Until effective drainage was installed on Gan then, whenever it rained and it often did, much of the land between the accommodation Billets flooded.  At such times it was nearly always impossible to find a dry route to the Mess, NAAFI or any other building for that matter.  You just had to wade through the water carrying your socks, shoes or Flip-Flops as required and hope that there was a supply of running water at you destination to wash with.  Wading through the water was not without its hazards.  Where work had been carried out digging trenches for the installation of cables, water pipes, etc, the ground was always much softer after the rain and even if the trench had been refilled it was very easy to find suddenly that the water became much deeper as you sank in the soft ground.  Water that was up to your ankles was suddenly above your knees and it was very easy at this point to fall forward and get all your clothes completely soaked.  Water drainage on Gan would always be a problem as even the highest ground on the island was no more that five feet above sea level.