Page 30 - Demo

28comes in at a rather fast rate. There we were lighting our fuses, which was fine, except that one of our number, Rich Bolt, could not get his to light. Ours by now were merrily hissing away, just like in the cowboy films! Try as he might, Rich could not get his to burn. By now, the sea was lapping around our ankles. The solution was to cut his safety fuse in half and try again. Luckily this was successful and at last they ignited. Cutting the fuse length in two meant we had reduced our time to take cover by half. Our steady walk back to the bunker had suddenly become a most un-officer like sprint up the beach.Our Flight Sergeant, Ron Williams, old enough to be our father, left we 20 year-olds standing in the race up the beach. We had almost reached cover when a series of explosions behind us confirmed the stores had detonated and several metal ammunition boxes disappeared skywards heading for a low earth orbit. What goes up must come down. One lid was on its way down, falling back to earth, and looming ever larger by the second. It thudded into the sand only a couple of feet from Ron Williams who was standing there transfixed by this demonstration of gravity.Gravity gave way to mirth and we all laughed at the outcome, but the laughing was distinctly nervous at the close shave.Mike DaviesCriminal OffencesI went from three years at RAF Halton without a single charge to holding the 94 Entry record for charges in my first 3-months at Cranwell. The high point was a charge for having laundry in my laundry basket. How ridiculous is that!Greg Whitear