- RAF Halton during the Second World War -. However, because the permanent barrack building 72 programme at Halton had fallen behind schedule, this entry was trained at Cranwell. 1, Pipit Gardens Posts. Block 3. Nevertheless, I feel justified in saying that the experiment has richly justified itself. We wish to have access to records, manuals, policy statements, annual reports, developments, evolution. especially with respect to the care and education of the apprentices. With the rapidly growing numbers now joining the Service, thousands of ex-apprentices ,who had been corporals for years, suddenly found themselves racing through the ranks to SNCO and warrant officer, providing a vital source of experienced technical supervisors on front line squadrons, maintenance units and as instructors for the increasing number of technical training schools. Most exapprentices did exactly that. Although thousands of former apprentices had very successful careers in the RAF, many did not reach their full potential until life beyond the Service. Boys from the age of 15 took a series of highly competitive exams and tests, and the select few were invited to join the most exclusive boarding school of its time. Halton Apprentices - PPRuNe Forums concurrently with the TA scheme. By the end of 1919, 26,000 of the 27,000 serving RAF officers had been discharged, and it is largely their service details which are held in this series. The Halton Apprentice label soon became synonymous with aeronautical engineering excellence, a reputation that rapidly gained international recognition particularly in the aircraft Industries. Finlay arrived at RAF Halton as an Apprentice in 1925. An Olympian and an inventor, Dam Busters and Great Escapers come and meet the boys who truly took off! If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. AC1. During our time HRH Duke of Kent (Prince George) came round workshops to inspect our work. please notify the sender and then delete the e-mail (and file(s) if From 1919 to 1993, the No 1 SoTT was based at RAF Halton and from 1920 until 1993 the School was the home of the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme. caused as a result of any virus being passed on. After the re-introduction of the wheel it was paraded for the first time at the Graduation of the 134th Entry on 29th September 1982. Photos - 78th Entry Royal Air Force Aircraft Apprentices RM 2D2Y83F - The Queen inclines her head in acknowledgement of the new colour (the flag), one of only nine held by the Royal Air Force, which she presented to RAF Halton this afternoon (Friday). The museum also records the background to Apprentice training at the Halton camp through examples of the tools, work and test pieces completed by Apprentices. In the latter respect, two Cranwell apprentices excelled, one becoming a bishop and another followed in Lord Trenchard's footsteps by becoming head of the Metropolitan Police. This move coincided with the adoption of the rank of Aircraft Apprentice. He was rescued only to be shot down again a few weeks later and killed. RAF Halton apprentice graduation prizes: The Pioneer Trophy | The Recipients should note that e-mail traffic on MOD systems is subject to He had left school in July 1964 and was headed off to join the Royal Air Force at RAF Hereford to enter a one-year Administrative Apprentice training course as part of the 301 st cohort known as an 'entry' (1) A week later, on the 2nd of September 1964, he took the Oath of Allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen. Of the Halton apprentices who achieved air rank, thirteen were knighted. It is tomorrow we must prepare for and so the success of Halton as the birthplace of the RAF, mind and spirit is of the most vital importance. Halton apprentice pay account sample sheet. Under the continuing pressure on manpower another very important decision for the future of the RFC was taken; it was decided to recruit boys. He remustered to aircrew as an Air Signaller/Air Gunner in 1953 and was commissioned as an Air Electronics Ofcer in 1959. Trenchard Museum - About Us We couldnt load the mail server logs for this message. Some became top surgeons and a few served on the Crown Court circuit. An introduction to the Aircraft Apprentices Scheme at Halton It was on one of these drops, I think the one dated 29th April, that we took a passenger with us. Thousands of former apprentices made senior officer rank and many more Flight Lieutenant. His name is Ian Henderson cairms and joined the 81st RAF Halton apprentice. Well known to all those who follow air shows around the country is one of the nations most skilled display pilots, Air Mshl Cliff Spink, who was a Halton aircraft apprentice in the 104th Entry. These certificates were awarded for achievement in all aspects of trade and academic training. Permanent workshops were constructed to house the RFC's many trades. They gave of their best in the inter-war years, during WW II, throughout the Cold War and in peacetime, in all theatres, in all circumstances and rightly earned the sobriquet, The Backbone of the Royal Air Force. It is as an apprentice engineering school that Halton is best remembered, and indeed revered, not only in this country but across the industrial world. Serving and retired RAF personnel should ensure the boxes, Service No, Rank, Entry, Joining Date, Trade and Current Occupation are completed. My first flight was in an Avro Tutor 2 seat biplane at Halton airfield. I have moved your post