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39conditions offering undisturbed rest. In the early days, the USAFauthorities provided bed spaces for aircrew on the base and allowed adegree of overcrowding which was to cause problems in the mediumterm. The use of this accommodation could not be guaranteed for,although Pan Am administered the base, other agents, NASA andMilitary Airlift Command (MAC), owned the accommodation. A %u2018spaceevent%u2019 or increased MAC flights could create demands by these agencieshaving first call on their buildings. The number of bed spaces could not,therefore, be taken for granted. The very fluid situation was made themore difficult as differing aircrew arrived and departed almost on a dailybasis, each wave adjusting beds, furniture and fridges to suit theirparticular fads; this infuriated the Pan Am accommodation manager andled to problems every few days. The situation improved in lateMay/early June when the USAF flew in No 4449 Mobile SupportSquadron with thirty-two twelve-man modules. In practice it was foundthat the USAF scales resulted in overcrowding and it was decided thatthe maximum occupancy should be eight aircrew or one crew if this wasless than eight. Thus a potential 384 bed spaces was, in effect, reducedby half. The modules, affectionately know as %u2018Concertina City%u2019, providedall mod cons but the piercing whine of the supporting generators wasannoyingly disturbing; the noise problem was reduced with theintroduction of extended supply cables and throwing up mounds todeflect the noise. Even so, getting adequate sleep was difficult for manyand the drug Temazepam was officially prescribed and acceptedenthusiastically; it proved highly effective and made a significantcontribution to the success of the long-range air operations fromAscensionCatering. Catering for servicemen was provided by the USAF MessHall and three field kitchens, one each at English Bay, Two Boats andthe airhead. The in-service catering teams worked marvels and althoughthe provision of storage capacity was sufficient to cater for 1000 men fortwenty-one days, on only one occasion were rations reduced to a singleday%u2019s supply. Early on the menus were restricted to whatever could becreated from very basic ingredients but later the field kitchens producedexcellent multi-choice meals with fresh vegetables. Throughout, thepatient, cheerful St Helenians manning the US commissary producedhigh standard meals for a significant percentage of the British