Des Buckley
This Cartoon Collection is for anyone associated with or interested in the Royal Air Force. It is written and illustrated by a veteran with contributions from serving and retired personnel. It acknowledges the enormous debt owed to those magnificent men and women in their flying machines but focuses on the contribution made by the the humble ‘Wranker’ and ‘Erk.’ In this Centenary year it is fitting to reflect on the work and antics of the millions of male and female personnel who ‘did their bit’ in the shadows. It is a humouress look at the ordinary folks at the bottom of the Military hierarchy. The ‘Wranker’ or ‘Erk’ is a ‘junior rank’ anything from a raw recruit to a corporal. They are the RAF equivalent of the Army’s ‘Squaddie’ or the Royal Navy’s ‘Matelot.’ Even the humblest Erk, with barely an opposable thumb tends to consider themselves the intellectual superior of their Army and Navy siblings.Try as it might the RAF cannot function without those in support trades such as riggers, fairies, rock apes, scab pickers, blanket stackers, oggies, mouth miners, sooties, snowdrops and the rest. This is not a learned academic study and no angry rant. It is an impossible task to represent every Wranker who laboured, skived, played, dawdled, innovated, flirted, endured, prospered, suffered, sacrificed and served. This is a genuinely affectionate tribute and loud raspberry to Wrankers past and present wherever they may be. Bless them all the long and the short and the talk!