to a thread of its own in the Military - Royal Air Force forum where it will get more attention. Some of this Entry were only 16, officially still boys but now serving as airmen on the front line. His reason for this was to ensure that boys committing offences both on and off the station could be dealt with expeditiously by the appropriate authority. The Halton trained men . The Chairman advises: . Its trainees graduated as LAC with many of them still less than 17 years of age. Joining the RAF as an aircraft apprentice at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire. By the mid 1920s Halton apprentices were serving on aircraft carriers, then under the control of the Royal Air Force. Recently, a member asked if we still accepted bequests or legacies and how he should proceed if he wished to make such an arrangement. We wish to have access to records, manuals, policy statements, annual reports, developments, evolution.. especially with respect to the care and education of the apprentices. We can reunite you with your friends who served at RAF Apprentices and we have a wealth of information on different units, bases and ships in the site. Oct 2004. In March 1920 No 1 School of Technical Training was established at Halton, the future home of aircraft apprentice training. Of course, it is vital that advice is taken from a qualified lawyer; but dealing with these matters is not expensive and gives one peace of mind. This payment, An Apprentice on a familiarisation flight in a Hawker Hart 1936, seems to the Committee to be unnecessary. World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945. The maximum age of recruitment of apprentices was raised to 18 and, exceptionally, 21. Because of lack of accommodation at Halton, the school was originally located at RAF Cranwell in 1920. The site has been in use since the First World War but is due to close by December 2027. The 40th Entry, which enlisted in August 1939, was the largest ever with 1,285 boys taking the Kings shilling. The end of an era. Catalogue description Records of the Royal Air Force. 29th June 1941 she joined HQ 14 Group. 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton (see aircraft apprentice) which remained at the Station until it moved to RAF Cosford in the early 1990s. Our Heritage plans are extensive and likely costly. Although the government took options on the purchase of the American F-111 this never came about. He completed his 45 years in uniform as Deputy Director of Personal Services. History of the Royal Air Force. Sometimes rifle drill or PT before breakfast, later march to workshops with our own band with bugles, bagpipes, trumpets and drums. Was she captured by the Germans? Their success in the air and on the ground pays a finer tribute than any words of mine to the standard of Haltons achievements., One thing is absolutely true, the air battles of Burma were won in the classrooms and workshops at Halton; won not just by knowledge and skill of your maintenance crews, it was won by the spirit that Halton produced., Halton has given the Royal Air Force not only its hard core of efficient technical NCOs and airmen but also a magnificent core of officers many of whom are in high rank in all branches of the Service., 2021 The Old Haltonians | All Rights Reserved. Unfortunately these . Included in the syllabus was English and general studies which covered, in some depth, the history of the RAF. Until 1951, this mark also governed the rank at which an apprentice graduated. If you have any unwanted Over the years, some members have made bequests to our Association in their wills in preparation for their final postings. Of those apprentices who became Cranwell cadets, thirteen won the Sword of Honour, giving credence to Trenchards vision that the new Service should base the selection of its future leaders on ability and merit, and not class and social background. He commanded the whole apprentice population and also enjoyed the privilege of commanding his Entrys graduation parade, and parades for visiting VIPs and Royalty. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. On 14th October 1945 she resigned her Commission and left WAAF Service. 81st RAF Halton apprentice - British Genealogy Workshops entailed basic fitting, lectures on metallurgy, heat treatments etc. Leadership and management experience were Time-expired airframes were used to provide hands-on experience. One or two of the photos, have all the names on the back, a group, with names, is dated 28th Aug. Cosford. The Main Force targets, mentioned above, were the well known bombing missions on German towns and industrial targets, involving many aircraft concentrated over as little time as possible, to saturate defences. We also have our own garden of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum. it gained a reprieve with the introduction of the Apprentice Engineering Technician (AET) scheme. It was a great experiment and was bitterly criticised at the time. I can just remember her small white face behind her goggles as she dropped into the night. Donate and support our work. We all owe a debt of gratitude for the apprentice training we received at Halton. Once you have catered for your loved ones, a generous bequest would help us achieve our Heritage plans. RAF Malton. Scarlett remained in post until 1924 which enabled him to oversee the 8 transformation of a temporary wartime military camp into the beginnings of a permanent RAF station. The limiting factor