Danny, your incisive take on what must have been a demanding and anxious time (because every extra hour that it took to gain your wings was another hour in which you could face the "chop") is very interesting. You present the differences between a country at war and one which isn't. One where everything had to be pared to the bone and another where there was an abundance of everything, including that most precious of all commodities, time. Did that not tend to irritate at the very least? Did you feel at the time that your training was unnecessarily drawn out, or was it only in retrospect that you came to that conclusion? Perhaps being young though you were more interested in soaking up all your new experiences; different countries, different customs, different climates, and left all the higher direction of affairs to those higher up the ladder?
The Valiant certainly doesn't sound much use for anything, let alone a possibly unnecessary course. Do you think that was the rationale that let it through? "The basic course isn't really crucial whereas the elementary and advanced ones are, so they won't do any harm". Some recommendation!
You are absolutely right in your Call to Arms to your other compatriots, be they of any aircrew discipline (and perhaps the groundcrew might be welcome also?). The massive challenge of recruiting and training up all these skills in such huge numbers is one of the uncelebrated keys to ultimate Victory. How on earth was it all managed? Was there a central registry where each individual's progress was monitored and future planned? Presumably you were ostensibly on the charge of RAF Training Command so one would suppose it to be there. Perhaps someone with knowledge of the then CoC would inform us.
Oh, far be it for me to speak for the Mods, but I think you will find that the fairly loose reins that they use on the Military Forum are very loose indeed in your case. This is your thread, ie WW2 RAF/FAA veterans. If you decide that the title needs changing then no doubt it can be (no idea how, but I'm sure that PPRuNe Pop will oblige), but personally I wouldn't worry. Let it be yet another British idiosyncrasy that a thread about pilot brevets includes all other ones as well, as well as none at all! Well why shouldn't it?
