of most of these to my own earlier experience at Wildenrath during my second flight in a Sabre, and about which I had said nothing for fear of ridicule, was quite remarkable. I told Alan of what I had seen, and it was entered, with the appropriate date, in the book. He said that this almost universal fear of ridicule among aircrew about such sightings was a major deterrent to reporting such incidents. He explained that he was deterred, officially, from actively and overtly seeking such information and was therefore reliant on pilots coming to see him, in confidence, to make such reports. In all other respects I had little to do while he was away, other than open his mail, some of it classified, and file it securely until his return. There was nothing that needed my positive action on his behalf during his absence.
Shortly after Alan came back, he came to see me and asked for my assistance. He had been briefed by the Station Commander to carry out a night time audit with regard to the after hours security of Classified files and information. The CO had authorised him to contact me, under strict security, to assist in this task. If anything went wrong during our audit, (ie: if we were caught red-handed carrying it out) he himself was at once to be informed. Alan chose a dark, moonless night for our task. After dinner, Alan phoned the CO to confirm that the audit was 'on' and then contacted me. It was our duty, before midnight, to enter any facility with unsecured windows or doors in which we, with justification, considered there could be a security lapse. That, in truth, gave us the right to enter any administrative, technical, or HQ building on the camp. We knew where dog patrols operated and had to evade them as well as avoid being seen acting suspiciously. Wearing denims, we commenced our task. We soon found that many unmanned (normal at that hour) buildings were not as secure as they should have been. We climbed in through back windows, went through offices - anybody's offices, regardless of rank or position - looked in desk drawers, and found many Classified files which should have been properly secured at the end of work. We had to label each file with where it was found. In fact, in one area, we found so many that we had to hide them under pine needles in the forest and come back for them later when we had completed our rounds. Laden, we arrived at the CO's married quarter and knocked on the door. He was amazed, and furious, but not with us. He signed a receipt for the list of documents. Our task was completed.
Next morning, according to Les Knell, his Adjutant, who later came personally to see us both in Alan's office, the CO played a waiting game, just to see if any of the files were reported missing. Very few were. Then the flak started to fly. Each person whose file or files the CO now had, was summoned in turn to his office for what Les described as 'a severe corrective talking to' and a warning that the security breach would be recorded on that person's personal record and would severely impair his promotion prospects. Some were awarded loss of seniority with the resultant cut in pay. Apart from the CO and, later, Les Knell, no-one knew that it was Alan and me who had carried out the check.
Once in a while, Nancy, my Boss's wife, would call in to my office. If the Boss was busy, out, or flying, and I had the time, she would stay and chat. The poor lady was lonely, the loneliness born of being a Senior Officer's wife. She was a lovely person who doted on her husband but who had difficulty with her situation. As an aside, there were times when my Boss and his wife invited me to their house for a social evening. They were a great couple and were keen to point out that not everything I did for, or with, him necessarily involved work. As a further example of the way we melded together, the WingCo, as his personal extraneous duty, was Commodore of the RAF Jever Sailing Club at Wilhelmshaven.6
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6 The Sailing Club was also open to membership from personnel on the teaching staff of the British Forces' Prince Rupert boarding school at Wilhelmshaven. Some of the nurses from RAF Hospital, Rostrup, near Oldenburg, were also affiliated members. RAF Jever personnel made up the majority. 150