THE FUNNY SIDE OF WAR

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During my service in the Royal Air Force I took part in scores of military exercises, pretending to be at war. It was a vital task, and could often be real. It was a serious business, and even dangerous at times.
This said, there were many lighter moments. In this post I want to recall the occasional episode that wasn’t just funny, but absolutely surreal. Indeed, such moments made it all worthwhile.

I remember one Officer in particular.

This gent thought himself ‘cutting edge’, yet the rest of us considered him a bit of an idiot. And I remember well the time, in the guard command centre, when he just sat down on the floor and seemed to be crying.
We took one look at him and carried on. Some half hour later, an umpire came in and told us all off. Apparently the Officer had been told to fake a nervous breakdown so our reaction could be tested. We, however, noticed nothing strange.

But the children gave the most surreal moment.

One base had a gate on a rather nasty bend. The married quarters were on camp and there was a warning sign by the road warning of when the school bus arrived, and the children had to cross to the gate.
During exercises, the gate had armed guards, and many unassuming motorists nearly crashed due to the sight of a sign saying ‘Danger Children’, followed by watching armed soldiers escorting the kids across the road and into the base.
We had scary kids in the RAF.

© Anthony North, December 2007

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