…... like the sportsmen they were, and always vowed that all was well. But the armament officer and myself were very soon shedding tears together.
And yet, whilst the experience was very valuable and I got confirmatory evidence of the cause of some of my own troubles, I learned very little that was new. And the reason was nothing to do with me. It was simply that the guns which came through to us were in many ways in better condition
than the Army ones. Consequently the R.F.C. had a tremendous number of straight-forward jambs, plus the unusual ones, whilst we had for the most part only those peculiar to aerial firing.
One of the most trying things the Armament Section had to face was the fact that the guns kept coming through with all the old necessities for adjustment. In spite of reports, requests, drawings, recommendations and personal visits, none of the minor modifications necessary ever seemed to be incorporated in the next batch which came along. But every now and then some alteration would be incorporated, of which I had had no previous warning. Of course it was inevitable, and easy to understand to-day, but it was great fun at the time.
There was, however, a most refreshing side to the Naval supplies as compared with the Army. When I wanted anything badly, we telephoned Dunkirk, and either it was sent up promptly on a lorry, or we rushed a motor-bicycle down for it. My unfortunate Army contemporaries, however, had to fill in request forms with an immense number of carbon copies, and often repeat the performance with yet more carbon duplicates, and whether they ever got what they wanted I don't know. But, thank Heaven, our supply machine had been decarbonised, fitted with live wires, and was beautifully timed.
I think Warwick Wright, now Col. Warwick Wright, D.S.O., had much to do with this. At any rate, whenever I see his name written in large letters across our railway bridges, I drink to him with my eyes as I pass under them, remembering the urgent telephonic request I made one day to Dunkirk for some new re-coil springs. They arrived within half-an-hour, and Dunkirk was about five hours away by road. You cannot beat that. Does it spoil the story if I say that the delivery was made to us in mistake for another squadron which had ordered them the day before? I hope not, for Dunkirk was wonderfully quick and well organised.
I have written rather generally about the armament job in the foregoing pages, and will try to particularise a little in the following paragraphs.
