Young sailor was not spared Navy version of 'fool's errand'

Do you cringe at memories of being sent on a fool's errand as a young apprentice? If you'd just started in the building trade, there's a fair chance you'd have been told to go fetch a right-handed screwdriver, a long wait, a glass hammer or replacement bubbles for a spirit level.

- PETE PHEASANT

Many a trainee mechanic has been dispatched in search of spare spark plugs or a bucket of steam.

A decorator's new recruit might have found himself asking for a tin of striped paint, while office workers have been known to seek out white ink for a printer or a new cursor for a computer.

A friend who trained as an electrician was told to fetch some sky hooks for fluorescent lights - and a length of fallopian tube.

"In the soft furnishing trade," another recalls, "you'd get the fool to go to the storeroom for some tartan thread."