Neostigmine and the diathermy leads were absolutely essential.

Our requests were ignored. As the letters below show, a Major in the supply chain at Ludgershall, who clearly had no insight into the necessity or urgency for these items, for reasons best known to himself  hid behind the rule book rather than quickly and effectively resolving the problem. He was prepared to co-operate but only in the most long winded manner which would not satisfactorily address the urgent need of the frontline FST.

That the diathermy machine machine had been purchased without electrodes beggars belief. It is akin to buying a car without any wheels. That it was then issued for use without checking that it was fully functional and fit for its intended use is unbelievable.

That a drug to reverse the effects of muscle relaxant had been omiitted from the inventory of the supply pack is equally peverse.

A further letter from the OC FST provokes a carefully crafted letter from the Colonel Commanding the  equipment depot which justifies his junior officer's actions and pompously sets out the rules and regulations whilst tediously explaining the whys and wherefores of equipment supply and "that there is no question that Ludgershall has a lack of understanding"

The next letter from the OC FST acknowledges the arrival of the box of electrodes but has to request the provision of the necessary leads to connect the diathermy machine to the electrodes.........

Three and a half months down the line from the first request for essential equipment and supplies the equipment depot had failed to supply the only RAMC FST on active service at the time with those items.

Is it any wonder that we were irritated. We had more co-operation out of the adoo.

Charitably readers might think that we simply hit a bad patch when it came to supply and resupply. The account from David Raitt of the "Tail End Charlies" reveals that seven years after the FST was set up the supply chain between Ludgershall and Salalah still did not function effectively. It beggars belief that these people retained their jobs.

36."The Last FST"  "Tail End Charlies" by David Raitt

The quality of the  Adobe PDF files is poor as the original carbon copies have been difficult to reproduce