to this huge expansion turned out to be not a shortage of aircrew, nor of aircraft manufacturing capacity, but rather a lack of skilled groundcrew of which more than a dozen were needed to maintain each front-line aircraft. Recreational facilities were available in abundance, including a debating society, aircraft modelling and playing in one of the several apprentice bands, in addition a wide variety of sporting facilities was available. This kind of improvisation could not provide all of the men the RFC needed and rationalisation of the training machine became an urgent requirement. Through war-time and peace-time, being honoured by the Queen and honouring a Prime Minister, welcoming trainees from around the world and moving to bases across the UK since 1920, the RAF Apprentices have been part of significant events in history. RAF Halton. The Apprenticeship Scheme was launched in October 1919, when selection examinations were held around the country. The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers and the free to access part of the website is funded by donations from our visitors. Run by Volunteers and powered by Alaveteli. Printed from https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/records_of_raf_halton_apprentice on May 01, 2023 15:11. In 1943 hundreds of boys, many orphans, were driven out of Poland by Hitler and, after a tortuous journey through the Middle East, ended up in the UK. Interestingly, apprentices were the only people who continued to join the wartime RAF; from September 1939 until 1945. Halton Apprentice Roll of Honour - rafcommands.com Welcome to the Brit-Gen forums. We wish to have access to records, manuals, policy statements, annual reports, developments, evolution.. especially with respect to the care and education of the apprentices. So be careful when telling your RN friends this 62 snippet as they can get very upset to learn that the junior Service, in the form of Halton apprentices, provided an important element of the foundations on which the carrier force developed into a vital arm of the nations capability in WW II and beyond. One, Sir John McGregor, left the RAF as a sergeant after WW II, emigrated to Hong Kong where he joined the colonys Civil Service in a lowly position and made his way up the promotion ladder to become head of the Hong Kong Executive Council and adviser to the last Governor, Mr Chris Patten, during the negotiations leading to the transfer of the colony to China in 1997. For example: The consistent technical excellence of the RAF has rested upon the skill and high devotion to duty of those who learned at Halton their trades and first formed their sense of duty. Surely the efcient maintenance of aircraft has also been one of the outstanding features of the war and that has been made possible by the Halton training of our men.. By creating an account you agree to us emailing you with newsletters and discounts, which you can switch off in your account at any time. In 1919, Air Marshal Lord Trenchard foresaw the need to produce a pool of skilled aircraft engineers for the RAF. The Wartime Memories Project is a non profit organisation run by volunteers. Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Armitage - PressReader However, on-going research is continually uncovering hitherto unknown awards. Thirty-eight years later he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal to be a member of the Air Force . Several hundred ex-apprentices serving on these engagements at the start of hostilities were, however, retained in flying posts. 1 School of Technical Training at Halton in southern England. For these reasons and others, Trenchard instituted the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme to be based at RAF Halton No. These boys are not only extremely well lodged, fed, and clothed, but are taught trades which will be useful to them in after-life. In 1917 there was an expansion of technical training in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and Halton became the main training unit for aircraft mechanics. Early morning a boy went to cookhouse and brought back a bucket of tea and biscuits known as gunfire. RAF Halton - Wikipedia There is a label at the Imperial War Museum which reads;- However, because of its heavier build, the Sterling did not have the performance of the Lancaster and were eventually replaced by them on Main Force targets. Why Forces War Records? However, as time passed and the brats were able to prove their worth, it became a title which all ex-apprentices are proud to claim, even those who attained air rank. Through this website, exhibitions and the media, the story of the boys who were propelled to excellence is relived by those who are proud to call themselves Trenchards Brats. We are the largest and fastest growing community of UK forces veterans on the web with over 500,000 members! My thoughts on the Stirling - being a very robust aircraft and fitted with Hercules air-cooled engines, it was much the safer aircraft in which to fly. He argued that the best way to ensure that, . Sgt. Members of RAF Apprentices | Forces Reunited What courage! RAF apprentices were an elite band who went on to hold some of the highest ranks in the Royal Air Force, and make huge contributions to their country and the wider world. As the rudimentary methods of training RFC tradesmen hitherto were unlikely to meet the massive new manpower requirement, it soon became clear that the RFC would have to train its own air mechanics. On 25 July 1952, No 1 School of Technical Training, RAF Halton received the highest accolade that any unit in the RAF can receive the award of a Queens Colour. HRH The Duke of Gloucester reviewing the nal graduation parade, that of the 155th Entry in June 1993. Apprentice Flight Commanders were always busy during lunch hours hearing charges but never. CHIEF TECHNICIAN Served from 1969 - 1993 Served in RAF Apprentices. