Getting back to the original thread.... Our adj was a Sergeant rear gunner on Lancs and flew with the CO on 49 Squadron. A couple of colonials in the crew got put up for commissions and accepted. He asked the CO about a commission for himself and when he was telling me the story, gave the CO's reply in his best clipped tone: 'Err wait until you've done a few more trips'. Apparently the CO wasn't too keen on NCO pilots, so he was probably even less keen on NCO gunners asking for a commission. As far as I know he never was commissioned until after he was posted out, having been on the squadron for a year, which was some achievement back in 42-3!