GttC, anyone who knows me, knows about my necessity for 1/2 hrs peace and quiet! I'm sorry for going off track, Frank, but whenever we used to do exercises with the Army, on the circuit over HQ,no matter how well camouflaged the tents were I'd always spot the latrines-the 'long drops', just a trench dug by a JCB and a plank with 3 egg shaped holes in it, surrounded by a bit of hessian for 'privacy'.
Back in '82-83 there was some Brigade manoeuvers down in the Shannon area. We put down on a hardstanding, that was a new estate, y'know how they do the roads with a turning circle at the end? Well that made a good helipad. I knew we'd got about 1/2 an hour on the ground before our next mission, so I said to the pilot I was going over to one of the houses for a dump. "You can't do that!" "Well I can't go here!" So I knocked on the door of the nearest (very upmarket!) house and asked if I could use their toilet. The family were more interested in what was going on with all the military activity, so by the time I'd explained, then they showed me the kharzie, I was in cold weather flying gear so that took ages to get off. I was hardly touching the seat when I heard that familiar BWHOOOOOOOOOO!....... "OH Fiddlesticks!".
During the snows of '82 we put down for directions in the garden of a mansion up near Ashford somewhere and I had to do what a man's gotta do! Same sort of reaction from the old couple to "Can I use your toilet?" from a bloke trussed up in full flying kit! Ahhh! Those were the days!
