Life on 18 Squadron - Tony Cunnane's Life and Times
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Life on 18 Squadron
Being the press officer whilst serving on 18 Squadron at RAF Finningley in 1960 clearly did not tax me too greatly and so I was given two more secondary duties. For six months I was the squadron’s Winter Sports Officer. I knew absolutely nothing about winter sports and had no interest in them so I kept a very low profile during the long hot summer of 1960. I was also appointed Custodian of the Squadron Standard and Deputy Standard Bearer in preparation for the presentation of the Squadron Standard by HRH The Princess Margaret. The official presentation was then delayed for a year when Princess Margaret fell pregnant so in the meantime I had the onerous task of safeguarding the Standard in a locked temperature-
Obviously the efficiency with which I carried out my secondary duties must have pleased both my Squadron Commander and the Station Commander because early in 1961 I was appointed to one of the few highly prestigious and much sought after General List Permanent Commissions. I was now guaranteed a career to at least age 43 if I were a flight lieutenant, or to 47 if I gained promotion to squadron leader and beyond. I was thereafter considered far too useful an officer to be given trivial secondary duties so I was relieved of my duties as Winter Sports’ Officer and made Squadron Adjutant instead with my own small but private office immediately next to the Squadron Commander’s.
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