The flying "O".
I have been reading the various posts regarding airmen aircrew and the demise of the prized "O" brevet and replaced by the very mundane "N".
I joined as cadet airmen navigator in January 1949 for 8 years regular and 4 on the Reserve.
When our group got to No.1 ITS at RAF Wittering, among our instructors was a wonderful Master (equivalent to Warrent Officer) aircrew Navigator who wore the "O" brevet. We were told that the course we were on would also qualify us for the same illustrious brevet. Needless to say, Air Ministry put a stop to that, and all we got was the "N", even thought we had qualified as observers; i.e. navigators and bomb-aimers.
Another interesting raised by some was the decision to train us as airmen and not officers. On our course, 3 of us applied for Cranwell cadetships but I was unsuccessful. One of the 2 successful guys, Jock Cochrane, went on to become one of the Concorde test pilots.
Anyway, halfway through our course, Air Ministry had a change of heart, and we suddenly became officer cadets and finally completed our navigation/bomb aiming course training, and graduated as Pilot Officers with our "N" brevet.
Finally, would be fascinated if any readers went through their aircrew training at the same time as me.