MGMark, Peters received your text and has asked me to remind you that silk smoking jackets, extended cigarettes and bat boys (for the use of....) maybe available to the higher eshilons of Her Majesty's service but are not available on the NHS.
Unfortunately he is into full barrier nursing, and the delights of Glacy (Cherry his Philippine Nurse) are most defiantly down to his imagination (and may involve a sock at some stage).
Good to hear that the old chap is managing to manipulate the modern mobile telephone and use its text facilities without the aid of a signaller. But, oh dear me, his mind must be getting addled these days. Affectations of silk smoking jackets, cigarette holders and bat boys (officer, for the use of, quantity one) may have been de rigeur in the other Services, but never so in the RAF. Much more youthful, exuberant and riff-raff in nature, with tastes in warm brown beer and comfortable WAAFS, is the RAF. The WAAFs, of course, dispense with any requirement for self-administered "sock relief", so RAF chaps tend to use socks only for their intended purpose (as knitted or woven, normally by an obliging older relative, hosiery garments) to enclose the human foot to ease chafing between the foot and footwear, keep the feet warm, provide comfort, be fashionable and keep the feet clean.
You might remind him that the RAF stems from much more resourceful, practical stock - such as the example set by "Tip It In" Terry Spencer, another of our WW2 veterans lost to us in the last few days, whose obituary appeared in the Times today, and from which I quote "
In February 1945 he was shot down while attacking ground targets near Munster. He baled out and landed in a field beside some French slave workers but was soon surrounded by German soldiers. He was taken to a German interrogation centre, but escaped soon afterwards during an Allied bombing raid. Spencer and a New Zealander commandeered a motor bicycle, stole some petrol and reached the American lines. He rejoined his unit, by then in Holland, to be greeted by his CO and fighter ace Group Captain Johnny Johnson, who exclaimed: “Terry, where the bloody hell have you been the last five weeks?”. On that basis, Peter can probably expect a polite enquiry of "Hello, old chap been away somewhere?" when he emerges victorious from his full barrier encounters with Nurse Gladys Emmanuel.....
MG Mark
