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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0968.PDF
FLIGHT, IS May 1951 605 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Naval Aviation News fy / Vice-Admiral tht Earl Mountbatten of Burma- taking the salute at Hatton last week. With him on the dais were Air Marshal Sir John Whitworth Jones, Air Vice-Marshal R. 0. Jones, Air Commodore J. G. D. 0. Finlay and WfC. Ls*&- Dadsw'ell ^t" photograph of the 59th Halton Entry THE Fourth Sea Lord, Vice-Admiralthe Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was the inspecting officer at the passing-outparade of the 59th Entry from No. 1 School of Technical Training, Halton;the ceremony took place on Tuesday, May 8th. Although the weather was dull, cold andwet, the parade was held out-of-doors, and it was fully up to the high standardexpected only of Halton. The slow march in line—always a most difficult parade-ground manoeuvre—was carried out with Guardsmanlike precision. Speaking to the men—they had been"boys" before passing-out—Lord Mount- batten recalled some early flights he hadmade, including one well over 40 years ago when, as a child of five-and-a-half, hehad been taken up by his uncle in a non- rigid airship—chiefly because they weretwo bags of ballast short. Then, on a more serious note, he im-pressed upon the Entry the importance of their job. He recounted experiences inthe Burma campaign, speaking of times when air supply to troops operating in thejungle had made all the difference between fighting on or surrendering. "Because ofthe excellent maintenance work done by the ground crews," he said, "the aircraftwere able to be operated for months on end at 190 per cent, above the scheduledsustained rate of utilization." Remarking that he had attended parades the world over, Lord Mountbatten addedthat Halton's turn-out was "second to none." In his report on the Entry, the Com-mandant, A. Cdre. J. G. Elton, pointed out that the 98 boys who were on paradewere those who were left out of the original 300 who presented themselves to theselection board in 1948. Of this 300, 125 were finally selected for training. Duringthe three years that had elapsed since then, 44 boys had left, owing to sickness, trans-fer to other entries, or discharged; 17 had transferred from other entries to No. 59.It was the second Entry to graduate under the new trade structure, which offered tosuitable men a career in the R.A.F. up to the age of 55, whatever rank might beattained during service. Speaking of the continued effort to keepHalton training abreast of the rapid pro- gress in the sphere of aeronautics, A. Cdre.Elton said that it had now been found necessary to have four separate divisionsof the electrical and instrument group. The wider introduction of electronics andother complications in navigational equip- ment had made it impossible for the sub-ject to be wholly covered in a three-year apprenticeship. Referring to the flying side, the Com-mandant said that the average amount of air experience given to each apprenticewas four hours and that nine apprentices had qualified for gliding certificates. Halton, the Air Commodore remindedhis audience, was the only unit in the three Services to possess an official branch of theR.Ae.S.; the inaugural lecture had been given by Sir Frank Whittle, who was him-self an ex-apprentice of Halton. AWARDS AND PRIZES Cadetships to R.A.F. College, Cranwell.—F/Sgt. App. B. Harris; Sgt. App. P. St. J. E. Dawe; Cpl. App. T. L. Cox. (Theseapprentices receive "Trustee" prizes to the value of £25 each, allocated from the R.A.F.share of prize money earned during the Second World War.) Monsignor Beauchamp MemorialPrize (best all-round apprentice).—F/Sgt. App. B. Harris. Crebbin-Robinson Cup (best in tradestandards practical fitting test).—Cpl. App. K. Proctor.Elliott Memorial Prize (presented by the R.Ae.S. for highest marks in English andgeneral studies).—Cpl. App. T. L. Cox. Air Ministry Prizes.—Highest in all sub-jects, F/Sgt. App. B. Harris; in educational subjects, Sgt. App. J. T. Tuckey; in generalservice efficiency, Sgt. App. B. R. Messenger; highest average for practical fitting, Cpi. App.W. J. Donaldson. Best tradesmen in Trade Test.—Air-frame Fitter, Cpl. App. K. Proctor; Engine Fitter, Sgt. App. J. H. Fisher; ArmamentFitter, Ldg. App. F. A. Smith; Instrument Fitter (General), Ldg. App. D. A. Black;Instrument Fitter (Nav.), Air. App. P. H. Smith; Electrical Fitter (Air), Cpl. App. W. J.Donaldson; Electrical Fitter (Ground), F/Sgt. App. B. Harris. "Flight" photograph •*ie scene on the parade ground during the passing-out ceremony just before the S9th Entry marched off to the strains ofAuldTangSyne.
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