No, Veronique, I was a signaller & managed to do my job in a Landrover, or, on some exercises, in a pub! Some of the country pubs used to let us run a remote handset from the FFR to the lounge bar where we would listen in whilst enjoying a pint in front of a large log fire. It did require our company commander to have little knowledge of radio theory thus allowing me to pick our optimum location for "effective comms". Our job was made so much easier with the maximum use of radio silence.
Life was not always easy - on one exercise our position (not in a pub this time) was attacked with armour in the middle of the night. There were cries of "Stand To" among the bangs. I know this as the following morning our officer asked me where I was as when he jumped in to our trenches he was the only one there. I had slept through it all in the front of another vehicle. The hard bit was getting comfortable as the centre seat in an FFR (fitted for radio) is replaced by a battery box.
My OH's friend and colleague was already a senior academic, a professorship only a few years away, truly happily married, with two young children. Two years after we left Swansea she threw herself off a cliff. She left no note, had showed no signs of a problem, simply a number of witnesses watched her do it from the beach below and from the footpath above. The only university academic I have ever known who actually did it, but several have finished their careers because of stress, several with mental health problems. I tended to find it 'challenging' at times, but then I had no proper fixed permanent job for many years. Same with the consultancy, forever travelling and tight deadlines. Some people really could not make it and fell by the way. I am still attempting to limp on.
It certainly does David within the teaching profession and elsewhere. Teaching can be stressful just like roadsweeping or in a factory or anywhere probably. A very good friend, a doctor and also godmother to our son couldn't handle the pressure of being a GP. At 35 years of age she booked herself into a motel and injected herself with a substance and never awoke.
In fact Peter I have seen some people crack up as a result of their job. Maybe stress is just a convenient word. But pressure to succeed can be a total killer and unfortunately it propels some people to take desperate measures.
Must admit to a certain ringing in the ears. Not sure how I got it but I do seem to remember that we used no ear protection, just anti flash gear, on Bofors guns. It couldn't have been my first wife at all........
The reason why servicemen tend to use "say again" instead of "repeat" is because the only time the word "repeat" is used is when ordering a second mortar or atillery barrage.
If the gunners heard the magic word repeat (bearing in mind that they might be hearing impaired) they would duplicate their last order - could be a bit embarrasing if his own troops had just taken the position. It does become second nature.
Rather like using the word "f***" as every second word in a sentence when in the field....
I entirely agree Peter :-) I love my job & the buzz I get from it is easily better than any mood-altering drugs (not that I've tried them) even on grim winter mornings driving in the dark & fog/snow etc for an 8am start, knowing I'm finishing at 6pm...
The WW2 museum at Bayeux is also worth a visit David and they tell me The Memorial museum at Caen is good also.
"Say again" is really annoying. My late wife, a teacher all her working life eventually managed to stop saying it tho' would never have done so without my constant complaints !
Why is teaching "stressful" ! It can be stressful I suppose. My wife was never stressed, on the contrary she loved her job and thrived on the daily challenges. No David, stress is NOT having a job or not being able to support your family or living with someone who is terminally ill etc etc Teaching like most other jobs, is probably what you make it.
My views on ex-servicemen are based on my ex-husband 'Tim not so nice but dim' so I'll admit to being biaised ;-) he said "say again" instead of anything else all the time and it drove me to distraction, seeing we weren't communicating by radio...
I have no quarrel with the armed forces in general or the principle of armed response to military aggression; having held the Queen's commission myself, and been prepared to be on active service, it would be a bit silly, wouldn't it?
Clarity of communication in sometimes extremely noisy circumstances makes "say again" rather easier to understand or indeed appropriate than "I beg your pardon" (anyway better than "what") or "Er do what", along with wilco and roger. I must say I don't share at all your rather extreme and bizarre views about ex servicemen but will restrain from using any service parlance in riposte I do realise that teaching is stressful). I declare an interest in that I have some limited connections with the services, am a member of the Royal British Legion and have numerous friends who have done their time and indeed some who lost their family in even very recent conflicts. I am ready to share with you a general distaste for war but of course none of us British expats would be living here in France without the final absolute necessity of the last World War. I was in the Normandy area three weeks ago and had occasion to visit various sites, including the cemetery at Bayeux where the prevailing atmosphere of utter peace was very moving indeed. They will be remembered, as will be the civil casualties.
You can always tell when you are speaking with a teacher (or ex). He or she will not simply say "pardon" or "excuse me" but "SAY AGAIN" which really winds me up...