Wander,
Yes - Commandant-in-Chief of CFS.

Aah, thanks - could not quite recall the proper title

Why does HM the Queen Mother have a dead cat on her arm in that photo?

Probably the remains of a fox BEagle.

Rather unkind of her.
When she reviewed the Guard of Honour at Scampton in '58, as she passed me she turned to the Reviewing Officer and remarked that we 'all looked dreadfully young.' Which, of course, we were!

If, as a civilian Met. man, I am allowed an opinion on a service matter, I am relaxed on the issue of CV's appointment. This is 2014, and we must deal with it.

Consider this.

If, in 1988, WW III had broken out [and it was still cold war], C Met O BFG would have had his Dormant Commission as Group Captain stamped by the SofS, donned his combats, picked up a pistol, and assumed command of the now-RAF unit called BFG Met. He had previously had the same obligation as a Dormant Flt Lt at Guetersloh [included 1 BR Corps], and as a Dormant S/Ldr at JHQ. All of us had such a commission, and such an obligation. That was how it was, we were needed, we said yes, and we would have done it. Not necessarily brilliantly, but we were all there was.

Fast forward to 2014 ........ she is needed, she said yes, and she will do it.

Ye Gods - a battalion of lightly armed weather-guessers in uniform. That would have had Ivan quaking in his boots....:confused:

Maybe it's Mrs Slocombe's pussy? :E

LJ

PS. Is that a 'red card' moment?

BEAGLE.

I suspect you rather miss the point, probably because you are, on this topic, ill-informed.

The MoD/RAF weather forecasters consistently out-performed all other NATO teams in the secret [and routine] forecasts for selected WP locations. The organisation was integrated in every WOC/COC, and in the deployed Harrier Force and the deployed 1 BR Corps. It was NBC trained and equipped and exercised.

When the Wall came down we discovered that we had also outperformed the WP teams FOR THEIR OWN AIRFIELDS.

Every day, on every base in BFG, in addition to routine Low levels for NW Europe, forecasts were prepared for the WP targets. All through the cold war. This would have continued in war.

No gongs. No complaints, we were all volunteers ... the money was good, although the MQs were not a patch on the houses we left in the UK.

Our motto was "when we are wrong no one forgets, when right, no one remembers".

We no more wasted time/space/momey than the crews and the tanks we supported.


back to the much more pleasant subject of CV?

Dead Cat ? - No !
 

BEagle and LJ,

It was a fox-fur stole. My old Mum had one when I was a boy (I was always rather sorry for the fox !). Very popular in those days, but not very PC today. :=

Don't suppose you could find one now.

D.

Prince Edward Island still has 3 fox farms. At the turn of the last century, it supplied 85% of the World's Silver Fox fur - at prices up to $2,600 per pelt - that's the equivalent of $60,000 per pelt today.
The furs were usually made into stoles by furriers in the big cities, such as San Francisco and Chicago, with a huge mark-up on the pelt price.

I recall a former Chairman of Norwich City FC, a staunch Labour councillor and Mayor, who made his money selling expensive furs from a shop at the top end of the main shopping street in that Fine City

"It was a fox-fur stole".

Didn't Prince Charles have it made into a hat?

Oh dear !
Why not remind us what his mum said about it too :)

When he was going to a fancy dress party? :)

Dead Cat/Fox Bounce ?
 

barnstormer1968 and jyndabine,

Don't know the story - do tell !

The fox stole came complete with "mask" (same as a tiger-skin rug) - you can see it on the Q.M's arm. Ours always looked reproachfully at me (or so I thought), but really being killed by a hunter was a better option than being killed (first) and then eaten by its natural predator, the wolf.

(Then when we exterminated the wolf in these parts, we had to invent an artificial one - the foxhound. Then when the hound became non-PC, we have foxes all over the place. Where will it all end ? I ask myself).

The taxidermy was well done, it didn't pong at all.

On the subject of the Thread, with all due respect to Miss Vorderman, I have always had a vague feeling that there is something wrong with the whole idea.
Even in the case of Churchill, who was an honorary Air Commodore with an honorary brevet, it's not quite right (he'd done some flying, too - he recalled one mishap as being "stalling between two fools !"

D.

Prince Charles turns up for an official visit to Walsall and is shown round by the Mayor. He’s wearing his best shiny buttoned blazer but on his head he’s got a big hat made from red fur. Eventually the Mayor’s curiosity gets the better of him and he asks the Prince why he’s wearing this strange headgear. ‘Well,’ says Charles. ‘I told mummy I was going to Walsall and she said, “Walsall? Wear the fox hat”.’

5 pages so far and only the first two on Carol!
I have to say - the uniform takes all the good looks away from our Carol - dreadful and dreary kit she's wearing. Loved her bod on Pride of Britain - that reminds me, where is her MILF badge and bar?

Fit as a butchers dog for 53 - our Carol.

It's good to have a long memory :E

Ain't that the truth!

Hull was also a good contender when telling this joke.

With regard to Honorary uniforms, isn't it just a way of inducting a person into the Service and showing recognition for the role they will be expected to carry out?

Basil it's the only type of memory I have left! Now where was I?:confused: