Hi,
If I can divert to definitions of "Fitter" and "Mechanic". In the RAF, Fitters are superior to Mechanics. I believe even more so in the REME .... run the engine without oil, till the bearings "run". Remove sump and collect all the white metal. Use a paraffin blowlamp to melt the recovered white metal, cast new bearings, and scrape to fit the crankshaft. Continue journey.
Me? In the RAF? Not wishing to spend six months on a training camp, I opted to just take the end of course exam. That was three days of Hell, sitting in the shower for half an hour at the end of each day. The first day was the "fitting" ... filing two lumps of metal so that they could be interlocked in any of eight combinations, to within plus or minus 2 thou. I had some idea of what to expect, so arranged for the Ford Motor Company to provide me with brand new files and hack-saw blades. The examiner said I could use whatever tools were available in my tool kit, or in the workshop ... so I used a bench drill to hold the 1/4" BSF tap vertical, while cutting the female thread. I can't remember if I did something similar with the male thread onto the round bar that had to screw into the flat bar. I knew the examiner was going to check everything with a micrometer and set-square.
Apparently I did well enough to spend the rest of my service, on X-Flight RAF (Google might find something), who delivered atomic war-heads around the country, and then 33 squadron, an RAF SAM site, on an Australian fighter base in Malaya, two hoots and a holler from Vietnam. The Ausies were fighting in 'nam, but I assume us Brits were just there to discourage anybody getting too close. I doubt that the RAAF "white mice" (ex-Korean War F86 Sabre fighter jets) were going to discourage the bad guys. Our new Oz CO, flying in from 'nam, never arrived ... believed shot down.
602