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small This theme was very shortlived and was terminated after ten intakes. Schools', as it was known by apprentices, was held in a purpose-built college building which had a well-stocked library and excellent engineering science laboratories. Some former apprentices ended up as BBC TV stars. We are now on Facebook. They eventually found their true vocations with the advent of the Nimrod and the Tornado in the early 1970s. However, as the TSR2 on which they were destined to work had not materialised, many after graduation found themselves posted to single-skill posts. after leaving RAF Halton, but whilst stll serving in the Royal Air Force, click here. Many friends were made, lost and extremely difficult times were had. The aim of the two studies was to match the growing complexity of aircraft and their systems, particularly those associated with the projected TSR2, with ground crew who had the ability to diagnose faults in systems which cut across the traditional trade boundaries. Most pre-war apprentices soon attained LAC rank but, following the Great Depression, from the late 1920s to the start of WW II, many did not advance beyond corporal, unless selected for flying training. Please send me copies of any RAF or Halton Apprentice certificates and other items you think may be of interest to other members or visitors to the Website. The 13 year old became a University lecturer with a PhD. For the first 50 years of the scheme apprentices were classified as minors and their officers and SNCOs acted in loco parentis. Among them were Sqn Ldr Ben Bennions, Wg Cdr Taffy Higginson, Flt Lt Geoffrey Sammy Alford and Gp Capt Frank Carey. We had lunch on airfield from field kitchens, on 3rd Sept 1939 I heard Mr Chamberlain say we were at war with Germany. I applied for this and was successful, so instead of being sent out to a squadron at the end of this flight-mechanic training, I had to stay on at Halton for a Fitter course and then onto St. Athen for a Flight-Engineers course specific to the aircraft I would eventually fly on, namely the Stirling. These grew out of early artillery and engineers' experiments and manoeuvres with balloons as described concisely by Swinnerton in Family Tree Magazine (2000). This meant contending with masses of search lights, flak, fighters, shot and shell. The rear gunner reported seeing both parachutes open but as we were very low and had to fly straight on, that was all we saw. monitoring, recording and auditing to secure the effective operation of Trenchard had already provided more detail about his intentions for the scheme in a letter to Churchill in November 1919, writing that it would be necessary to enlist the bulk of the technical tradesmen as boys, because the Royal Air Force could not hope to compete in the recruitment of men who had served full apprenticeships in civilian life and could therefore command high wages. The majority of these pilots became aircraft captains, two making notable contributions to the introduction of the Blind Landing System. We did not charge him with being improperly dressed, recalled Air Cdre M J Evans, one of five former Halton apprentices who returned to command the station. and on 5th June 1943 was posted to RAF Hurn and transferred to 38 Group Airborne Forces. 81st RAF Halton apprentice - british-genealogy.com The cost of running Halton was a contentious issue in the early days. The 103rd Entry has an active Association and has held a number of reunions. After the introduction of a new trade structure in 1951, all aircraft apprentices graduated as junior technicians with some gaining accelerated promotion to corporal. We had 2 year course, not 3 as it was wartime. In the late 1950s, a study was initiated into the RAFs youth training requirements. Join Date. Thank you. However it accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever Mine Laying - it may not be generally known but at least three quarters of all mines laid within enemy waters were dropped by the RAF. Did she survive? Raf halton hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy viruses. Many were soon commissioned rising quickly to executive positions on operational squadrons. Other tours included, Apprentice Flight Commander at Locking . Two entries a year were planned. Sadly, he would also become one the RAFs youngest casualties when he was killed in an accident while a member of a team salvaging a Dornier shot down at Eaton Socon in the closing days of the Battle of Britain, a month short of his 17th birthday. However, they soon proved capable of taking on trade supervisory roles. Royal Air Force personnel - The National Archives Halton Apprentices - The State Awards and Honours, Wing Commander Taffy Holdens inadvertent flight in Lightning XM135, The Stained Glass Windows of St. George's Church (Part 2), The Stained Glass Windows of St. George's Church (Part 1), The Halton Grove at the National Arboretum, The Halton Tribute to the Apprentice Scheme, The official contact address for the RAFHAA is as follows:
