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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0115.PDF
JANUARY I8TH, 1945 F LIG H HERE AND THERE ing to the retired list. He was formerlydirector of technical development to the Air Ministry. Their War's Over ALL officers and airmen below the rankof acting squadron leader and on the general list of flying personnel are to begiven their discharge from the R.C.A.F. upon reaching their 33rd birthday, saysa report from Canada. Temporary squadron leaders will get their dischargeon reaching their 36th birthday. Chief "Tiger" Decorated •JI/TAJOR-GEN. CLAIRE CHEN-J-Vx NAULT, Commanding General of the 14th U.S. Air Force, Jias beenawarded the Legion of Merit. Gen. Robert McClure, Chief of Staff,China, who made the presentation, said: '' I know of no one in the army that Iwould rather pin this medal" on than you." The citation said that Gen. Chermault ifr" ! been decorated for "exceptionally ^meritorious conduct in the performanceof outstanding services as Commanding General of the China Air Task Force from July 4th, 1942, to March 9th, 1943,when, with an exceedingly small force of personnel and aircraft, he directed American assistance to the ChineseAllies." His task force became known as " TheFlying Tigers " and used P-40 fighters. Flak Curtains A CONVERSION programme to in-crease protection to U.S. airmen and cut down the weight of American heavyaircraft has been announced by U.S. Air Service Command. Tons of heavy armour plating is beingtaken out of Flying Fortresses, Libera- tors, Marauders and Havocs, and light-weight " flak curtains"—overlapping squares of manganese steel, resilientenough to stop a 20 mm. shell exploding " Ach! Der rockets haf spent - two feet away—substituted.Designed by Brig. Gen. Malcolm C. Grow, Chief Sur-geon of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, and inven-tor of the flak suit, the flak curtains are being installedin sheets and strips around crew members. This, experts say, providesbetter individual protection for crewmen, and lightensbombers so that they can carry heavier bomb loads.Gliders, too, are being fitted with flak curtain flooring. Old-style armour plating is,however, being retained on the big bombers in the tailand around the engines. Industrious Dakotas 'TRANSPORT COMMAND-*• has now delivered more than 28,000,000 lb. of battleequipment to the Allied Forces in France, Hollandand Belgium, and on return journeys to Britain the Com-mand's Dakota aircraft have brought back more than50,000 wounded without a single mishap. Speedy supplying ofurgently needed war mate- rials to the Allied Armies andAir Forces on the Continent is Transport Command'sprimary task. But they have also dropped more than 5,000 paratroops be-hind the enemy's lines, and landed about 14,000 soldiers and airmen on forwardairfields. One More Card? WE must always strive for betterand more efficient methods of defence, for the Hun is as crafty as afox, and may even yet, in' his death agony, throw in one morecard," said A.V.-M. J. B. Cole- Hamilton, A.O.C. a FighterCommand group, when recently presenting an A.A. co-opera-tion squadron with its crest at *«- an airfield in the South of England.at. The squadron's motto of —-^ "Precision in Defence" had,he stated, been well chosen and had been achieved.The crest was received by the CO., Wing Cdr. E. D.Crundall, A.F.C., who has led, the squadron since its forma-tion. R.A.F.'s Helping Hand MOST mejj^»iwho join theR.AJSrdoubtless expect to be^Hgaged either directly orindirectly in helping to destroy Remy property, but some 2,000rof them have been busy during h past months performing anqually important, if very dif- 'ferent sort of job—that ofrepairing British property damaged by the enemy. NICE WORK : Two beautiful examples of model aircraft at the Dorland Hall exhibition last week ;a rocket-firing Typhoon and a Firefly with folding wings, insured for £300. More than 15,000 blitzed houses inSouthern England have now been made habitable by a Repair Unit (Buildings)of R.A.F. Technical Training Command, which has put in 2,186,000 man-hourson this special task. The airmen, working under skilledN.C.O. foremen of trades, are all volun- teers for the work, and the unit's CO.has received many appreciative letters from bombed-out residents stressingtheir efficiency and courtesy. It "Lams 'Em" NOVEL "decorations" designed todecrease errors of aircrew have bsen instigated by the CO. of a Beaufortsquadron in northern New Guinea. There are two types of medal given"for services rendered to Japan"—the Tokio Star and the Order of the Irremov-able Digit. They are won for lapses on missions,such as dropping bombs in the sea, crashes through carelessness, leavingswitches turned on in aircraft, etc. A citation is composed, and the "medal"—a huge piece of tin 6in. in diameter suspended from a ribbon 6in. wide,awarded. The recipients are expected to wear theaward at any time they are in the crew room, and they retain it until someoneelse makes another " boob." A record book is kept by the squadron showingthe date, name, photograph, citation and signature of the recipient. The wording on the T.S. (Tokio Star)states: "Honourable glatitude pleez to accept. Hirohito." There has been a noticeable absenceof carelessness since the awards were created, it is reported.
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