Back at the squadron’s place in the line, Geordie and Darwin had opened a book on who could get the longest handshake with the PM. It would mean holding on for as long as you could, even if he tried to tear himself away. They were also challenging the rest of the team to see who could ask him the oddest question and still get an answer.
‘Just make sure it’s all respectful, please. I still want a career in the army.’ The Boss hated every second of this.
‘I’ve got a belter,’ said Darwin. ‘Who’s got a camera?’
A few of the boys had brought one down.
‘Right, here’s what Geordie and I are going to do. We’ll ask Mr Blair if he doesn’t mind a picture. When he says, “Yeah, sure, chaps, where do you want me?” we’ll say, “Just there’s fine thanks, sir,” and hand him the camera. I bet he’ll be so embarrassed he’ll take the picture anyway.’
<...>
Someone did ask for a photograph, but instead of pulling Darwin’s cheeky prank
we all [people with the mindset of a professional assassin, by author's words] gathered sheepishly round Blair instead – Darwin included. The most rebellious we got was slipping the odd thumbs up to the camera behind Blair’s back as we posed up for the group snaps.
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