Last week I finally watched the excellent BBC programme Britain’s Biggest Warship featuring the birth pangs of HMS Queen Elizabeth. It was good to see that, despite all the new technology, it was, as ever, the spirit and can-do attitude of the ship’s company that shone through. One of the time-honoured traditions on display was the hoax, exemplified by a hapless young man being sent off to stores to fetch a fallopian tube. He was manifestly a robust character and displayed great strength of character in dealing with his extremely public humiliation. There have been many articles in NR about pr…
