ROY ERNEST THOMPSON (grave 66)

“Work hard, play hard” is the unwritten motto of the Royal Air Force and quite often the recreational side of service life can involve the consumption of a great deal of alcohol. Roy Thompson was a Sick Quarters Nursing Attendant who had no doubt decided to make the best of things despite being on duty over the festive period.

Having finished his duty shift, he went with his friend, Roger McNeal to the station’s NAAFI bar. Here he consumed eight or nine pints of beer, before leaving for the night in good spirits. Rather than going back to his room, he decided to sleep in Station Sick Quarters where he worked. On arriving, he found that the duty bunk was already occupied, so he decided to sleep in the heat treatment room.

The next morning, as a patient was being taken for heat treatment, it was discovered that Roy had died. A later post-mortem established that he had vomited in the night and because he was asleep, had inhaled the vomit and choked. Like most people have done in the past, Roy had over done it on that night. However, unlike most people who wake up with nothing more than a monstrous hang-over, he had been very unlucky. In tragic cases such as these, the margin between life and death can be very narrow indeed.