SB,
Camping......Aargh! But the Harrier Force had it easy compared to what SH had to put up with. The first time I landed my Puma at a deployed HF site "tented city" with its walkways, armchairs and fridges, I couldn't believe it. It was a complete contrast compared with the few resources we were given.
Others here will probably remember the infamous pig farm site one of our Sqn flights had to use. The farmer literally moved his pigs up into one half of the barn, put up some hoardings to keep them there, swept the floor to some extent - and one of our flights moved in. The mess tent was set up inside, on pig dung.
I still have memories of landing at last light at our deployed site to be told that my 7x5 was somewhere in the back of one of the trucks. When I eventually found it, it had no poles, guy ropes or pegs. It wasn't uncommon for aircrew to arrive at a new site after a long day of tasking to find that we had missed dinner and there was nothing held back for us to eat till breakfast time. As for spending three days in full aircrew NBC kit, including the AR5, and having to sleep in it too (or trying to) .....thank goodness those days are over.
These days I would never consider camping a holiday!