B26C K9 Korea 1953

[browningautorifle]

hasn't everyone who ever served in any armed force right back to the caveman days met their share them?

Actually those guys wouldn't bother me...not a problem.

[Peter Laidler]

They don't bother you when you're at Sgt and WO rank BAR. But further down the food chain, when you're back on home turf after a long absence and it's all sort of new again..........

I recall getting a real roasting not long after returning to the UK after 3 years abroad, trolling around the bloody Far East and still only 22. I went off duty after being the Guard Commander with the duty vehicle keys in my pocket. I mean....., it's not as though we were short of Land Rovers to use until Monday morning, anyway. I got back in on Monday to be told to go to the HQ block to see the Orderly Sergeant WITH the keys I'd taken home by mistake. He berated me of course and I told him that I hadn't been back very long and this was my first duty in 3 years where we'd had keys. He didn't seem to understand the concept of no vehicle keys, but he saw that I had a strange (Australian) version of the 'wooly pulley' (the heavy pullover) on and through the small slit for the epaulettes he could see a small dark blue badge and a smaller yellow badge (Rising Sun) slightly showing through the other side. That made him a bit inquisitive and he asked what the xxxx I was wearing. So I told him that my stuff hadn't even caught up with me yet (after normal and active service leave etc etc) and that I'd had 3 years away, still had my old 'issued/Australian replacement' stuff. As for the missing keys. we never had keys for our vehicles or 'log books' (a sort of driver record book), just a turn switch and push button. I mean....., where were you going to bloody well go if you took the big Bedford or International?: And if you lost a key there, where would you get another? It seemed to go above his head a bit. But it turned out later that he was a nice bloke. He told the QM, Kindly old clothing QM arranged for me to be totally and fully re-equipped. Never queried the absence of any of the other stuff on my 1157 kit record sheet which was probably stuck in some QM's ledger in Enoggera. Still got the issue Omega wristwatch to this day and gave the Longines to my son!

[browningautorifle]

They don't bother you when you're at Sgt and WO rank BAR

Yup...good reason to not stay stagnant.

my 1157 kit record sheet which was probably stuck in some QM's ledger in Enoggera

Was probably still there when I got there and I could have picked it up for you...as if it mattered.