IN MY DAY .......
Maj Tom Styles wrote to the Norfolk Editor in Bosnia : 'These days you lot have everything - TV, telephones, FAX etc. In my day all we got in Korea was air letter forms and the odd bombing by the US airforce.' (Wot, no rum? Ed)

YAN MOOSUN
Tales from our regular contributor, Yan Moosun, of Hong Kong in the 1950s, appeared in B&C Nos 88, 89 and 90. Here is another, of Berlin, in 1961.

MAJ HAROLD WIGGINTON MBE
Early in 1961 the bachelor officers decided to entertain the 'marrieds' in the mess as thanks for the hospitality over the Christmas period. This took the form of a supper dance.
During the evening I was talking to the wife of the longest serving Maj in the British Army (according to his daughters). He came along and asked where their daughter was. His wife replied that the last time she had seen her was when she was dancing with a young officer. (Name given but withheld like all but one name in this account! Ed)
Armed with that information, he dashed off, returning a few minutes later, agitated and giving every appearance of being somewhat cross. He had looked everywhere and could not find them. His calm wife took the view that they could not be far away and that he should not worry. To this he replied: "It’s alright for you not to worry but I can remember what I was like as a subaltern!"
Most of the bachelors living in the Mess were young officers, National Service and Regulars fresh from Sandhurst. But there was an exception in Maj Harold Wigginton. An officer of the Suffolk Regiment, he was about to retire. He was posted to Berlin for his last 6 months of service, not accompanied by his wife.
The young officers had invited their own guests to the Supper dance. They were 5 young German beauties, most of whom were air hostesses with Lufthansa. Transport had been arranged to collect them but, as hosts, the young officers could not leave to collect the ladies and be absent when the other guests arrived. So who was to be their escort? We will probably never know the identity of the fool who suggested Harold Wigginton.
Wiggy was a great character and had survived as a German PoW. When asked to perform this chore he jumped at the chance. This alone should have aroused suspicions, but no, the young naive officers trusted him or thought he was past it and was thus harmless.
With 2 Volkvagens and drivers it was expected he would have collected them and been back in the Mess by about 2030 hrs. That hour passed, so did 2130 and 2230. By that time the young officer's fingernails were in short supply. No girls, no messages and no idea of what may have happened. Above all, no partners other than married ladies. The evening was a disaster for them.
Then, at last, Wiggy arrived with girls on each arm and all of them gazing adoringly at him. We learned later that having collected them he took them out to dinner. It would appear he held them captive with his stories and anecdotes.
So much for old fiddles and young beaux!
(If Yan can send the Norfolk Editor his tale of Wiggy, his Rolls Royce and visits to the Opera in Berlin it will have a place in a later journal.)
Click here for Berlin or Bust by Rolls-Royce and A night at the Opera by Rolls-Royce  Both wonderful tales from B&C No 92 Jun 99!