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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0171.PDF
JANUARY I6TH, 1941. 57 THE AIR TRAINING CORPS R.A.F. Chance for 700,000 Boys : Pre-entry Education : Varsity, School and Local Units in One Scheme EQUAL opportunities to qualify for commissioned rank inthe R.A.F. and Fleet Air-Arm is now extended by theinauguration of the new Air Training Corps to some 700,oqo British boys between the ages of 16 and 18 whether they have had the advantage of an expensive public-school education or have gone straight into a factory from an elementary school. His Majesty the King has graciously consented to become Air-Commodoie-in-Chiet to the new Corps. Describing it as " a broad highway into the R.A.F.," Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air, said that it was the first service movement of its kind on a nation-wide basis and was designed to meet the urgent war requirements and to build up a big reserve to itcd the K.A F. training centres. He pointed out, also, that even if the 16-year-old recruit who took advantage of this pre-entry training scheme was unable to join the R.A.F. before the war ended and, with the return of peace, wished to carry on in his civilian career, he would still find, the instruction he had received of inestimable value. TEven boys who weie in a reserved occupation (and many ~-«4>cupations were now reserved at the age of 18) and might not be available for Air-Force service, would not be debarred from joining the A.T.C. At the same time it was not intended to approve, at any rate for puiposes of financial assistance, units which weie composed of employees of particular factories when these were engaged in work of national importance. The Air Training Corps will consist of University Air Squadrons (the numbers of whxh will be greatly increased), squadrons and flights formed at schools, and units organised locally Flexibility is to be the great feature of the whole organisation, and school units will be open not only to old boys of the school, but to other suitable boys living in the vicinity who may wish to join. Local units, also, will' be encouraged to provide a similarly wide scope. Responsibility for the training of all units and for the recruitment and adminis- tration, of local units will be vested in Air Commodore J. A. Chamier, who has been appointed Commandant of the A.T.C. and who has been released from his present R.A F. duties for this purpose. Air Commodore Chamier, who was Secretary- General of the Air League, was the moving spirit in the development of the Air Defence Corps which now becomes part of the A.T.C. He will be responsible directly to the Air Ministry. • . Additionally, the new post of Director of Pre-Entry Training at the Air Ministry has been created, and this will be filled, for the first six months, by Mr F. J. Wolfenden, headr master of Uppingham School, who has been released for this special service by the trustees- of the school for that period. Mr. Wolfenden's special qualifications, said Sir Archibald. iya>3e him an ideal man for this responsible post, and he would Jfs able to give the movement a really good start. He would -"•lie responsible to Air Marshal A. G. R. Garrod, Air Member for Training on the Air Council No Class Distinctions There would, Sir Archibald said, be no distinction made between the boy from the elementary school the secondary school, or the public school and university. The minimum age for recruitment was ifi years, but in special circumstances discietion would be allowed in school and local units to accept boys before they had reached their 16th birthday. Boys between the ages of 17J and 18 would be attested as recruits to the R.A.F. and would then return to their civilian activities and participate in the special educational classes for pre-entry training. Those rjoys who were suitable for flying duties would tarry out a syllabus like that of the Initial Training Wings of the- R.A F., while those whose standard of physical fitness did not quite come up to that demanded for air crews, but who were suitable for enrolment as ground staff would be given special courses in mechanical and wireless trades. Sir Archibald also stressed the point that enrolment in the A.T.C was not a full-time occupation. The training would be given in evening classes and at week-ends, and the success of the scheme would be largely dependent on suitable officers coming forward to command and instruct units. It was hoped •^and believed that a sufficient number of men with previous Air-Force or other service experience, and professional men in reserved occupations, particularly schoolmasters, would volun- teer for this vital work. Such volunteers would receive com- missions in the R.A.F.V.R., and would wear R.A.F. uniform with a distinguishing badge while performing their A.T.C. duties. A.T.C. membeis would wear a blue uniform similai to R.A.F. uniform but with a tunic high at the nick and having buttons which did not need polishing. Like the Air Defence Cadet Corps, the air sections of the Junior Training Corps at schools would now Ucoir.r part of the A.T.C., and liaison would be established between units of the A.T.C. and neighbouring R.A.F. and Royal Naval Air Stations. Existing units of the Cadet Corps could apply at any time alter January 20 to be approved by the Air Council as squadrons of the A.T.C. which would be constituted as Irom February 1. Another point stressed by Sir Archibald was that it was not intended that the A.T.C. should supersede in any way tht- organisations already engaged in giving pre-entry training for the other Services. At the Universities the Senior Training Corps and the University Squadrons would operate in parallel, and undergraduates would be free to apply for enrolment in either. At schools, also, it was proposed to allow boys as free a choice as possible, and the service departments would issue letters of guidance to headmasters as necessary. The same principle would apply in the case of local units of the A.T.C. and other youth organisations who were giving preliminary training for the Army and the Navy. Air Ministry Grants Grants to cover the cost of training would be made by 1 he Air Ministry, but the A.T.C. would mainly depend for many of its amenities on local support. Arrangements had already been made for local education authorities to give instruction at Air Ministry expense in mathematics and English for young men of 17! upwards who were, iii all other respects, suitable for air-crew duties. In addition to the Air-Squadrons at Oxford and Cambridge, which lapsed at the outbreak of war, but which were re-formed last term, similar squadrons were now to be formed at Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, Belfast, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and St. Andrews. Ground instruction in these squadrons would be similar to that given in the Initial Training Wings of the R.A.F., and it was hoped, at a later date, to arrange also for actual flying training. Yet another facet of the general scheme was the institution of special courses at the Universities for young men, from any walk of life, who wished to seive as pilots and observers in the R.A.K. and who were likely to be suitable for commissioned rank. These would be short courses lasting six months and would be taken between leaving school and beginning Service- training. Candidates for these special courses would be trained in Service subjects in the University Air-Squadrons and would be instructed by the staff of the University in mathematics and in one of the following subjects: electricity and magnetism, engineering', meteorology and navigation. They would, more- over, become full members of the University, and the Air Ministry would pay the expense of tuition and board and lodg- ing, and the course would be allowed, by the University authorities, to count towards a degree if the candidate returned to the University after the war. On completion of the course these candidates would pass into the ranks and through the Service training schools and, on passing out as qualified pilots or observers, would, if recommended, be commissioned in the R.A.F.V R. The first course would start about the middle of April. Candidates must be between the ages of 17J and 18 years 8 months and would be selected by nomination by head- masters of public and secondary schools. The last day for nomination is February 15, and young men who have left school but are still within the age limits are also eligible for this special course. Problem of Recruitment In announcing the birth of the A.T.C. and outlining its main aspects, Sir Archibald Sinclair said that the whole problem of recruitment for the R.A.F. and Fleet Air-Arm was a very big one. Every pilot and member of an air-crew was a volunteer, and the physical and educational tests were most exacting, and while the available field was limited by a number of considera- tions, it was realised that it could be very greatly extended by helping certain suitable types of boy fiver the educational hurdle. This, basically, was the object behind the formation of the Air Training Corps.
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