending it to the laundry. One crusty old wing commander (not RAF Regiment as it happens) spoke out against the idea, which he claimed would be "detrimental to the status of an officer".
Autres temps, autre moeurs