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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 0844.PDF
346 f LI G HT APRIL IST, 1943 A QUARTER OF A CENTURY was started at Cranwell, in Lincolnshire, an old R.N.A.S. station once known as H.M.S- Daedalus. Cranwell was organised on the same lines as Sandhurst and Woolwich, and it provides the bulk of permanent officers for the Royal Air Force. The remainder, a small minority, are drawn from approved universities or by commissions granted to selected airmen. Kvery officer from Cranwell can expect, in the normal course of events, to make the Air* Force his life's career, and to rise to high rank in it, with a correspondingly comfortable pension on retirement. The first Commandant of Cranwell was Air Commodore C. A. H. Longcroft. For many, years Cran- well was a separate Command directly responsible to the Air Ministry. Here it may be mentioned that promotion in the Air Force from Pilot Officer to Flying Officer, and from Flying Officer to Flight Lieutenant is a matter of time, and in peace works automatically, provided that the officer gives satisfaction. "^But from Flight Lieutenant upwards pro- motion is by selection, for the R.A.F. believes in bringing its best men to the top.as early as possible. Apprentices' Schools The R.A.F. Staff College made an equally unpretentious start. It commenced its career in wooden huts at Andover in 1022, and its first Commandant was Air Cnmmouare Brooke-Popham. These two colleges were formed on the model of Army institutions, but schools of technical training for aircraft apprentices are things peculiar to the Royal Air Force. Originally there were two such schools, one at Halton for fitters, armourers, and other trades, and a second one for wireless operator mechanics and instrument makers. The latter was first located at Flower Down, but was after- wards transferred to Cranwell. Work on aircraft and their accessories is more exacting than ordinary mechanical work, and the Air Ministry from the start believed that the right thing to do was to catch its mechanics young and train them up in the way it would have them go. So lads between 15 and 17 were accepted at these schools and given a thorough education, both mechanical and general, for three years. The apprentices undertook to serve in the R.A.F. for 12 years, from the agt of 18 up to that of 30. The results have thoroughly justified this unique experiment. Halton was also an inde- pendent Command. The policy from the very first was that, while the Air Force must be small, it must also be good. In training and in equipment only the best was considered good enough. In- this way a nucleus of the highest standard was formed* on which it was a straightforward matter afterwards to expand. But that nucleus was at first pitifully small. Eight squad- rons were allotted to India, seven to Egypt, three to Iraq, while in the Mediterranean^ere was one flight of seaplanes at Malta and another at Alexandria. There was also a seaplane carrier with the Mediterranean Fleet, but soon aircraft carriers with flight decks became available. In those early days the R.A.F. provided the whole personnel for the flying branch of the Navy, observers as well as pilots, and, of course, aircraftmen. Within the British Isles there were the Inland Area and SIX SINGLE-ENGINED DAY BOMBERS. Reading from the top downwards. The 240 h.p. Siddeley Purna-eng;ined D. H. 9 of 1918. The Westland Wapiti (Bristol Jupiter) which was originally designed to use up D. H. 9 spares. Next, the mark F of the famous Fairey III series which started in the early 1920's and went on for some 15 years. Third from the bottom is the Fairey Fox, which had the CurtissD.12 (Felix) engine, and under this is the Hawker Hart (R.R. Kestrel) which appeared in service in 1930. In various specialised forms it appeared under no fewer than seven different names. Finally, at the bottom, is the R.R. Merlin- engined Fairey Battle, which was made in vast quantities in shadow factories in 1940. " night " photographs.
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