COMMANDO CAPERS

Bertus van Ryswyk. That name just popped into my head from nowhere. Who the hell is Bertus van Ryswyk? Then I had an image of him in a SAAF flying overall. And then it all clicked into sharp focus the way emotional issues often do.

THE ONLY CLEAR MEMORY I have of him is that of him rushing, with lunatic speed and energy, around an aeroplane – it was like one of those 1920 black and white films where everyone is an Energiser Bunny on steroids.

Picture the scene. The place is a hot and dusty secret military location somewhere in southern Africa. Actually Verwoerd Dam (now Gariep Dam). We are a Commando Squadron on a training camp. Bertus has been given a mission number and a takeoff time, and now his Cherokee has a flat battery.

Can you guess why it was flat? That’s right – he left the Master switch on overnight. It happens to people who hurry around aircraft. They drive me potty with their belief that onlookers are impressed with the speed that your hands flash around the cockpit.

Worse still, I was soon to discover that he forgot to put the park-brake on before his mad prop swinging.

Bob Kershaw (L) with John Frost pose with a Hurricane.

Unfortunately I am responsible for Bertus. Let me tell you why. One of my jobs, as the only instructor in the squadron, was to be the Flight Safety Officer. I had reached this lofty, and unenviable position, not through any special ability, or training in flight safety, but simply through the machinations of the Peter Principle.

You will no doubt remember this states that, a person who is competent at their job will be promoted to a position that requires different skills. If the person lacks the new skills they will be incompetent at the new level, and will not be promoted again. If the person is competent in the new role, they will be promoted again, and will continue to be promoted until they reach a level at which they are not competent. They will then receive no further promotion and will have reached “Peter’s Plateau of incompetence.”

Read more in this months edition..