With you L&F. Didn't know Albert Broad however I heard lots of stories about JB from my parents, apparently he stayed with us when he was CO/DO in Worcestershire when I was a child and all they, along with what I have witnessed of DC, have done is affirm in my head that these so called "characters" are just self obsessed, big fish in a small pond, frustrated actor types.
So what if they were entertaining? So what if they went off message? They were still spouting nonsense. Here we are nowadays laughing at the WTS putting form over function with it's glossy but shallow representation of it's message yet that's what these "characters" really were - glossing over the rubbish of message with entertaining delivery.
When you are in you love it but scratch the surface and it was the same bullshite then as it is now.